I have a friend who loves bluegrass music. He, himself has been playing an acoustic guitar most of his life. A few years ago Doc Watson came to Atlanta and he, his grandson, my friend and I – we all had dinner together before one of Doc’s performances. It was the first time I met Doc in person.

Because my friend has been a Doc Watson fan and an acquaintance for a number of years, I interviewed him about his relationship with Doc.

The below section is that interview which is also an AUDIO MP3 and available elsewhere.

G: “Hi, I’m Gail Gupton, and I’m here interviewing my good friend, Bob Perl. He is a bluegrass affectionato and he’s a good friend of Doc Watson. So, Bob, how did you meet Doc Watson? Tell me about it.”

B: “I met Doc Watson in the early 70’s through J. W. Gallagher. I had always been a fan of Doc Watson’s and I discovered the Gallagher guitars back in the late 60’s, probably around ‘68 or ‘69, and J.W. Gallagher connected with Doc and Doc began to play Gallagher guitars and the Gallaghers introduced me to Doc and Merle in the very early 70’s. And, I became friends with both Doc and Merle.”

G: “Where did you meet them?”

B: “I met them at Wortrace, Tennessee, for the first time where the Gallagher guitars were made.  Doc then started playing at the Great Southeast Music Hall in the Atlanta area.”

G: “You’ve told me about some things they did when they came into the Atlanta area; so can you tell me again what transpired during that time?”

B: “Well, when they came into Atlanta, after driving all the way from Deep Gap, Doc was kind of tired and Merle had friends here and of course there were all the electronic stores and music stores he liked to go to, so Merle would call me when they got into the motel and said, ‘Come pick up Daddy’. And I would go pick up Doc and we’d go get a bite to eat; or if he wanted to go to a music store we’d go there or a lot of times we’d just go back to my apartment and relaxed. And then there was a certain time when they had to be back at the Music Hall for their sound check and I took them there for the sound check and then stayed for the entire performance.”

G: “Ok, and you went out to dinner with them, right?”

B: “I went to dinner with them many times. There were times when Doc and I went to lunch and people would come over and they would recognize him and say they would want to shake his hand and then when we would go to pay the bill, the bill would be magically paid!”

G: “That’s amazing! I guess he’s an icon.”

B: “Doc is an icon, but he doesn’t like to be treated like an icon. He likes to be treated just like everybody else. He just likes to be respected but he doesn’t like to be put up on a pedestal.”

G: “Exellent. What most impressed you about Doc Watson – either his music style or his manner of living or his mannerism or his personality?”

B: “Everything. . . unbelievable musician, but also the most down-to-earth person you would ever want to meet. I had the privilege of being at his house and he’s the kind of guy that, you know, he’ll clean up after himself, he’ll take out his own trash. He doesn’t expect people to do those kind of things for him. He just wants to be treated and act like a normal person.”

G: “You’ve been to his house?”

B: “Yes, I have.”

G: “Wow.  And, I understand you may have spent some time with he and his wife and his daughter and Merle. What can you tell us about that? ”

B: “I got to know Rosalee, his wife, and Nancy, his daughter, and when I went to Doc’s house I went with a friend named _________, and we had our guitars with us, and when we went in the house there Doc sat down and said, ‘Well, son, is there anything I can show you?’ And, I think both of our jaws hit the floor at the same time. Here you have arguable the best, one of the best, flatpickers on the planet offering to show you anything you want to be shown.”

G: “Wow, that’s pretty impressive. Now, I know you’ve told me in the past, Bob, about . . that you purchased things for Doc - you know, like little gadgets and things that he wasn’t really familiar with?”

B: “Well, having been in audio and video most of my adult life I know all these little gadgets that come out, and when the first digital recorders appeared, I got one of those for Doc. And also, before that, the talking clock. – the little talking alarm clock that would tell you what time it is. Doc liked that because he didn’t have to fool with his Braille watch much after that.”

G: “The little recorder: I think you told me that he used to record things while they were traveling because Merle would be doing the driving.”

B: “Right. Merle would drive and Doc would have that little recorder with him and if he had thoughts or notes or anything like that he would just talk into the recorder and he thought that was just marvelous.”

G: “(LOL) That’s pretty good. And, a reel-to-reel, I think you mentioned one time that you did something about that?”

B: “I was in the stereo business back in the early 70’s and I actually sold Doc three things that come to mind: I sold him a set of Advent speakers. I sold him a Pioneer reel-to-reel recorder. . . .

G: “Well, the reel-to-reel-recorder you said was still in the family.”

B: “Yeah, they still have that . . . yeah . . . they still have that.”

G: “And that was back in what, 1973?”

B: “1972.”

G: “So, you really have known him a long time.”

B: “I have.”

G: “Excellent.  And, from what you’ve told me; and I hate to bring this up; when Merle passed away, that you were a pallbearer at his funeral. Was that correct?”

B: “I was with Merle at the Moon Shadow Saloon in Atlanta and I actually shot a video of the very last performance live of Doc and Merle Watson on a Sunday night, October 20, 1985. Two days later, Merle was tragically killed in that accident and when I heard the news on the radio, I just went cold and within an hour and a half I was on the road up there and I was asked to be a pallbearer because I was a good friend of Merle’s.”

G: “And, by the way, that video is part (of this website bonus) . . .

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