Doc Watson hospitalized in critical condition

[Bruce Morgen]

What an outstanding gentleman
and personal inspiration he's
been -- painful to contemplate
losing him so soon after the
passing of his close friend
Earl Scruggs:

<http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/25/11880220-folk-icon-doc-watson-hospitalized-in-critical-condition#>

[Tony Done]

"Bruce Morgen" wrote in message
news:u6mvr7t08rpb6g9l8...@4ax.com...

*************

Very sad, one of my heroes, even though I don't play in his style. - Except
I'm still to master the timing in "Deep River Blues".

Tony D

[Bruce Morgen]

A lot of folks don't know
that he was a local star
playing electric guitar
when he was discovered by
the late musicologist
(and mando picker) Ralph
Rinzler, who advised him
to go strictly acoustic
and cultivate a college-
age audience up north.
The rest is history.

[It's that Guy again...]

On Fri, 25 May 2012 15:56:57 -0400, Bruce Morgen <edi...@juno.com>
wrote:

>A lot of folks don't know
>that he was a local star
>playing electric guitar
>when he was discovered by
>the late musicologist
>(and mando picker) Ralph
>Rinzler, who advised him
>to go strictly acoustic
>and cultivate a college-
>age audience up north.

I did not know that all, thanx..

JJTj

[Carl]

I'm glad you related that bit of historical musical trivia. I love knowing
that stuff. I "discovered" Doc Watson back in the early '60's myself
probably partly due to Rinzler's suggestion.

Having a strong interest in bluegrass, I know of Ralph Rinzler because he
was the original mandolinist and baritone singer of The Greenbriar Boys, to
me personally (and of course arguably) the most diversified bluegrass band
of the period. I listen to them and Doc Watson to this day.

John Herald, a Woodstock resident, and the guitarist and lead singer (of
most of their tunes) of The Greenbriar Boys passed away several years ago,

Does anytone know what happened to Bob Yellin, the banjo player and tenor?

[Bruce Morgen]

He would have remained
a local phenom without
Rinzler becoming his
manager -- certainly
Manny Solomon (founder
of Vanguard Records)
would have never heard
or recorded him.

>
>Having a strong interest in bluegrass, I know of Ralph Rinzler because he
>was the original mandolinist and baritone singer of The Greenbriar Boys,

Another bit of trivia
for you, Carl: Rinzler
was actually their
second mando/baritone
guy. The original was
Eric Weissberg, who quit
before they signed with
Vanguard. Eric had
previouly introduced
Scruggs-style banjo to
the commericial folk
scene when he (and his
buddy Marshall Brickman)
joined The Tarriers and
later gained both fame
(because it was a hit)
and infamy (because he
was sued for stealing it)
with "Dueling Banjos"
from the "Deliverance"
soundtrack. Another old
buddy of mine, Steve
Mandell, was the guitar
picker on that track.

>to me personally (and of course arguably) the most diversified bluegrass band
>of the period. I listen to them and Doc Watson to this day.

Yup, me too.

>
>John Herald, a Woodstock resident, and the guitarist and lead singer (of
>most of their tunes) of The Greenbriar Boys passed away several years ago,

John was my very first
guitar hero -- a nice but
rather odd and sad guy, he
inspired me with his
complex uptempo flatpicking
technique both with the
Greenies (I can call them
that because they were my
"band-in-laws") and his
work with folk acts like
Ian $ Sylvia. There was
simply no way for him to
make a living as a musician
in the 21st century, even
though he'd put together
several excellent bands
over the years -- and he
really couldn't do anything
else. R.I.P.
>
>Does anyone know what happened to Bob Yellin, the banjo player and tenor?
>
Bob is alive and well afaik
-- I spoke to his brother
(and my former bandmate)
Gene a few months back. He
had a music store up in VT
for a few years, but I'm
pretty sure he's retired by
now.

[Carl]

Hey, thanks for all of that information. I sort of had heard at some point
of the Eric Weissberg link but it probably never really "connected" because
he, as you pointed out, never appeared on any of their recordings.

How did I "discover" them? Well, I was an aspiring bluegrass and folk
guitarist at the ripe old age of 17 back in about 1964. I had a girlfriend
who took me into a record store to buy a record for herself. I don't know
exactly how the store owner sized me up so well, but he came out of the back
with an album and asked me if I wanted it. He just gave it to me. It was a
Greenbriar Boys album (whom I had never heard of) in the wrong Greenbriar
Boys album cover. I guess they didn't sell well and he just gave it to me.
Anyway, I took it back to my girlfriend's apartment and put it on the record
player. I flipped out over it with the first cut and went wild over it even
more as each cut went by. It must have been their second album placed
somehow in their first album cover.

To this day, two of my all time favorite tunes of possibly all time (believe
it or not) are their cover of Ragged But Right (of which, by the way, I
don't even like the song as covered by any other artists) and their cover of
the Hank Williams tune, I Cried Again, besides several others.

I saw them a couple of times in The Gaslight in The Village and I was
introduced to John Herald once at a local folk show held in a church
somewhere in NYC at which he was just an audience member, like myself. My
cousin was a guitarist in an old timey band that performed at the show.

They were the first artists I ever saw perform that tricky "two musicians
play the same instrument at the same time" gimmick, which was, of course,
spectacular.

I will always remember them.