This book was conceived and designed for Doc Watson music-lovers. Doc himself typed out the original list of songs that he would like to see in the book. A few deletions and additions were made because of copyright problems. Even so, the final collection is superlative. In it you will find the same wide variety of songs that you would hear at any Doc Watson concert.
In addition to words, melody and chord names, more than half the
book is filled with guitar transcriptions in both tablature and standard music
notation. Most every song has both the basic accompaniment pattern
together with at least one guitar instrumental break.
Realizing that Doc's fans include guitar players of all degrees of
accomplishment, we have included something for those who just barely play
and for those who will one day produce their own guitar method book.
As if that weren't enough, each song includes an introduction by Doc,
where he "recollects" and reminisces about the occasion on which he first
heard a particular song, who sang it, how, and where. Doc gives his own
verbal interpretation of each song and tells why he likes it.
There is a general introduction to the book by Doc, and also one by
Ralph Rinzler. There's a section on how to read tablature and understand
various symbols used in the guitar transcriptions. Of course, there are lots of
photographs; a discography too.
Finally, so that you get the full flavor of Doc, there are a few banjo
pieces-complete.
