During his illustrious musical career, which has spanned more than five decades, legendary bluegrass banjoist Earl Scruggs has not only motivated others to take up the banjo, but has brought recognition and respect to country music all over the world.
Scruggs was born in North Carolina on January 6, 1924. He taught himself the five-string banjo at the age of four and developed his trademark three-finger picking style before he reached his teens. At age 15 he was playing with a band that performed on a local radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In 1944 Scruggs joined Bill MONROE’S Blue Grass Boys, where he met his future partner, guitarist Lester Flatt. Scruggs stayed with Monroe until January 1948. Soon after, Earl and Lester teamed up to form Flatt and Scruggs, the beginning of the Foggy Mountain Boys group.
Mercury Records was immediately attracted to the pair and signed them to a recording contract in 1948 that lasted until October 1950. While at Mercury they recorded “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” which was used later as the background music for the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde.
In 1950 they switched to Columbia Records, where they recorded for the rest of their career together. In 1953 Flatt and Scruggs began presenting their own show on radio station WSM in Nashville, Tennessee. They were also performing regularly at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, which they officially joined in 1955.
Other songs that Flatt and Scruggs are credited with from this period include the themes from the television shows Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies. With “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” from the latter, bluegrass had its first No. 1 single on the country chart and, in addition, crossed over into the U.S. pop charts. Scruggs himself appeared in seven episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, which was screened in 78 countries and brought worldwide recognition of country and bluegrass music. Another success for Scruggs was the syndication of his television programme entitled Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends, which was broadcast on local stations throughout the Southeastern states.
During their 20 or so years together, Flatt and Scruggs remained one of the most popular duos on the American country music circuit. Their last performance together was on February 22, 1969. Their breakup was due mostly to their divergent tastes in music. Scruggs was more likely to introduce slide electric guitar and banjo riffs into a piece, while Flatt was more traditional.
When Flatt and Scruggs split, Scruggs formed the Earl Scruggs Revue band with his three sons, Randy, Gary, and Steve, plus Josh Graves and Jody Maphis. The revue was recorded by Scruggs’ long-time label Columbia, and his music made it to the movies once more: in 1973, he recorded the theme for Where the Lilies Bloom. Since Graves left the band in the mid-1970s, the revue has continued to perform regularly. During his long career, Scruggs has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards, winning one for “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” in 1975. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985 and in 1993 was presented with the National Medal of Arts. Scruggs has also won numerous country and bluegrass awards.
Renee Jinks
SEE ALSO:
COUNTRY; HILLBILLY MUSIC.
Artis, Bob. Bluegrass: The Story of an American Musical Tradition (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1975);
Scruggs, Earl. Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo (Philadelphia, PA: Theodore Presser, 1980).
Anniversary Special Vol. 1; The Complete Mercury Sessions; The Earl Scruggs Revue; Foggy Mountain Jamboree; Flatt and Scruggs: The Essential Flatt and Scruggs.