Doc Roberts (1897 to 1978) was a Madison County, Kentucky, fiddler who recorded more than 200 sides between 1925 and 1934. He worked for Gennett, Paramount, and the American Record Corporation labels, most often with guitarist Asa Martin. His 1927 session with the Black fiddler Jim Booker and the Booker family was among the first integrated recording sessions in American music. He quit recording in 1934 but played in public for four more decades.
Why Roberts matters
Roberts is the recorded voice of central Kentucky fiddling before bluegrass. More than 200 sides survive, which makes him one of the best documented fiddlers of his region and era. He learned his tunes from a Black fiddler, Owen Walker, and his repertoire of rags, blues, and breakdowns shows that mix. Tunes like Deer Walk, Cumberland Blues, and Run Smoke Run went from his 78s into the repertoire of Kentucky fiddlers who came after him, and old-time fiddlers still learn them from his records.
Life and career
Dock Philipine Roberts was born on April 26, 1897, on a farm in Madison County, Kentucky. He learned fiddle as a boy with help from his older brother Liebert. The brothers’ mentor was Owen Walker, an African American fiddler in the county. Roberts finished his schooling in Berea and married in 1913.
In 1925 a talent scout named Dennis Taylor signed Roberts, along with Welby Toomey and Edgar Boaz, to record old-time music for Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana. In early 1927 Roberts recorded with the Booker family band, and he cut three twin fiddle tunes with Jim Booker. That April he recorded for Paramount as the Kentucky Thorobreds with Dick Parman and Ted Chestnut.
In the fall of 1927 Roberts teamed with guitarist and singer Asa Martin. Martin and Roberts made their first records for Gennett in May 1928. From 1927 to 1934 the duo played fiddlers’ conventions, schoolhouses, vaudeville stages, and radio station WHAS in Louisville. They recorded more than 200 sides for 11 labels. When Roberts’s son James joined the act, the group became the Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts Trio.
In 1928 Bradley Kincaid helped Roberts get a job on the National Barn Dance on WLS in Chicago at 50 dollars a week. He quit after two weeks and went home to Kentucky. The city was too loud for him to sleep. The trio kept recording until 1934, when Roberts retired from the studio. He kept playing shows and the occasional radio date for the next 40 years. He died in Richmond, Kentucky, on August 4, 1978, at age 81.
Playing style
On his records Roberts keeps a steady dance tempo and a clear melody line, with Asa Martin’s guitar holding a bass-and-strum pulse under him. His tone is smooth rather than rough. His repertoire tells you what he liked: breakdowns from the Kentucky tradition, blues numbers like Cumberland Blues, and rags like Rye Straw. He also played mandolin on many of Martin’s records.
Influences and legacy
Roberts learned from Owen Walker and from his brother Liebert. His work with Jim Booker put him inside the Black string band tradition of central Kentucky at a time when the record companies hid that connection. Asa Martin was his partner for the whole recording career, and his son James Roberts played in the trio.
Old-time fiddlers rediscovered him through reissues. Davis Unlimited issued a set of his tunes around 1974, County Records released Fiddling Doc Roberts: Old Time Tunes in 1983, and Document Records released his complete recordings on three CDs. Fiddlers who work from Kentucky sources learn Deer Walk, Martha Campbell, and All I’ve Got’s Done Gone from those records.
Signature tunes and songs
Deer Walk Cumberland Blues Run Smoke Run Martha Campbell All I’ve Got’s Done Gone Rye Straw Way Down South Black Eyed Susie Waynesburgh.
Essential recordings
Fiddling Doc Roberts: Old Time Tunes (County, 1983) Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Volume 1, 1925 to 1928 (Document, 1999) Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Volume 2, 1928 to 1930 (Document, 1999) Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Volume 3, 1930 to 1934 (Document, 1999)
Watch and listen
Here is Roberts’s 78 of Run Smoke Run, one of the tunes County Records later chose for its reissue. Listen to how steady the tempo stays through the whole tune.
The Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts Trio plays I Don’t Love Nobody in 1932, with Asa Martin and James Roberts backing him.
What to learn from Roberts
Learn Deer Walk. It is short, it sits in a comfortable key, and the melody rewards a smooth bow. The technique to steal is his tone. Many beginners try to sound old-time by playing rough. Roberts shows another path. Play his tunes slow, keep the bow flat and even, and match his pitch before you match his speed. Then find a guitar player who can hold Asa Martin’s steady pulse behind you.
Sources
Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts, Wikipedia Jim Booker, Wikipedia Fiddling Doc Roberts, Old Time Tunes, Discogs Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts, Complete Recorded Works Volume 1, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the bluegrass fiddle guide for more source fiddlers. Roberts recorded in the same years as Fiddlin’ John Carson, Gid Tanner, and Clayton McMichen. Ed Haley worked the Kentucky and West Virginia border in the same era, and J.P. Fraley carried eastern Kentucky fiddling into the next generation.