Somebody mailed me a tribute to the late Doc Watson. It was in the form of a few lines from Guy Clarke's song "Dublin Blues"
I have seen the David
I’ve seen the Mona Lisa too
I have heard Doc Watson play Columbus Stockade Blues
High praise, putting Doc in there with two famous and fabulous works of art.
But it got me thinking. Last time I was in the UK I met up with some friends and family and they wanted to know what we'd seen so I said "Well we saw the HMS Victory" and they said "right". I said "And we went to the British Museum" and one of them said "I LOVE the British Museum". And I said "And we saw Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy" and they all went "huh?"
Well I could go on at length here about how I think those two (and a few others) should be regarded as national treasures by all British people etc etc ... but the thing really is this: To me artists of that calibre (and by the time we met up with said family we'd also seen Eliza Carthy, Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III and Martin Simpson) are fully the equivalent of a grand old country home, or a great battleship oozing history, or a fine painting. They are art and craft (and, in some cases, history), but they're living.
Or am I mad?
Don't think about those particular artists. They float my boat, but they may not float yours (you may not even have heard of them). Perhaps Leonard Cohen would be the same to you (or perhaps not), or BB King. Great performing artists are to be treasured and revered just as great art is.
Or no?
This, of course, could extend to our local scene. Should you see Steve Newman whilst you get the chance, just as you would aim to see Melville Koppies or Jan Smuts House?
