Foggy Mountain Breakdown
"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is a bluegrass music instrumental by the bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs.[1] It is a standard in the bluegrass repertoire. Banjo players consider the ability to deliver a convincing rendition of this piece the mark of an intermediate-level banjo player. Because of its ubiquity and its status as a favorite song at bluegrass jams and concerts, guitar and mandolin players commonly learn solo breaks to this song that closely mirror the original banjo version.
It is used as background music in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, especially in the car chase scenes, and has been used in a similar manner in many other films and television programs, particularly when depicting a pursuit scene in a rural setting.[2]
It was written by Earl Scruggs and recorded in 1949 by Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, with Scruggs playing a Gibson Granada five-string banjo. It is closely related to Bill Monroe's "Bluegrass Breakdown" which Earl helped to write. It featured the same opening double hammer-on, but "Bluegrass Breakdown" goes to an F major chord whereas Foggy Mountain Breakdown goes to the G major chord's relative minor, an E minor chord. The most recognizable part of this song is the slide on the fourth string of the banjo from the first fret to the second forming the E minor chord.
Many five-string banjo players[who?] consider "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" one of the instrument's fastest and most rhythmically challenging pieces. Only very skilled five-string banjo players can play it at the same speed and beat that Scruggs can.[citation needed]
Scruggs won a Grammy award in 2002 for the 2001 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", which featured among others, actor and comedian Steve Martin on second banjo, Albert Lee, Travis Tritt, and Vince Gill on guitars, Marty Stuart on mandolin, and Paul Shaffer on piano.[3]
In 1968, both the 1949 Mercury records version and a newly recorded Columbia version were listed at one position of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #55.
In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.[4]
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1967-8) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 58 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 55 |
| RPM Top 100 Singles | 90 |
| UK Singles Charts | 39 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Hank Williams Was Here". Cincinnati.com. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090821/ENT03/908210318/1028/ENT/Hank+Williams+was+here. Retrieved 8 September 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "The Full National Recording Registry". National Recording Registry. http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-masterlist.html. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "Steve Martin to Play Carnegie Hall in October". Playbill. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/132183-_Steve_Martin_to_Play_Carnegie_Hall_in_October. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ "The Full National Recording Registry". National Recording Registry. http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-masterlist.html. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
[edit] External links
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