Doc Watson made the elemental something exquisite

I went to sleep last night listening to a version of "Sitting on Top of the World" by DOC WATSON, the folk guitar virtuoso who died yesterday, age 89.

Enjoying that song, I was struck by how Watson, blind since age 1, had such a marvelous ear for music and such remarkable dexterity in his hands.

He took a relatively simple blues tune and picked a flurry of notes that didn't decorate the song as much as infuse it with a marvelous complexity.

He could make the elemental something exquisite, which is why Watson's legacy will endure so much longer.