He played in a clawhammer style, but was one of the first to record the three-finger style. He also invented a method of playing with pennies under the bridge and the strings played with a knife, similar to bottle neck guitar style.
* * *
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area:
Wilkes County native Doctor "Dock" Walsh recorded dozens of songs in the 1920s, both solo and with the Carolina Tar Heels, and performed as the self-proclaimed "Banjo King of the Carolinas." Walsh was born into a family of musicians, and he learned to play banjo at a very young age on a fretless instrument made with an axle-grease box. He was performing locally by the time he was a teenager, and he became known for placing pennies under the bridge of his banjo, so he could play in a "bottle-neck" slide style. He was the first to record this slide style on the banjo.
Walsh made his first solo recordings in 1925 and 1926 in Atlanta, including the earliest-known recording of "In the Pines." He teamed up with harmonica and guitar player Gwen Foster in 1926, with whom he recorded as the Carolina Tar Heels for Ralph Peer in 1927. Another harmonica player, Garley Foster, soon replaced Gwen (to whom he was unrelated), and Tom Ashley was added to the band in 1928. The trio made several recordings, and Walsh and Garley Foster continued to record together until 1932.
With recording sales plummeting from the Depression, Dock found work in the poultry and then automotive parts businesses. He continued to perform locally with Foster and his son Drake Walsh, who was fiddling for local bluegrass bands. The three made a recording in 1962, released on Folk Legacy.
Dock Walsh passed away in 1967. His son Drake continued to perform several songs from his father’s repertoire, often with the Elkville String Band, until his death in 2010.
* * *
Discography:
1925, Capitol 15047-D (rec. October 3, 1925 in Atlanta, GA);
"Dock" Walsh - The East Bound Train (141089-1);
"Dock" Walsh - I'm Free At Last (141098-1).
1926, Capitol 15057-D (rec. April 17, 1926 in Atlanta, GA);
"Dock" Walsh - Knocking On The Hen House Door (142029-2);
"Dock" Walsh - We Courted In The Rain (142032-2).
1926, Capitol 15094-D (rec. April 17, 1926 in Atlanta, GA);
"Dock" Walsh - In The Pines (142031-1);
"Dock" Walsh - Going Back To Jericho (142033-1).
1926, Capitol 15105-D (rec. April 17, 1926 in Atlanta, GA);
"Dock" Walsh - Travelling Man (142028-2).
1927, Victor 20544 (rec. February 19, 1927 in Atlanta, GA);
Carolina Tar Heels - There Ain't No Use Working So Hard (37927-2);
Carolina Tar Heels - I'm Going To Georgia (37930-2).
1927, Victor 20545 (rec. August 15, 1927 in Charlotte, NC);
Carolina Tar Heels - When The Good Lord Sets You Free (39811-1);
Carolina Tar Heels - I Love My Mountain Home (39810-3).
1927, Victor 20941 (rec. August 11, 1927 in Charlotte, NC);
Carolina Tar Heels - The Bulldog Down In Sunny Tennessee (39794-3);
Carolina Tar Heels - Shanghai In China (39795-2).
1927, Victor 21193 (rec. August 15, 1927 in Charlotte, NC);
Carolina Tar Heels - Good Bye, My Bonnie, Good Bye (39793-2)
Carolina Tar Heels - My Mama Scolds Me For Flirting (39809-1)
1928, Victor V40007 (rec. November 14, 1928 in Atlanta, GA);
Carolina Tar Heels - Peg and Awl (47165-2);
Carolina Tar Heels - You're A Little Too Small (47164-3).
1928, Victor V4002 (rec. October 11 - November 14, 1928 in Atlanta, GA);
Carolina Tar Heels - Roll On Boys (47163-2);
Carolina Tar Heels - Lay Down, Baby, Take Your Rest (47161-3).
1928, Victor V40024 (rec. October 11 - November 14, 1928 in Atlanta, GA);
Carolina Tar Heels - Roll On Boys (47163-2);
Carolina Tar Heels - Lay Down, Baby, Take Your Rest (47161-3).
1928, Victor V40053 (rec. October 11, 1928 in Atlanta, GA);
Carolina Tar Heels - There's A Man Goin' Around Takin' Names (47159-1);
Carolina Tar Heels - I Don't Like The Blues No How (47160-2).
1929, Victor V40077 (rec. April 3, 1929 in Camden, NJ);
Carolina Tar Heels - Oh How I Hate It (51071-1);
Carolina Tar Heels - Rude and Rambling Man (51072-2).
1929, Victor V40100 (rec. April 3, 1928 in Camden, NC);
Carolina Tar Heels - Who's Gonna Kiss Your Lips, Dear Darling? (51070-2);
Carolina Tar Heels - My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains (51067-2).
1929, Victor V40128 (rec. April 3-4, 1928 in Camden, NC;
Carolina Tar Heels - Somebody's Tall And Handsome (51073-3);
Carolina Tar Heels - The Train's Done Left Me (51069-1).
Carolina Tar Heels - Somebody's Tall And Handsome (51073-1, -2) (unissued)
1929, Victor V40177 (rec. April 3-4, 1928 in Camden, NC);
Carolina Tar Heels - The Old Gray Goose (51079-1);
Carolina Tar Heels - Hand In Hand We Walked Together (51068-2.
1929, Victor V40219 (rec. October 11 - November 14, 1928 in Atlanta, GA);
Carolina Tar Heels - Can't You Remember When Your Heart Was Mine?;
Carolina Tar Heels - I'll Be Washed (47166-3).
1929, Victor, unissued (rec. September 25, 1929 in Memphis, TN);
Carolina Tar Heels - As I Wondered Over The Hillside (55585-1, -2);
Carolina Tar Heels - Aunt Jemimah (55586-1, -2).
1929, Victor 40237 (rec. September 25, 1929 in Memphis, TN);
Doc Walsh - A Precious Sweetheart From Me Is Gone (55588-1);
Doc Walsh - Bathe In That Beautiful Poole (55589-2).
1929, Victor 40325 (rec. September 25, 1929 in Memphis, TN);
Doc Walsh - Laura Lou (55587-1);
Doc Walsh - We're Just Plain Folks (55590-2).
1930, Victor 23516 (rec. November 19, 1930 in Memphis, TN);
Carolina Tar Heels - Farm Girl Blues (62971-2);
Carolina Tar Heels - Washing Mama's Dishes (62973-2).
1930, Victor 23546 (rec. November 19, 1930 in Memphis, TN);
Carolina Tar Heels - Your Lowdown Dirty Ways (62968-1);
Carolina Tar Heels - The Hen House Door Is Locked (62970-1).
1931, Victor 23582 (rec. May 30, 1931 in Charlotte, NC);
The Pine Mountain Boys - She Wouldn't Be Still (69392-2).
1931, Victor 23592 (rec. May 30, 1931 in Charlotte, NC);
The Pine Mountain Boys - The Gas Run Out (69391-2);
The Pine Mountain Boys - Wild Women Blues (69395-2).
1931, Victor 23605 (rec. May 30, 1931 in Charlotte, NC);
The Pine Mountain Boys - Roll On Daddy Roll On (69393-2);
The Pine Mountain Boys - The Apron Strings Again (69394-2).
1931, Victor 23611 (rec. November 19, 1930 in Memphis, TN);
Carolina Tar-Heels - Back To Mexico (62969-1) ("Going Back to Jericho");
Carolina Tar-Heels - Got The Farmland Blues (62972-2).
1932, Victor 23671 (rec. February 25, 1932 in Atlanta, GA);
Original Carolina Tar Heels - Why Should I Care (71618-1);
Original Carolina Tar Heels - Nobody Cares If I'm Blue (71624-1).
1932, Victor 23682 (rec. February 25, 1932 in Atlanta, GA);
Original Carolina Tar Heels - Times Ain't Like They Used To Be;
Original Carolina Tar Heels - She Shook It On A Corner.