Owsley Stanley Foundation Announces Doc & Merle Watson Live Box Set

The Owsley Stanley Foundation has announced the release of a live box set of rare Doc & Merle Watson recordings. Slated for a June 23 release in stores and available for order immediately, Doc & Merle Watson: Never the Same Way Once – Live at the Boarding House – May 1974 was culled from the live music vault of renowned sound engineer, the late Owsley “Bear” Stanley.

The seven-CD, 94-track box set features four Doc & Merle Watson shows recorded by Bear, who passed away in 2011 at the age of 76. They were among the more than 1,3000 recordings – known as “Sonic Journals” – the iconic sound engineer and LSD manufacture left in his massive archive.

“Bear had marked these shows as among the gems in his Sonic Journal archive, in both the quality of the performances and the quality of the sound,” said Bear’s son and Owsley Stanley Foundation president Starfinder Stanley, “which is one of the reasons we chose them as the first project to develop since his passing.”

Physical formats, including audiophile vinyl and analog tape releases of single nights from the run, will include a 16-page booklet of liner notes by Watson collaborators T. Michael Coleman and David Holt. Additionally, 32 of the tracks will be available for digital download. Head here to order.