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Melissa Ford:
I truly miss Merle. He was a wonderful musician. He was so quiet and shy
but let his emotions show through his playing. I have been surfing the net
and reading all the nice things written about Doc
and Merle and I cry each time.
My uncle and Doc share the pain you have when you lose a child. My cousin
died three years ago. She and Merle were the same age.
Thanks for your page.
NOTE: Melissa, please contact
me again -- your email address got wiped out in a recent hard-disk crash,
and I'd be truly interested in hearing more from you!
Hi, my name is Melissa Ford. I am a big fan of Doc Watson. My uncle, Jack
Williams, asked Doc to join his band in the late fifties. And as they say,
the rest is history. The two still have a close friendship. Sometimes the
best music can be heard from my uncle's basement as he, Doc, and some local
guys jam. I don't get to go to as many of Doc's concerts as I would like
to.
Jeff Knorek (jknorek@mail.msen.com, Nov 13, 1997:
Wow Manfred!You really know your Doc Watson!
I have a tape of him and Merle (Rest In Peace) playing "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" and "40 Miles to Louisville." As an aside, both are tagged onto a Jerry Band tape from the Roseland Ballroom in '83.
We were listening to it on our way to Louisville to see the Grateful Dead in 1990... I couldn't help but notice a marker along the road noting the location where a drunk driver killed some 25 school children as he drove on the wrong side of the road... 40 miles from Louisville, as that song was playing.
As he introduces the song, Doc says "Forty miles to Louisville and I ain't got no liquor... get drunk I might not get there nohow."
Right as we pass that spot.
The next year Doc Watson played at the Ark here in Ann Arbor. I lived right behind the Ark at that time, and had a great relationship with the folks who run it. I made chicken and dumplings for Doc and Jack [Lawrence] that evening, which got me into the show for free.
