This video just made my day. I love music, all music, in its rawest form. I listen to rockabilly, swing, jazz, punk, whatever, I love it all. This video shows how greast bluegrass and roots music really is. No soundboards or mixers, just people playing their instruments. I love it!
This is most valuable footage here! Anything with Merle in it is. I had the pleasure of seeing Doc and Merle Watson perform together in 1968 in Los Angeles. Merle was a phenomenal picker. He and his dad were amazing together. RIP Merle.
@allinaday asheville is like an hour or so away i live pretty much in boone around deep gap, but my grandpa lives in the black mountains right beside asheville
@danksmoka10 you live so close. I am coming this summer to retrace some of the steps I took when I 1st made this movie and film what I see. How far are you from Asheville?
This is beautiful music! Even if its not your style you have to appreciate it for the art that it is. I appreciate music I dont like because alot went into producing it. If you do not like something to the point you must cut it down, why are you watching it in the first place??
Cripple creek at the end there was pretty friggin' awesome. Its also pretty awesome how this is at Doc Watson's home. He is an icon of the Appalachian mountains. They just put a statue of him on King St. in Boone NC, and I heard he also recently played a small concert on the lawn of the Doctor House on King St. I would've killed to be there!
Wonderful video; Merrel is there and Earl Scruggs had a son with him as well. This shows his respect for Doc. He wanted his son to play with him. Time has blurred it all.
The camera is a time machine and thanks to this beautuful film future generations will be able to go back in time just as we have and enjoy this magnificent moment in music history. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful session with the world.
@ratherknotty - thank you for your beautiful comment. I feel the same way about these old films that I made so many years ago. It is interesting that when I was there, setting up the scene and filming it, for each of these amazing moments in the music films I made back then, I knew that I was recording history. I could feel it at the time. And it proved to be true today.
Sencillamente extraordinario, el haber podido juntar estos ejecutantes en su mejor época se podría comparar perfectamente,( respetando sus géneros distintos), con la unión de los tres tenores Pavarotti, Carreras y Domingo.Esto queda como música para todos los tiempos.En Argentina diríamos, Earl es al bluegrass lo que Gardel es al tango.Gracias por haber hecho esta filmación.José Luis desde Buenos Aires.
@joselo1944 I hope you can read english! I just read your Comment via Bing translator and I agree tottally, and thought that the analogy of the 3 tenors was exactly right! These men are "Giants of talent" in Bluegrass!
Unrehearsed? LOLOL Who can tell? These fellows could have been blindfolded and playing with one hand and it would still sound great. This brings back so many wonderful memories of the get togethers of my youth. Grampa on the fiddle, harmonica, and jaw's harp, gramma on the spoons and violin, me on the whiskey jug and washtub, Uncles on the guitars and mandolins and everyone else on whatever they could find or just tappin' their toes and stompin' and clappin'..YYYEEEEeeeHHHhhaaawwwww....
I never thought there would be a flat picker as good as Doc Watson, but Randy Scruggs reached that plateau.
Search YouTube for Earl Scruggs and Friends "Black Mountain Rag" uploaded by coasterrider43. Randy plays a great version of "Black Mountain Rag" with Earl and Randy.
Without a doubt superb film from some fantastic players. Though if he was playing? I would have liked to have seen the kid in glasses other than disconcertingly .... slap, dang in the middle. Somewhere else. .... eerily, I wondered if it was the same tune on that tenor? But hey, totally unrehearsed ... absolutely great!
Exactly...a historic moment for you and them and if you think about it.....for folks who did this kind of music in exactly this kind of setting for a hundred years before them. Thank you so much for preserving my heritage.
Thank you for putting this video here. I feel like I spent some time at Doc's back yard today and listened to some very talented friends do what they do best. Almost like being there. Thank you my friend
I'm so thankful there have been people out there like this film maker who took the time to record moments like this. It must have been a wonderful afternoon. Earl, Merl, Doc - wow what I would have given to be there on that day. Oh wait - I just was! Thanks!
@TheMeemeister And thank you for such a beautifully written comment. It was an extraordinary afternoon and so I was very young at the time, I knew that I was seeing history in the making.
I am telling you folks, place these people in the middle of a raging battle and let them play for two minutes and all these warriors so busy killing each other will drop their weapons and tap their feed and god will smile his finest smile
@AnotherHoustonKid I find that their are people who use YouTube to express their basic hostility and look to attack. To be a presenter on YouTube as I am, an independent filmmaker, you have to be somewhat thick-skinned and I am. I love Doc and Earl and this is the recording of a a great moment in the history of country/mountain music. David Hoffman–filmmaker
@allinaday So right. Such a shame that some few pathetic individuals with no capacity for joy in their hearts have to try to impart their ignorance on others. They will say or do anything just to get any degree of attention from anybody. Pitiful creatures are these...
Love this!! Think it's funny that they're sitting in Doc's yard and Earl is all duded up in his suit though!! I think they all should have had on their bibs!!
@LucyStag BLACK MOUNTAIN RAG by Doc and Merle Watson is my favorite.Tony Rice and Norman Blake even make an appearance on one of the tracks.One of the best sounding (sonically speaking) recordings that I`ve ever heard to boot!(Think Amazon has some copies).
This is so incredible! Doc Watson got me into fingerpicking in college in the late 60s and I've seen him several times since. I even stopped at Deep Gap and talked with a storekeeper who knew him (everybody did in that little place), and she asked if I wanted to visit him at his home...! I didn't since I thought it would be an imposition, and of course I regret it now. But what friendly, trusting people.
@watauga40 That's very cool and I'm more than a little envious. My sister's a big fan also and sees him a lot, sometimes driving from Minnesota to the big festivals in Tennessee and so forth. She even baked him a cake once which he thanked her profusely for. May he be with us for decades to come.
In a way this video clip makes me sad. Both Earl and Doc had to endure the sadness of losing their sons not long after this. Earl lost Stevie and Doc lost his son Merle to a tractor accident. Life is hard sometimes, but to have both these giants of American music have to feel such pain seems so sad. I hope Doc and Earl were able to feel some of the joy and happiness they gave to people like me, though. Thanks, gentlemen.
Excellent footage. Thanks for sharing it with us. Thanks to folks like you, us future generations can gain valuable insight into the lives of some of the most influential American musicians to ever have played, insight you just can't get from a record.
This video is so perfect. I have seen Doc Watson many times. I have never heard him so relaxed. He is pretty mellow all the time, but this is on another level! This is just excellent. The music is beyond wonderful! I will check out the entire film. Thank you so much for posting this. It showcases our National Treasures in bluegrass and mountain music.
@MyMoppet52 thank you for your comment and your insight. My style has always the and to make a documentary shoot so that the extraordinary ordinary people I am filming feel relaxed. Kings and queens and presidents have a harder time with my style then wonderful "ordinary" people like Doc and Earl.
i ove how earl seemingly drifts off into his mental library of tunes..and just effrtlessly brings the goods...!!!!! hes obviousky a huble and easy goin guy...i love this footage.. u can really feel the atmosphere of the setting....
@dkmurphygirl I know just what you mean about the feelings you have on both fronts. They make it look ridiculously easy. When I made this film so many years ago, I stopped picking banjo and started taking documentary filmmaking more seriously. Partially because I didn't learn as a kid like they did. What geniuses they were and are.
dude i play metal actually Christian metal but you know what this kinda of music always makes me happy it takes so much talent and it sounds great and anyone who calls them hillbillies are just untalented pricks with no life hence the douche below me
WHO ARE THESE BUNCH OF HILLBILLIES - ARE THEY DRUNK - THEY SURE DIDN'T DO THAT MERLE HAGGARD SONG VERY WELL - BUT THE GUY PLAYING THE SITAR WAS PRETTY GOOD!
I'm gonna go see Doc tomorrow night (Fri. Nov. 12th. 2010) in Raleigh, NC for my 66th. Birthday which is today, Nov. 11th. 2010, Veterans Day!! Can't wait!! :D)
Hi David Hoffman & allinaday, this is a GREAT posting of an invaluable film. I live in London UK and after Newport Festival, I stated importing Doc Watson's albums in the mid 70's (originally on Vanguard) into the UK. Doc has been my own mentor for flat-picking & finger-picking since then. If you look at his incredible flat-pick breaks in this film (210 bps+), all PERFECTLY noted & in time, you can appreciate how Doc's was so original & influential, way back then. Best regards, Michael.
@mikef1955 Thank you. I completely agree about Watson and his brilliance and uniqueness. When I did not know until I filmed him, which I did several times in my career, is what an extraordinarily kind giving philosophical individual he is. A superior person in every regard. And the relationship between him and Earl Scruggs was beautiful to witness.
This Film is a real piece of true American History , and it should be viewed and treated as such when legendary Pioneers of Bluegrass Music get together and play unrehearsed ...I love this film !
@jcline9244 Thank you for your comment. Interestingly enough, the Smithsonian has purchased the rights to two of my films as critical to their collection on American folk history. They did so not only because of the music but also because of the dialogue. When I made these films, it seemed to me that the speech, the interchange, was as important as the music. It turns out that that is the way Smithsonian sees it that way also.
Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt were main staple music in our house when I was growing up. Grandfather was a music teacher and played all kinds of country and blue grass on guitar, banjo, fiddle, mouth harp, harmonica and extensive toe tapping.
@TheTinywhitedove - Thank you for sharing your family experience is one of the wonders of people like you who grew up in musical families based on the tradition of Scottish Irish English and American eyes music. I always thought that I would like to have grown up in such a family rather than in Levittown Long Island where I grew up with no musical culture around us. Did your granddad teach you how to play?
great video. i would assume that steve didn't want to be front and center, as he was just learning the guitar.
since doc is blind, i doubt if he was aware of whether he was blocking him or not, from view.
it was just a homemade video of some great musical talents that were also friends that we are priveleged to get to share. for that, we are fortunate that it was preserved. i wish there were more of them.
Magnificent footage. A very special opportunity in this film to see the very best muso's of their chosen genre in action. The accompanying (albeit somewhat edited) vinyl LP which accompanied
this film is similarly precious to those of us that own it. Superb posting !! Don't get better than this.
I made this movie in about 1971. I can remember sticking a microphone pole in the ground at Doc's house and setting up the shots and shooting it myself with a single camera. I am proud of my zooms and other camera moves and the sensitivity to what each musician was doing. I loved Doc Watson then. I am sure I would love him now.
This video just made my day. I love music, all music, in its rawest form. I listen to rockabilly, swing, jazz, punk, whatever, I love it all. This video shows how greast bluegrass and roots music really is. No soundboards or mixers, just people playing their instruments. I love it!
timmymason2003 3 days ago
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what can a man ask to life more than teaching music to sons and playing then music with them ?
VClaudioGreco 2 weeks ago
I am family and didnt even know this existed. Thank You! RWB
Watson2ndGen 2 weeks ago
This is most valuable footage here! Anything with Merle in it is. I had the pleasure of seeing Doc and Merle Watson perform together in 1968 in Los Angeles. Merle was a phenomenal picker. He and his dad were amazing together. RIP Merle.
looterish 3 weeks ago
@allinaday asheville is like an hour or so away i live pretty much in boone around deep gap, but my grandpa lives in the black mountains right beside asheville
danksmoka10 1 month ago
i live 10 min. from where there at :D deep gap nc
danksmoka10 1 month ago
@danksmoka10 you live so close. I am coming this summer to retrace some of the steps I took when I 1st made this movie and film what I see. How far are you from Asheville?
David Hoffman - filmmaker
allinaday 1 month ago
Talent, Class, and Humility. Three words to describe these North Carolina legends.
bostonteabagger71739 1 month ago
i remember when i was about 5, lester flatt and earl scruggs came over to my grandpa's house and played well into the night.
jacklazzell 2 months ago
thats the god damn simple/joyous life right there
sickmaninthebox 2 months ago
Oh man thanks you from a poor boy in London England you made me feel like a kinda guitar picker again! god bless you all!!
FrankSavages 2 months ago
thats awesome
butchd18 2 months ago
thank you for posting this..truly priceless history
cw6983 3 months ago
Comment removed
OysterLava 3 months ago
Goosebumps time...
wbloom2314 3 months ago
Maybe these guys could have used a few more guitars!
tubmandavid 4 months ago
"aaaaw play it now!"
toraassm 4 months ago
which year is it?
roftedele 4 months ago
This is beautiful music! Even if its not your style you have to appreciate it for the art that it is. I appreciate music I dont like because alot went into producing it. If you do not like something to the point you must cut it down, why are you watching it in the first place??
oldbuckshot 4 months ago
Cripple creek at the end there was pretty friggin' awesome. Its also pretty awesome how this is at Doc Watson's home. He is an icon of the Appalachian mountains. They just put a statue of him on King St. in Boone NC, and I heard he also recently played a small concert on the lawn of the Doctor House on King St. I would've killed to be there!
jjjetplaneification 4 months ago
Thank you so much for posting this. Saw Earl yesterday at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
socal1968 4 months ago
This looks like the best time ever. Awesome.
AaronBrooklyn50 5 months ago
Wonderful video; Merrel is there and Earl Scruggs had a son with him as well. This shows his respect for Doc. He wanted his son to play with him. Time has blurred it all.
oldheadnj 5 months ago
I like Anita Carters version better, but this one is nice too;)
Rosalynn100 5 months ago
This is sensational!
blewj 5 months ago
How I would love to have that kind of talent!!!
guitar8166 5 months ago
Great picking
alphasxsignal 5 months ago
The 2 that don't like this.. We'll string you you from the nearest oak tree!
ozarkcacti 5 months ago
What's the name of the tune that starts at 3:45?
thefringthing 5 months ago
@thefringthing Home Sweet Home
fangjangler 4 months ago
Marvelous
gladysyarbrough1 5 months ago
Excellent !!!
banjolowe 5 months ago
I love that at the end of each song, they can't help but laugh. It's amazing
CSSW44 5 months ago
WOW !!!!!!
buzzkill1969 6 months ago
Sorry Mr Hoffman, for not paying attention misspelled your name.
I wrote two n and only one f , sorry again.
Sincerely, José Luis.
joselo1944 6 months ago
hello friend
I appreciate your responses and comments.
I can understand English well enough but I do not dare write it, will use a translator.
Indeed I think that this interpretation of bluegrass transcends time.
I fully agree with you, were and will be giants in their musical genre.
Mr Hofmann visionary filmmaker was that day.
Unfortunately some brain mosquito, (never missing), criticized the film ..
Excuse the expression, but what I feel.
Big hug from Buenos Aires, Jose Luis.
joselo1944 6 months ago 7
@joselo1944 thank you for your comment.
David Hoffman -- filmmaker
allinaday 5 months ago
@joselo1944 Hola!! Yo soy de Chile! Gracias por subir este video. Qué música tan genial!! I love country and hillbilly
skollbus 2 months ago
What a great video. Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson, two great pickers. Thanks for posting so we all can enjoy.
cam4955 6 months ago
I really enjoyed watching Earl watch Doc's fingers fly over the neck of his Gallagher. One artist appreciating the work of another.
chemteacher54 6 months ago
The camera is a time machine and thanks to this beautuful film future generations will be able to go back in time just as we have and enjoy this magnificent moment in music history. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful session with the world.
ratherknotty 6 months ago 2
@ratherknotty - thank you for your beautiful comment. I feel the same way about these old films that I made so many years ago. It is interesting that when I was there, setting up the scene and filming it, for each of these amazing moments in the music films I made back then, I knew that I was recording history. I could feel it at the time. And it proved to be true today.
David Hoffman–filmmaker
allinaday 6 months ago 3
Sencillamente extraordinario, el haber podido juntar estos ejecutantes en su mejor época se podría comparar perfectamente,( respetando sus géneros distintos), con la unión de los tres tenores Pavarotti, Carreras y Domingo.Esto queda como música para todos los tiempos.En Argentina diríamos, Earl es al bluegrass lo que Gardel es al tango.Gracias por haber hecho esta filmación.José Luis desde Buenos Aires.
joselo1944 6 months ago
@joselo1944 I hope you can read english! I just read your Comment via Bing translator and I agree tottally, and thought that the analogy of the 3 tenors was exactly right! These men are "Giants of talent" in Bluegrass!
1madeintheimage 6 months ago
AWESOME! Wondeful performance!
CNS2 7 months ago
American Music!
TheGlimmertwins2 7 months ago
Sublime! Thanks for posting this and thanks for the phenomenon of YouTube!
digeratidesign 7 months ago
Unrehearsed? LOLOL Who can tell? These fellows could have been blindfolded and playing with one hand and it would still sound great. This brings back so many wonderful memories of the get togethers of my youth. Grampa on the fiddle, harmonica, and jaw's harp, gramma on the spoons and violin, me on the whiskey jug and washtub, Uncles on the guitars and mandolins and everyone else on whatever they could find or just tappin' their toes and stompin' and clappin'..YYYEEEEeeeHHHhhaaawwwww....
tyme4mike 7 months ago
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Most beautiful sound in the world....
Pickinbuddy 7 months ago
This is just magnificant!! I thank whoever recorded this and he is really lucky too!
Master100Mind 7 months ago
I never thought there would be a flat picker as good as Doc Watson, but Randy Scruggs reached that plateau.
Search YouTube for Earl Scruggs and Friends "Black Mountain Rag" uploaded by coasterrider43. Randy plays a great version of "Black Mountain Rag" with Earl and Randy.
EmotionalResQ 7 months ago 2
Without a doubt superb film from some fantastic players. Though if he was playing? I would have liked to have seen the kid in glasses other than disconcertingly .... slap, dang in the middle. Somewhere else. .... eerily, I wondered if it was the same tune on that tenor? But hey, totally unrehearsed ... absolutely great!
hirundine 7 months ago
Incredible. My two favorite Bluegrass pickers. Doesn't get any better than this.
zarchy55 7 months ago
absolutly priceless
dannooozy 8 months ago
Exactly...a historic moment for you and them and if you think about it.....for folks who did this kind of music in exactly this kind of setting for a hundred years before them. Thank you so much for preserving my heritage.
Appalachia lover.
tchrbaby 8 months ago
Thanks for posting. Wonderful!
EricFlatpick 8 months ago
its awesome to see people who are just amazing at what they do
HE4DACH3 8 months ago
This is so great...real roots music....Americana at it's best.
bgierat 8 months ago
Thank you for putting this video here. I feel like I spent some time at Doc's back yard today and listened to some very talented friends do what they do best. Almost like being there. Thank you my friend
Atkinsfan 8 months ago
I'm so thankful there have been people out there like this film maker who took the time to record moments like this. It must have been a wonderful afternoon. Earl, Merl, Doc - wow what I would have given to be there on that day. Oh wait - I just was! Thanks!
TheMeemeister 9 months ago 9
@TheMeemeister And thank you for such a beautifully written comment. It was an extraordinary afternoon and so I was very young at the time, I knew that I was seeing history in the making.
David Hoffman–filmmaker
allinaday 9 months ago 3
I am telling you folks, place these people in the middle of a raging battle and let them play for two minutes and all these warriors so busy killing each other will drop their weapons and tap their feed and god will smile his finest smile
Thaulopi 9 months ago 2
@Thaulopi Classic comment!
kaysandesses 9 months ago
Incredible!
wbloom 9 months ago
Someone please take the computer away from the dislikers. :)
AnotherHoustonKid 9 months ago 13
@AnotherHoustonKid I find that their are people who use YouTube to express their basic hostility and look to attack. To be a presenter on YouTube as I am, an independent filmmaker, you have to be somewhat thick-skinned and I am. I love Doc and Earl and this is the recording of a a great moment in the history of country/mountain music. David Hoffman–filmmaker
allinaday 9 months ago 5
@allinaday
I agree 100% it is a great video.
AnotherHoustonKid 9 months ago
@allinaday So right. Such a shame that some few pathetic individuals with no capacity for joy in their hearts have to try to impart their ignorance on others. They will say or do anything just to get any degree of attention from anybody. Pitiful creatures are these...
nasani03 7 months ago
@allinaday I agree, this is so great. Just ignore them!
uglymoon78 5 months ago
@AnotherHoustonKid There's no need to scold the dislikers,,,,just feel sorrow for them. I just laugh at them.
actionlaser26 8 months ago
Love this!! Think it's funny that they're sitting in Doc's yard and Earl is all duded up in his suit though!! I think they all should have had on their bibs!!
TheIllinoisjones7 9 months ago
Holy Shit!!!! This is amazing!!! Doc and Earl...two American musical icons. Thanks for the post!!
hamsteak7 10 months ago
Where is Stevie's dad?
AxisSalley 10 months ago
Excellent video, but does anyone else feel sorry for the kid at behind Earl? lol
Durkin 10 months ago
@Durkin
Yeah he says ' his son merle and my son randy, and *pause* stevie.' maybe stevie is the neighbor kid who sucks at guitar.
bobpoof 10 months ago
John Sebastian said it all in "Nashville Cats" David H.." They've been playin since they's babies."
Tom Loughlin Jr Utica NY/ Erwin Tn
telsport 10 months ago
Great Job Dave. I live about 15 minutes from where this was filmed. Thanx fer the post.
blueridger28 10 months ago
americas awesomest home videos
piobaireachdjongleur 11 months ago
And to think you wittenesed the greatest combination!
Master100Mind 11 months ago
Great video..
wisesatyr72 11 months ago
Bluegrass music is awesome, espeically these three, thank you for the video
wisesatyr72 11 months ago
i'm from canada (quebec) and i was born in 1971, but i love guitars and i really love the sounds of those guitars, merci! thanks for posting! martin.
ozzandmadman21 11 months ago
Comment removed
brianwells456comcast 9 months ago
Are there any Doc Watson recordings that capture this kind of raw relaxed quality? This is amazing.
LucyStag 11 months ago
@LucyStag BLACK MOUNTAIN RAG by Doc and Merle Watson is my favorite.Tony Rice and Norman Blake even make an appearance on one of the tracks.One of the best sounding (sonically speaking) recordings that I`ve ever heard to boot!(Think Amazon has some copies).
brianwells456comcast 9 months ago
Thanks for posting this
slidenote 11 months ago
American royalty.
mzim144659 11 months ago
This is so incredible! Doc Watson got me into fingerpicking in college in the late 60s and I've seen him several times since. I even stopped at Deep Gap and talked with a storekeeper who knew him (everybody did in that little place), and she asked if I wanted to visit him at his home...! I didn't since I thought it would be an imposition, and of course I regret it now. But what friendly, trusting people.
hznfrst 11 months ago
@hznfrst im from deep gap actually doc is my great uncle he is such a great guy and this is a great place to live
watauga40 11 months ago
@watauga40 That's very cool and I'm more than a little envious. My sister's a big fan also and sees him a lot, sometimes driving from Minnesota to the big festivals in Tennessee and so forth. She even baked him a cake once which he thanked her profusely for. May he be with us for decades to come.
hznfrst 11 months ago
In a way this video clip makes me sad. Both Earl and Doc had to endure the sadness of losing their sons not long after this. Earl lost Stevie and Doc lost his son Merle to a tractor accident. Life is hard sometimes, but to have both these giants of American music have to feel such pain seems so sad. I hope Doc and Earl were able to feel some of the joy and happiness they gave to people like me, though. Thanks, gentlemen.
Tthorpe456 1 year ago
Excellent footage. Thanks for sharing it with us. Thanks to folks like you, us future generations can gain valuable insight into the lives of some of the most influential American musicians to ever have played, insight you just can't get from a record.
drcarico 1 year ago
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what lovley music and what wonderful players thanks so much .muzzy
muzzy848 1 year ago
what lovley music and what wonderful players thanks so much
muzzy848 1 year ago
Comment removed
arlichar11 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
John Lennon, in a rare interview from 1979 was asked: “What is your biggest regret?”
John: “Saying to Paul: ‘Shall we let Ringo sing one?’”
youtube.com
/watch?v=adVhx92nggM
retrobiff7 1 year ago
This video is so perfect. I have seen Doc Watson many times. I have never heard him so relaxed. He is pretty mellow all the time, but this is on another level! This is just excellent. The music is beyond wonderful! I will check out the entire film. Thank you so much for posting this. It showcases our National Treasures in bluegrass and mountain music.
MyMoppet52 1 year ago 2
@MyMoppet52 thank you for your comment and your insight. My style has always the and to make a documentary shoot so that the extraordinary ordinary people I am filming feel relaxed. Kings and queens and presidents have a harder time with my style then wonderful "ordinary" people like Doc and Earl.
Dave Altman–filmmaker
allinaday 1 year ago
i ove how earl seemingly drifts off into his mental library of tunes..and just effrtlessly brings the goods...!!!!! hes obviousky a huble and easy goin guy...i love this footage.. u can really feel the atmosphere of the setting....
arlichar11 1 year ago
I am so glad I saw this.
lens33 1 year ago
Hi, I have just been introduced to the genius that is Doc Watson, thanks for posting these unique very personable pieces of musical/cinematic history.
Thanks from all in the UK.
underpants1965 1 year ago
Unsurpassable.
FredJ51 1 year ago
Earl says "we're gonna 'attempt' to play a few tunes". he's knows how to be understated, eh! wish i could attempt a few tunes like those guys :)
Romamb 1 year ago
Now these guys can play ! What else can ya say !
hardluckstories1 1 year ago
this is what a paradise would be like...just relaxin in te countryide with doc and earl....
just makes ya feeel good...
arlichar11 1 year ago
REAL MUSIC- REAL PEOPLE....GOD BLESS AMERICA
melodymaker65 1 year ago
these men are unreal.... thank you for posting this and keeping it alive and kicking.
lykndamuzic 1 year ago
Thanks for posting this! Priceless! Makes me want to practice my guitar, and quit playing altogether! They make it look so easy.
dkmurphygirl 1 year ago 5
@dkmurphygirl I know just what you mean about the feelings you have on both fronts. They make it look ridiculously easy. When I made this film so many years ago, I stopped picking banjo and started taking documentary filmmaking more seriously. Partially because I didn't learn as a kid like they did. What geniuses they were and are.
David Hoffman – independent filmmaker
allinaday 1 year ago 4
Thanks for posting this! Priceless!
dkmurphygirl 1 year ago
What year was this taken just outta curiosity?
Master100Mind 1 year ago
dude i play metal actually Christian metal but you know what this kinda of music always makes me happy it takes so much talent and it sounds great and anyone who calls them hillbillies are just untalented pricks with no life hence the douche below me
Neal9443 1 year ago
WHO ARE THESE BUNCH OF HILLBILLIES - ARE THEY DRUNK - THEY SURE DIDN'T DO THAT MERLE HAGGARD SONG VERY WELL - BUT THE GUY PLAYING THE SITAR WAS PRETTY GOOD!
jehovahuponyou 1 year ago
Wow! Thank you
captboostacious 1 year ago
Go by Docs house on my way into to town. I try to see Doc Play every chance i get.
blueridger28 1 year ago
This is the best clip on YouTube! Made my day, thanks for uploading this!
SerendipitousSojourn 1 year ago
This world would be a much better place if there were more Doc Watsons in it, for sure.
He is a kind and brilliant multi talented man. The same goes for Earl Scruggs.
This film is priceless. The laid back casualness of it makes it so much better than any staged performance.
It was a terrible tradgedy of how doc lost Merle at such a young age.
They were so close and i know it had to be the most painful experience of his life.
Doc and Earl are both treasured stars.
MISSSUSIEQ1 1 year ago
I'm gonna go see Doc tomorrow night (Fri. Nov. 12th. 2010) in Raleigh, NC for my 66th. Birthday which is today, Nov. 11th. 2010, Veterans Day!! Can't wait!! :D)
mpm111144 1 year ago
the kid in the back is the future bassist for steely dan...
xXkingPurpXx 1 year ago
...the kid in the background doesnt seem to know what the hell he is doing....
thefoxesarefleet 1 year ago
Earl scruggs the sound of bluegrass! wow
dwarf2 1 year ago
thank you for posting thank you thank you
byan70 1 year ago
This is awesome thanks for posting it.
ncss01 1 year ago
Earl, I'm gonna "attempt" to breathe...(3 seconds later) Wow, I made it!!!
brasspick 1 year ago
the best of the best hell ya boy thats how ya do it
hoveychrist 1 year ago
thank you
LivingSacrificeMusic 1 year ago
I saw the Earl Scruggs Revue way back when in Upstate S.C.
JimBozeman1956 1 year ago
KING OF KINGS RIGHT THERE WITH RICHERD PETTY
hoveychrist 1 year ago
Hi David Hoffman & allinaday, this is a GREAT posting of an invaluable film. I live in London UK and after Newport Festival, I stated importing Doc Watson's albums in the mid 70's (originally on Vanguard) into the UK. Doc has been my own mentor for flat-picking & finger-picking since then. If you look at his incredible flat-pick breaks in this film (210 bps+), all PERFECTLY noted & in time, you can appreciate how Doc's was so original & influential, way back then. Best regards, Michael.
mikef1955 1 year ago 8
@mikef1955 Thank you. I completely agree about Watson and his brilliance and uniqueness. When I did not know until I filmed him, which I did several times in my career, is what an extraordinarily kind giving philosophical individual he is. A superior person in every regard. And the relationship between him and Earl Scruggs was beautiful to witness.
David Hoffman -- filmmaker
allinaday 1 year ago 5
This Film is a real piece of true American History , and it should be viewed and treated as such when legendary Pioneers of Bluegrass Music get together and play unrehearsed ...I love this film !
jcline9244 1 year ago 5
@jcline9244 Thank you for your comment. Interestingly enough, the Smithsonian has purchased the rights to two of my films as critical to their collection on American folk history. They did so not only because of the music but also because of the dialogue. When I made these films, it seemed to me that the speech, the interchange, was as important as the music. It turns out that that is the way Smithsonian sees it that way also.
David Hoffman -- film maker
allinaday 1 year ago
Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt were main staple music in our house when I was growing up. Grandfather was a music teacher and played all kinds of country and blue grass on guitar, banjo, fiddle, mouth harp, harmonica and extensive toe tapping.
TheTinywhitedove 1 year ago
@TheTinywhitedove - Thank you for sharing your family experience is one of the wonders of people like you who grew up in musical families based on the tradition of Scottish Irish English and American eyes music. I always thought that I would like to have grown up in such a family rather than in Levittown Long Island where I grew up with no musical culture around us. Did your granddad teach you how to play?
David Hoffman -- film maker
allinaday 1 year ago
ya'll are very good
musicman3475 1 year ago
So effortlessly beautiful....Thanks for posting this.
mikehattan 1 year ago
Anyone know what kind of guitars Doc and Earl's son were playing?
dovo 1 year ago
@dovo Not sure about Merles guitar, it's probably a Martin. Doc is Playing a Gallagher, made by Don Gallagher of Wartrace Tennessee.
waynerjson 1 year ago
@dovo I know Doc is playing a Gallagher - posssibly "Ol Hoss", the D 50 made by J.W. and Don Gallagher in 1968, which Doc retired in 1974.
AustinRogers1 1 year ago
Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson, music doesn`t get any better
Paspicky 1 year ago
this is beautiful..Man I'm there!......love the old 16mm look,I can almost feel the breeze blowing the greenery..
malondo7 1 year ago
this is beautiful...Man I'm there!...Love that old 16mm look..I can almost feel the breeze blowing the greenery...
malondo7 1 year ago
Recibe un saludo desde Venezuela, Impresionante ejecusion de la Música Country, Aplausos de Pie!
EXTRAORDINARIO!!!!! SUPER!
Energetica74 1 year ago
wonderful so good to see n hear the great man
skippy180864 1 year ago
Doc and Earl set the bench mark for bluegrass pickin' . Most b/g pickers still have a long way to go to reach this standard.
mosrite60 1 year ago 2
Thank you. This is a great video. No matter what musical tradition you may come from. Good music is always good music.
stevessn 1 year ago 2
This is very respectable. It's a shame this video doesn't get more hits.
3DEC3 1 year ago 2
poor kid in the back getting drownded out.
spaded01 1 year ago
great video. i would assume that steve didn't want to be front and center, as he was just learning the guitar.
since doc is blind, i doubt if he was aware of whether he was blocking him or not, from view.
it was just a homemade video of some great musical talents that were also friends that we are priveleged to get to share. for that, we are fortunate that it was preserved. i wish there were more of them.
MISSSUSIEQ1 1 year ago 4
Terrific stuff. But I don't think they want the young kid with glasses there... bit by bit they block him out ti he's completely out of site.
oo1ooo1oo 2 years ago
@oo1ooo1oo Stevie was only 13 or 14 when this video was recorded and was just getting started with his music.
He later became a very accomplished musician until hs untimely death in 1992.
EmotionalResQ 2 years ago
Magnificent footage. A very special opportunity in this film to see the very best muso's of their chosen genre in action. The accompanying (albeit somewhat edited) vinyl LP which accompanied
this film is similarly precious to those of us that own it. Superb posting !! Don't get better than this.
colindominy 2 years ago
It doesn't get much more real or better than this.
wbloom 2 years ago
Great video!
Motoguzzi750 2 years ago
sounds like andy griffith at the beginning
Dwhat12 2 years ago
this is what is known as "the good stuff".
no1countryfan 2 years ago 11
@no1countryfan Yes sir...you are right.
bigmrclean 2 years ago 2
Interesting. Thanks David. Nice film from 38 years back. Good work. Doc and Earl are something special.
dogvandave 2 years ago 4
Nice. Did you use the Auricon in camera sound feature to record the sound and film together? It has good sound quality.
dogvandave 2 years ago
No. We used what we called double system. The sound was recorded on a Nagra iv-2. Fabulous tape recorder. Terrible microphone.
David Hoffman -- filmmaker
allinaday 2 years ago
This picture is good quality. Is this 16mm? Do you remember what kind of camera and lense you used? Thanks.
dogvandave 2 years ago
Dear dogvandave
Yes. 16mm it is. I used an Auricon Pro mounted with an Anjenieux 12 to 120 zoom.
David Hoffman -- filmmaker
allinaday 2 years ago
does earl scruggs have the banjo or the guitar
timmy8911 2 years ago
Earl is the one with the banjo, of course.
gospelgirl1964 2 years ago
shoot yourself
nasty5oh 2 years ago
maybe you should haha
dieseldawg2 2 years ago
Doc is my neighbor here in deep gap what year was this made?
Krezip 2 years ago
I made this movie in about 1971. I can remember sticking a microphone pole in the ground at Doc's house and setting up the shots and shooting it myself with a single camera. I am proud of my zooms and other camera moves and the sensitivity to what each musician was doing. I loved Doc Watson then. I am sure I would love him now.
David Hoffman -- filmmaker
allinaday 2 years ago
You did a great job on this. Thanks for the post and the reply
Krezip 2 years ago
Long live the farmers of the world.
TadKAWAII 2 years ago
Nobody could get around with a flat pick like Doc Watson.
Look for Doc's version of Black Mountain Rag here on YouTube.
EmotionalResQ 2 years ago
This makes me smile. :) Sad though about Merle and Stevie... I got to visit Doc up in North Carolina, he is just a good ol' guy.
kdocki 2 years ago 5