As I stepped into the dingy white dressing room with tongue and groove walls, I noticed him sitting over in the corner with his guitar in his hand, tuning up his B string.I stood in awe of this man’s unique ability to wrap himself around any song and make it his own.
He is blind, and though I never had spent much time around anyone without sight, I felt it appropriate to walk over and introduce myself.
“Mr. Watson, I am Randall Franks,” I said.
He raised his head towards me and stuck out his hand.
“I am here working with Jim and Jesse,” I said.
Often when you step up onto a tour bus, you sometimes do not know the specifics about your destination or whom you will be working with until you arrive. Jim and Jesse made me a regular guest star on the Jim and Jesse Show and I always enjoyed having the opportunity to travel with these Bluegrass legends. This weekend included three stops in different towns and one of those shows was in Rural Hall, N.C.
I appeared on the same festivals with Doc Watson and his late son Merle in the past and although I met Merle, who died tragically in a tractor accident in 1985, I had never had a chance to really meet ‘Doc.’ The multi-Grammy winning artist was doing what he loved, sitting in a corner of a back room in a North Carolina auditorium waiting for his turn on stage. Doc Watson is one of traditional music’s greatest influencers, bursting onto the scene during the folk revival of the sixties. With the folk revival waning, he struck gold again as part of the original Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” album cast. One of my favorite albums featured a combination of Doc, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.
While his style and mine were different, I was anxious to soak in a bit of what he did. We passed a few pleasantries as I got my fiddle out and tuned it up. He was singing a bit of “Riding that Midnight Train” when another icon walked backstage, Bill Monroe with his mandolin in hand. He took out his Gibson F-5, turned a couple of keys, and joined right in. While I already was a former Blue Grass Boy, as these two greats voices melded on traditional songs such as “What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul” and “Banks of the Ohio,” the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Here I was with my fiddle in hand, throwing in a bit and a piece with these two innovators. As we played a little “Fire on the Mountain,” I envisioned myself on stage with these two icons at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963.
As the stage show went on outside, I thought to myself the show was really going on right here. This was a solid gold performance that happened totally by accident.
Sadly, it came and went without notice of anyone except us three. At least at this show.
I can tell you though, as someone sitting on the front row, I wish you were there to feel the combination of Watson’s guitar style and Monroe’s mandolin. I believe that the sound came tremendously close to the thirtys Monroe Brothers that took the Carolinas by storm and set brother Bill on his path to forge the new genre of bluegrass.
If you would like to enjoy an evening like I did in that North Carolina school house years ago, pick up a copy of Smithsonian Folkways’ “Off The Record, Vol. 2: Live Duet Recordings, 1963-1980 with Bill Monroe and Doc Watson.” I am sure you will not regret it. I know this jam session is one that will always be etched in my memory. As Sept. 12-14, 2011 rolls round thousands of Monroe fans and the Bluegrass Hall of Famers will gather in Owensboro, Ky. for three days celebrating the 100th birthday of Mr. Monroe. I will be on hand to join my fellow Blue Grass Boys as we are all honored for our contributions to his music at the Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration.
For more information, visit http://www.bluegrass-museum.org. Randall Franks is an award-winning musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his role as “Officer Randy Goode” on TV’s “In the Heat of the Night” now on WGN America. His latest CD release, “An Appalachian Musical Revival,” is by www.shareamericafoundation.org. He is a member of the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame. He is a syndicated columnist for http://randallfranks.com.