Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012)[1] was an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style (now called Scruggs style) that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Although other musicians had played in three-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in his group, the Blue Grass Boys. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Awards and honors 4 Personal life 5 Death 6 Legacy 7 Discography 7.1 Albums 7.2 Singles 7.3 Guest singles 7.4 Music videos 8 DVDs 9 Footnotes 10 References 11 External links [edit] Early life Scruggs was born in Shelby, North Carolina, to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs.[4] He grew up in Cleveland County, North Carolina.[5] [edit] Career Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945, and quickly popularized his syncopated, three-finger picking style. In 1948 Scruggs a! nd guitarist Lester Flatt left Monroe's band and formed the Foggy Mountain Boys, also later known simply as Flatt and Scruggs . In 1969, they broke up, and he started a new band, the Earl Scruggs Revue, featuring several of his sons. On September 24, 1962, singer Jerry Scoggins, Lester Flatt and Scruggs recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies, which was released October 12, 1962. The theme song became an immediate country music hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs appeared in several episodes as family friends of the Clampetts in the following years. In their first appearance (season 1 episode 20), they portray themselves in the show and perform both the theme song and "Pearl Pearl Pearl". On November 15, 1969, Scruggs played his Grammy-winning "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on an open-air stage in Washington, D. C., at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, becoming one of the very f! ew bluegrass or country-Western artists to give support to the! anti-war movement.[6] In an interview after his performance, Scruggs said:[7] I think the people in the South is just as concerned as the people that's walkin' the streets here today... I'm sincere about bringing our boys back home. I'm disgusted and in sorrow about the boys we've lost over there. And if I could see a good reason to continue, I wouldn't be here today. In January 1973, a tribute concert was held for Scruggs in Manhattan, Kansas. Among the artists playing were Joan Baez, David Bromberg, The Byrds, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Doc and Merle Watson. The concert was filmed and turned into the 1975 documentary film Banjoman.[8] [edit] Awards and honors Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Scruggs' instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." They were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1989, Scruggs was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship. He was an inaugural inductee into the International Blue! grass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 1994, Scruggs teamed up with Randy Scruggs and Doc Watson to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 2002 Scruggs won a second Grammy award for the 2001 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", which featured artists such as Steve Martin on 2nd banjo solo (Martin played the banjo tune on his 1970s stand-up comic acts), Vince Gill and Albert Lee on electric guitar solos, Paul Shaffer on piano, Leon Russell on organ, and Marty Stuart on mandolin. The album, Earl Scruggs and Friends, also featured artists such as John Fogerty, Elton John, Sting, Johnny Cash, Don Henley, Travis Tritt, and Billy Bob Thornton.[9] On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, he and Flatt were ranked No. 24 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music. On September 13, 2006, Sc! ruggs was honored at Turner Field in Atlanta as part of the pre-game sh! ow for an Atlanta Braves home game. Organizers set a world record for the most banjo players (239) playing one tune together (Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"). On February 10, 2008, Scruggs was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. [edit] Personal life Scruggs' wife and manager, Louise, died on February 2, 2006, aged 78, at Nashville's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.[10] [edit] Death Scruggs died from natural causes on March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital.[11][12] [edit] Legacy Bela Fleck named Earl Scruggs among his influences[13] and has stated that Scruggs is "certainly the best" banjo player of his three-finger style.[14] [edit] Discography [edit] Albums Year Single Chart Positions US Country US US Heat US Bluegrass 1967 Strictly Instrumental (with Lester Flatt and Doc Watson) 1967 5 String Banjo Instruction Album 1968 The Story of Bonnie and Clyde (with Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys)[15] 1969 Changin' T! imes 1970 Nashville Airplane 1972 I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends Live at Kansas State 20 204 1973 Rockin' 'Cross the Country 46 Dueling Banjos 202 The Earl Scruggs Revue 169 1975 Anniversary Special 104 1976 The Earl Scruggs Revue 2 161 Family Portrait 49 1977 Live from Austin City Limits 49 Strike Anywhere 1978 Bold & New 50 1979 Today & Forever 1982 Storyteller and the Banjo Man (with Tom T. Hall) Flatt & Scruggs 1983 Top of the World 1984 Superjammin' 1998 Artist's Choice: The Best Tracks (1970-1980) 2001 Earl Scruggs and Friends 39 33 14 2002 Classic Bluegrass Live: 1959-1966 2003 Three Pickers (with Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs) 24 179 2 2004 The Essential Earl Scruggs 2005 Live with Donnie Allen and Friends 2007 Lifetimes: Lewis, Scruggs, and Long [edit] Singles Year Single Chart Positions Album US Country CAN Country 1970 "Nashville Skyline Rag" 74 — Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends 1979 "I Sure Co! uld Use the Feeling" 30 41 Single only "Play Me No Sad Songs" 82 66 Tod! ay & Forever 1980 "Blue Moon of Kentucky" 46 — 1982 "There Ain't No Country Music on This Jukebox" (with Tom T. Hall) 77 — Storyteller and the Banjo Man "Song of the South" (with Tom T. Hall) 72 — [edit] Guest singles Year Single Artist Chart Positions Album US Country 1998 "Same Old Train" Various Artists 59 Tribute to Tradition [edit] Music videos Year Video Director 1992 "The Dirt Road" (with Sawyer Brown) Michael Salomon 2001 "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (Earl Scruggs and Friends) Gerry Wenner [edit] DVDs Earl Scruggs - His Family and Friends (2005) (Recorded 1969. Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Bill Monroe, Joan Baez et al.) Private Sessions (2005) The Bluegrass Legend (2006) Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs The Three Pickers (2003) Flatt and Scruggs The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 1 (2007) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 2 (2007) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 3 (2007) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 4 (2007) The Best o! f Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 5 (2008) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 6 (2008) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 7 (2009) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 8 (2009) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 9 (2010) The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 10 (2010) [edit] Footnotes ^ a b Associated Press. "Son: Bluegrass legend, banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs dies in Nashville at age 88; changed music". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/son-bluegrass-legend-banjo-pioneer-earl-scruggs-dies-in-nashville-at-age-88-changed-music/2012/03/28/gIQAwf3RhS_story.html. Retrieved March 28, 2012. ^ "Gibson Banjos 1925 and Later, # 9584-3". Pre-War Gibson Banjo Serial Number Listing. Banjophiles.org. http://www.banjophiles.org/SerNumData/9XXX.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-14. ^ Cushman, Charlie (2009-03-13). "Scruggs/Reno 1935 RB-3". http://www.charliecushman.com/ScruggsReno.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-14. ^ Reitwiesner, ! William Addams. "Ancestry of Earl Scruggs". William Addams Reitwiesner ! Genealogical Services. http://www.wargs.com/other/scruggs.html. Retrieved 2009-07-14. ^ "Earl Scruggs Biography". Earlscruggs.com. http://earlscruggs.com/biography.html. Retrieved March 28, 2012. ^ ""Earl Scruggs Performs At Anti War Demonstration,"". Youtube.com. July 13, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGDp--0SbX8. Retrieved August 26, 2011. ^ "Garfinkle, Adam. ''Telltale Hearts: The Origins and Impact of the Vietnam Antiwar Movement''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995". Books.google.com. 1991-01-26. http://books.google.com/books?id=4_XnFrpIbPYC&pg=PA177&dq=earl+scruggs+anti+war+protest&hl=en&ei=-oFXTryhOI2nsQKclrWmDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=earl%20scruggs&f=false. Retrieved 2012-03-29. ^ "IMDb". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072681/. Retrieved 2011-03-29. ^ Earl Scruggs and Friends (MCA Nashville, 2001) ^ "Music Industry Pioneer Louise Scruggs Dies".! CMT.com. 2006-02-02. http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1523089/20060202/scruggs_earl.jhtml?headlines=true. Retrieved 2009-07-14. ^ "Bluegrass, banjo legend Earl Scruggs dies at 88". The Birmingham News. Associated Press. March 28, 2012. http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/03/bluegrass_banjo_legend_earl_sc.html. Retrieved March 29, 2012. ^ Wilson, David (March 28, 2012). "Earl Scruggs, Banjoist Who Invented 'Scruggs Style,' Dies at 88". Bloomberg Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-28/earl-scruggs-banjoist-who-invented-scruggs-style-dies-at-88. Retrieved March 29, 2012. ^ Interview on Béla Fleck & the Fleckton
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Country Music Hall of Famer Earl Scruggs, a singular talent of collective import, died Wednesday morning at a Nashville hospital. He was 88. A quietly Read the rest
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It may be impossible to overstate the importance of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who Read the rest
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