Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Earl Eugene Scruggs
Born	January 6, 1924 (1924-01-06)
Origin	Scottville, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Bluegrass, country, gospel
Occupations	Bluegrass artist
Instruments	5-string banjo, guitar
Years active	1945–present
Labels	MCA Nashville Records
Associated acts	Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, Earl Scruggs Revue
Website	www.earlscruggs.com
Notable instruments
A 1933/34 Gibson Granada previously owned by Don Reno and Snuffy Jenkins, and "Nellie," a 1935/36 Gibson RB-3/RB-75 flathead

Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style (now called Scruggs style) that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Although other musicians had played in 3-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in the "Blue Grass Boys".

Biography

Scruggs was born in Shelby, North Carolina, to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs. He grew up in Cleveland County, North Carolina.

Career

Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945, and quickly popularized his syncopated, three-finger picking style. In 1948 Scruggs and 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, and 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 October 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 few bluegrass or country-western artists to give support to the anti-war movement. In an interview after his performance, Scruggs said:

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.

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 Bluegrass 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.

On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, he and Flatt were ranked #24 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.

Personal life

Scruggs' wife and manager, Louise, died on February 2, 2006, aged 78, at Nashville's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.

On September 13, 2006, Scruggs was honored at Turner Field in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for an Atlanta Braves home game. Organizers (Banjo.com) 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.

Legacy

Bela Fleck named Earl Scruggs among his influences and has stated that Scruggs is "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style.

Discography

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)
1969	Changin' Times
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

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		US Country	CAN Country
1970	"Nashville Skyline Rag"	74	—	Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends
1979	"I Sure Could Use the Feeling"	30	41	Single only
	"Play Me No Sad Songs"	82	66	Today & 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	—

Guest singles

Year	Single	Artist	Chart Positions	Album
			US Country
1998	"Same Old Train"	Various Artists	59	Tribute to Tradition

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1992	"The Dirt Road" (with Sawyer Brown)	Michael Salomon
2001	"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (Earl Scruggs and Friends)	Gerry Wenner

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 of 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)

References

• Rosenberg, Neil V. (1998). "Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 173–4.
• Willis, Barry R. "Biography of Earl Scruggs." Retrieved October 5, 2008.
• Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts

External links

• Official Website
• Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com
• at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• on MCA Nashville
• on Rounder Records
• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• Earl Scruggs at the Internet Movie Database