Doc Walsh

Doc Walsh about 1930

Doc Walsh (born July 23, 1901 in Lewis Fork , North Carolina , as Doctor Coble Walsh ; † May 28, 1967 ), also Dock Walsh , was an American old-time musician . Walsh was also a member of the Carolina Tar Heels and was considered the Banjo King of the Carolinas .

Life

Childhood and youth

Doc Walsh was born in 1901, to one of eight children, on a farm in Wilkes County , North Carolina, where he was raised. Walsh's family were talented musicians and it wasn't long before he was given his first banjo , which his brother had made himself. He later exchanged it for a new “Bruno” brand banjo. Walsh started playing in the streets.

Career

In 1924, Walsh listened to Henry Whitters' recently released debut record Lonesome Road Blues / Wreck of the Old '97 and decided to become a professional musician as well. He quit his teaching job and contacted OKeh Records , but they turned him away. After Columbia Records also rejected him, Walsh traveled to Atlanta , Georgia , where he sang to William Brown unannounced. Ultimately, Columbia agreed to sign the young musician and Walsh recorded his first four tracks on October 3, 1925 under the supervision of Frank Walker . During these recordings, he used the three-finger style on the banjo and is therefore one of the first recorded musicians to play this style, which was important for later bluegrass . After this session, Walsh traveled home - but had to run the 300 or so miles to North Carolina.

In 1925, Walsh met the musician Clarence Ashley at a Fiddler's Convention in Boone , North Carolina . Walsh would later work intensively musically with Ashley, including as a member of the Carolina Tar Heels. By the way, Walsh is also known to have performed jointly with Gid Tanner .

In February 1927 Walsh returned to Atlanta with the harmonica virtuoso Gwen Foster to record more songs. During this session, which this time he held for RCA Victor , Walsh played with Foster among others Going to Georgia , There Ain't No Use Working So Hard , Her Name Was Hula Lou and Bring Me a Leaf from the Sea . It was the first of many sessions to be held under the name of the Carolina Tar Heels. Over the years this band recorded 18 pieces with changing line-ups. Only Walsh was the only constant member of this group.

In the early 1930s, however, the tar heels broke apart and no other records are known from Walsh after 1932. With Gwen Foster he played a few more records, at times also as Smoky Mountain Boys. What Walsh did between that point and 1961, the year the Carolina Tar Heels reunited, is not known. Around 1953, his sons Dean and Drake began their careers as The Walsh Brothers . The folk revival in the 1960s brought Walsh back into the public eye, if only to a small extent. Doc Walsh died in 1967 at the age of 66.

Discography

Appearances with the Carolina Tar Heels can be found under Carolina Tar Heels .

year	title	Remarks
Columbia Records
1925	I'm Free at Last / East Bound Train
192?	Bull Dog Down In Tennessee / Educated Man
1926	We Courted In The Rain / Knocking On The Hen House Door
1926	Going Back to Jericho / In the Pines
1926	Traveling Man / Goodbye Booze	B-side by Gid Tanner
RCA Victor
1930	Bathe in that Beautiful Poole / A Precious Sweetheart from Me Is Gone	with Gwen Foster
1930	Laura Lou / We're Just Plain Folks	with Gwen Foster

literature

• Wayne Peas: Rural Roots of Bluegrass: Songs, Stories and History (2003), Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay Publications.

Web links

• Doc Walsh on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)