Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton

"This new release from Smithsonian Folkways features recordings from Doc Watson's earliest Greenwich Village gigs, in the company of his father-in-law the noted fiddler Gaither Carlton. And the first thing to note from the cover picture is that Doc is sporting a banjo - and the album has him mixing his time between banjo and guitar. These live recordings are alive with excitement ... This is an album worth hearing not just for its historical and archival value - it's a superb folk club set that you can't help but wish you'd been able to catch".

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"This wonderful recording of Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton performing in New York in 1962 begins with a short, sweet instrumental featuring Watson on guitar and his father-in-law on fiddle. 'Double File' is one of those old-time Appalachian ditties of unknown but probably Scots-Irish origin, which fiddler nerds love to haggle over to determine whose version best represents what the song should sound like. Carlton (of Scots, Irish and Cherokee ancestry) usually wins the day. Here, the North Carolinians reel off the song with casual mastery ... Part of the charm of this 15-track compilation stems from the live atmosphere captured by then 18-year-old Peter Siegel's Tandberg reel-to-reel tape machine. Watson's lively banter between songs conveys the quiet confidence of an artist destined to become one of America's most revered musicians, while the audience's enthusiastic reaction reminds us of the heyday of the American folk revival".