Doc Watson's turn

[napman]

May you RIP, and thanks for your MUSIC;

Guitar picking master Doc Watson dies in NC at 89
By MARTHA WAGGONER | Associated Press – 1 hr 37 mins ago...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Doc Watson, the blind Grammy-award winning folk musician whose mountain-rooted sound was embraced by generations and whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists around the world, died Tuesday at a North Carolina hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman and his manager. He was 89.

Watson died at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he was hospitalized recently after falling at his home in Deep Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He underwent abdominal surgery while in the hospital and had been in critical condition for several days.

Arthel "Doc" Watson's mastery of flatpicking helped make the case for the guitar as a lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was often considered a backup for the mandolin, fiddle or banjo. His fast playing could intimidate other musicians, even his own grandson, who performed with him.

Richard Watson said in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press that his grandfather's playing had a humbling effect on other musicians.

"Everybody that's picked with you says you intimidate them, and that includes some of the best," Richard Watson told him.

The ever-humble Doc Watson found it hard to believe.

Country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs said Tuesday evening, "An old ancient warrior has gone home."

"He prepared all of us to carry this on," Skaggs added. "He knew he wouldn't last forever. He did his best to carry the old mountain sounds to this generation."