I’m reading the new biography Doc Watson: A Life In Music by Eddie Huffman, and it’s such a pleasure to get a close-up, beat-by-beat, account of Doc’s heroic, era-shaping career. As much as I’ve studied his music and read many liner notes (I even got to interview him once), there are details that only a devoted researcher could elucidate, and Eddie does a wonderful job. One of the areas he’s broken the most ground in is the dynamic between Doc and his son Merle, who truly comes alive in this chronicle. With that, I point you to Doc and Merle’s version of the Delmore Brothers song “Brown’s Ferry Blues” from the 1971 album On Stage. Also this week, new music from the Burnett Sisters, Andy Leftwich, and Oakland mandolinist Jesse Appelman from his new LP Where We Go. By the way I mis-speak in the episode in crediting the song "Anna Lee." It was cut by Levon Helm, as I note, but it was written by NC’s great Laurelyn Dossett. I regret the error. We also mark the 80th anniversary of the "birth of bluegrass" when Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt appeared on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time in late December, 1945.
Bill Monroe - Bluegrass Breakdown
Jesse Appelman - Anna Lee (Levon Helm late life song)
Doyle Lawson - All In My Love For You
Bigfoot - Newt Payne's
Damien O'Kane and Ron Block - Mario Kart Rides Again
The Burnett Sisters - Easy Come Easy Go
Forge Mountain Diggers - Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow
Hurray For The Riff Raff - Black Jack Davey
Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band - Annalina
Bill Monroe - Raw Hide
East Nash Grass - The Love We Gave Up
Andy Leftwich - Old Hickory
Doc and Merle Watson - Brown's Ferry Blues
The Dillards - Brisco's Dream
Shawn Camp - Forever Ain't No Trouble Now
Leo Kottke - Bill Cheatham
Five Mile Mountain Road - Train That Carried My Girl From Town
