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Doc Watson
Vanguard Visionaries
(Vanguard)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2007, Volume 14, #9
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
Doc Watson is a great artist. His clear, unaffected singing along with his
pristine and seemingly effortless style of playing guitar have entertained
generations of bluegrass fans. Watson’s supreme naturalness — and his ability to
make everything sound as if there’s nothing to it — hides a level of discipline
and technical proficiency that is virtually unparalleled in the roots-music
genre. Now in his 80s, Arthel "Doc" Watson has slowed down the pace of his life
considerably, and his recordings and concert appearances are rare and noteworthy
events. It is a pity that Vanguard Records, the home of many of Watson’s
greatest recorded performances, has not treated his venerated body of work with
the care and reverence that it deserves. Like the rest of the discs in the
well-intentioned but utterly misguided Vanguard Visionaries series,
Watson’s installment is — ironically — almost entirely lacking in vision and
commonsense.
In the nearly 50 years since he began to record, Doc Watson has committed
more country and bluegrass classics to tape than any other artist this side of
Johnny Cash. Blind since the age of one, Watson is literally a walking
encyclopedia of American roots music and rural guitar styles. He — like Odetta
and many of the other performers represented in the Vanguard Visionaries
series — is a living treasure, and, also like his compatriots, a sensitive
overview of his canon has been long overdue. Vanguard’s chop jobs and roughshod
tractor rides through all of these artists’ catalogues are a shame and a sin.
The 10 tracks that have been assembled for Watson’s edition of Vanguard
Visionaries fail to scratch the surface or give any indication of his
accomplishments. In effect, this 26-minute overview is finished playing almost
as soon as it begins. The songs are all wonderful, of course, but other than
interesting takes on Rising Sun Blues and Shady Grove, there is
nothing terribly challenging or eye-opening on this endeavor. Whoever compiled
the outing — there are no credits or liner notes anywhere — neglected to dig
very far into the considerable catalogue of albums that Watson recorded during
his Vanguard heyday in the 1960s. Considering that CDs are capable of holding
nearly 80 minutes of music, it would have taken little extra money or effort to
paint a much more thorough and compelling picture of Watson’s beautiful and
essential work. Curious listeners would be well advised to seek out the
reasonably priced and far superior four-disc collection The Vanguard Years
or the more concise overview provided by The Essential Doc Watson. Simply
put, Vanguard Visionaries ought to be avoided at all costs. Purchasing it
will only encourage the company to issue more of these unfortunate sets, and
that would be a travesty. 
Other Artists Featured in the Vanguard Visionaries Series
James Cotton
Mississippi John Hurt
Odetta
Big Mama Thornton
Junior Wells
Vanguard Visionaries is available from Amazon.com.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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