''Doc Watson'' is the debut album by

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award ...

, released by

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a nu ...

in 1964. The musical supervision was credited to

Ralph Rinzler Ralph Rinzler (July 20, 1934 – July 2, 1994) was an American mandolin player, folksinger, and the co-founder of the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall every summer in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a curator for American ...

. It was re-issued on CD by Ace Records in 1995 and numerous tracks have been used in compilations such as ''Vanguard Years'' and ''The Best of Doc Watson 1964-1968''. In celebration of

60th Anniversary in 2010, it was re-issued with original artwork on a limited edition 180 gram

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

pressing of 500 copies for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

on April 17.

Reception

Writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, music critic Jim Smith wrote of the album "The album is incredibly varied, from the stark, banjo-driven "Country Blues" to the humorous "Intoxicated Rat," and many of these songs became Watson standards, especially his signature song "Black Mountain Rag." His incredible flat-picking skills may have been what initially wowed his audiences, but it was Watson's complete mastery of the folk idiom that assured his lasting popularity."

Track listing

# "Nashville Blues" (

Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore Alton may refer to: People * Alton (given name) * Alton (surname) Places Australia * Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand *Alton, New Zealan ...

) – 1:55 # "

Sitting on Top of the World "Sitting on Top of the World" (also "Sittin' on Top of the World") is a country blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. They were core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, who first recorded it in 1930. Vinson claimed to have c ...

" (

Sam Chatmon Sam Chatmon (born Vivian Chatmon; January 10, 1897 – February 2, 1983) was a Delta blues guitarist and singer. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks. He may have been Charley Patton's half-brother. Life and career Chatmon was born in Bol ...

Walter Vinson Walter Vinson (February 2, 1901 – April 22, 1975) was an American Memphis blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks, worked with Bo Chatmon and his brothers, and co-wrote the blues standard "Sitting on ...

) – 2:35 # "Intoxicated Rat" (

Dorsey Dixon Dorsey Murdock Dixon (October 14, 1897, Darlington, South Carolina – April 18, 1968, Plant City, Florida) was an American old-time and country music songwriter and musician. He was also a millworker who spent much of his life working in texti ...

, Mainer) – 2:28 # "Country Blues" (

Dock Boggs Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs (February 7, 1898 – February 7, 1971) was an American old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player. His style of banjo playing, as well as his singing, is considered a unique combination of Appalachian folk music and Af ...

) – 3:26 # "Talk About Suffering" (Traditional) – 2:45 # "Born About Six Thousand Years Ago" (Traditional) – 2:57 # "Black Mountain Rag" (Traditional) – 1:29 # "

Omie Wise Omie Wise or Naomi Wise (1789–1808) was an American murder victim, who is remembered by a popular murder ballad about her death. Song Omie Wise's death became the subject of a traditional American ballad. ( Roud 447) One version opens: In ac ...

" (Traditional) – 4:23 # "Georgie Buck" (Traditional) – 2:13 # "Doc's Guitar" (Doc Watson) – 1:14 # "Deep River Blues" (Traditional) – 3:07 # "St. James Hospital" ( James "Iron Head" Baker) – 3:25 # " Tom Dooley" (Traditional) – 3:13

Personnel

*Doc Watson – guitar, banjo, harmonica, vocals *John Herald - second guitar on Nashville Blues and Black Mountain Rag

References

{{Authority control 1964 debut albums Doc Watson albums Vanguard Records albums Ace Records (United States) albums