Like everyone else I liked and admired Dolly Parton and featured her in four posts over the years.
This is Train Train from her bluegrass period backed by the great pickers at Union Station with Allison Krauss singing backup. You can also hear her transform Stairway to Heaven into a gospel hymn with her adding lyrics at the end, and perform a lovely version of Neil Young's After The Gold Rush with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.
I had the privilege of seeing Doc Watson play in Paris in 1978. Doc, who lost his sight before turning two due to an infection, called Deep Gap, way up in the North Carolina mountains, his home from his birth in 1923 until his death in 2012. A guitar master with a fine voice (and his deep and warm speaking voice just invited you in) here he is performing Deep River Blues in 1962.
While putting this together I came across another gem - a performance of Down In The Valley To Pray from the early 2000s. Many originally heard the song in O Brother Where Art Thou? when it was called Down In The River To Pray and performed by Alison Kraus. In this video, Doc is joined by Alison and Ricky Skaggs, while Earl Scruggs sits next to Doc. We learn that Alison learned the song from Doc who, in turn, learned it from his grandmother who he remembers singing it as she churned butter on the porch.
And finally, here are rehearsals sessions from 2001 with Dolly Parton, preparing for Merlefest, the annual tribute to Doc's guitar playing son, with whom he toured for many year, who died in 1985 in an accident on the family farm. The song is The Last Thing on My Mind, written by Tom Paxton, a 60s folk musician. Listen in particular to the first three minutes.
