Watsons highlight concert

by Steve Webb, The Knickerbocker News, June 30, 1981

Ask 10 persons what bluegrass music is and 10 answers will probably emerge, some having little common ground. The word has been misused so often that one has to know something about the performers in a “bluegrass” concert or festival just to gauge the event’s authenticity.

There was no problem in this regard Monday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The strictest purists use the term to describe only music by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, and they were the headliners in a three- act “Evening of Bluegrass” that also featured Doc and Merle Watson and Mac Wiseman.

To be fair, neither of the other two sets consisted solely of bluegrass material. Wiseman is a country-oriented folksinger, whose repertoire extends from traditional English country songs to Kris Kristofferson. And the Watsons offered an eclectic blend of bluegrass, Delta Blues, and swing.

A culture gap existed among the diverse audience and even between them and performers. Monroe looked and talked with disapproval at some of the rowdies who perhaps came to hear a less-rigid string band style than bluegrass really is. And he had problems when he acted as a schoolmaster and insisted on people calling out requests one at a time.

Wiseman began the evening with 45 minutes of songs, delivered with listless accompaniment from two Bluegrass Boys but a genuine feeling for the older, more obscure material.

The Watsons and bassist T. Michael Coleman then provided the evening’s musical highlights, mostly because they weren’t bound to the past. “We don’t attempt to copy the original sound,” flatpicking guitarist Doc Watson told the crowd. “We just sound like Doc and Mike and Merle and hope you like it.”

The songs that worked particularly well in this set included the Kokomo Arnold piece “Milk Cow Blues,” which went through two tempo changes; a Townes Van Zandt piece called “If I Needed You,” Watson’s tribute to Merle Travis of “Tennessee Stud” (“As I said, I didn’t copy Merle; I did steal several of his licks.”), and the instrumental showcase, “Mamma Don’t Allow no Music Playing Round Here.”

Monroe’s set mixed bluegrass’ distinctive vocal harmonies on love songs and gospel tunes with its equally distinctive mixture of syncopated mandolin, fingerpicking banjo and guitar, bass and fiddle runs. “Crying High Unto the Lord,” “Uncle Pen” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” highlighted a set that was technically proficient, if somewhat lacking in spontaneity.

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