Nostalgia and Pleasure

If you head into the hills of North Carolina, you just might hear it. It's a skeletal sound of a lone flatpicked guitar and a gnarled high voice pining about a relationship, living a hard life or working the farm. The beauty in the music lies in its simplicity, the notes that cry out for attention and the chapter of life it reveals beyond the city lights. It's reflected in words written by Jimmie Rodgers:

    In my dear old Southern home
    I was happy as I could be
    Where the mockingbirds sing at night while they rest
    In that little old log cabin by the sea.

"It's a nostalgia mixed with pleasure and enjoyment," Watson said. "I don't know how to explain that. But that's the way it is. There is a lot of nostalgia in many of the songs. You might pick up the banjo and play something that's kind of happy sounding, but there's a little bit of nostalgic sadness. But you miss the ones that are gone that played it and the ones that taught the songs to you. And all that goes together and it brings back memories of your boyhood growing up. More than any music I know of, old time music will do that."

Talking with Watson, one of the first things you notice is that he is no different in conversation than he is on stage. He's personable, unassuming and filled with stories about music that have enriched his life. It's almost inconceivable that this relaxed conversationalist can move with such lightning speed up and down the guitar neck....

"I hope they've learned some moral lessons from all of it," he said. "The ballads and songs that don't leave everything in the gray matter, they show the black and white of right and wrong, and the gospel album, which speaks for itself." Watson was referring to On Praying Ground (Sugar Hill 3779), an album that won him a Grammy in 1990, recognized not just for its all- star cast, but for the value of its spiritual message....

Get your hands on the latest issue of Dirty Linen to see the full interview of Doc's reminisences and talk about his new album, Doc-a-billy.

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