Doc & Merle Watson

Doc and Merle Watson was a father and son folk and bluegrass duo who released a series of albums between 1971 and 1985. Doc – born Arthel Lane Watson on March 3, 1923 - was blind before the age of one, the result of an eye infection. He bought his first guitar after earning money helping his father and spent all of his spare time learning to play it. He joined Jack Williams’ country and western swing band in 1953. Doc Watson developed his signature guitar sound after Williams’ band received requests to play square dances, which lead to Watson teaching himself how to play fiddle tunes on the guitar. He recorded his first self-titled solo album in 1964, which was followed by Doc Watson & Son (1965), his first album recorded with his son Merle (born Eddy Merle Watson on February 8, 1949 in Deep Gap, North Carolina). While Merle’s name was not listed on the cover of that 1965 album, things changed in 1971 with the release of Ballads from Deep Gap (1971), the first album credited to Doc & Merle Watson. For the next 14 years, the duo released a series of albums including Then and Now (1973), Lonesome Road (1977), Look Away (1978), Doc & Merle Watson’s Guitar Album (1983), and Pickin’ the Blues (1985). The duo’s career came to an abrupt end on October 23, 1985 when Merle was killed in a tractor accident on the family farm. In his honor, his father founded the annual traditional music festival Merlefest in 1988. Doc Watson died on May 29, 2012.