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Earl Scruggs
"I just grew up around the banjo." So says the individual who virtually defined the use of the banjo in bluegrass and other musical forms. Born in Flint Hill, North Carolina, on January 6, 1924, Earl Eugene Scrugs, as half of the duo Flatt and Scruggs, brought the intricate, energy-fused bluegrass sound to the attention of the massess.
He joined Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys in December of 1944. As banjo player, Scruggs brought a new texture to Monroe's bluegrass. The group's excitement level was brought to new heights and with the guitar and vocals of Lester Flatt, the bass of Howard Watts (Cedric Rainwater), and the fiddle playing of Chubby Wise, the "classic" Blue Grass Boys lineup, the hard driving, "high, lonesome sound" that Monroe had in mind was achieved.
Flatt and Scruggs left Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in 1948 to go out on their own. Inspired by The Carter Family's "Foggy Mountain Top," they named their group The Foggy Mountain Boys. Later they moved to Bristol, Virginia, and signed with Mercury Records. Their first recording dates were in Cincinnati, with some recordings featuring Scruggs on guitar (he also finger picked guitar superbly) instead of banjo. In 1949, they released their classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," and later "Pike County Breakdown." Over the next couple of years they played radio shows in Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida.
In 1950, while in Florida, they recorded "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" and "Salty Dog Blues." In 1951 they signed with Columbia and in 1952 released their first Billboard Top Ten Single, "Tis Sweet To Be Remembered." They joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. 1959 proved chart success again with "Cabin In The Hills" and in 1960 they scored with "Crying My Heart Out Over You," covered by Ricky Scaggs, another Monroe "school" graduate, in 1981. As "Go Home" became a Top Ten record in 1961, the Foggy Mountain Boys lineup settled around the core of dobroist Josh Graves, fiddler Paul Warren and mandolin player Curly Seckler.
Much of their success was achieved through the shrewd promotion of Scruggs' wife, Louise, the band's manager. Through her efforts they received more media attention than any other bluegrass act (which infuriated Bill Monroe loyalists). Their appearances on CBS-TV's The Beverly Hillbillies sent their visibility and popularity skyrocketing, and in 1962 they enjoyed their biggest hit record, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." In 1968 their original Mercury recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" was included in the soundtrack of the smash hit film, Bonnie And Clyde.
As the popularity of rock music increased in the 1960's, Flatt and Scruggs moved apart with Scruggs tastes embracing folk-rock, blues and jazz. On occasion they recorded songs by contemporary folk-artists such as their top 20 hit "California Up Tight Band" in 1967 and in 1968 Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." But in 1969 the duo finally split, reconciling their differences before Flatt's death on May 11, 1979. A partnership that stretched over twenty years, few bluegrass enthusiasts were surprised at the separation. The disputes Flatt and Scruggs had over musical direction (Flatt wanting to return to the style he and Scruggs had pioneered in the late 1940's, and Scruggs wanting to continue experimenting with pop and rock music) reflected the dilemma that many bluegrass fans and musicians faced in the 1970s - to stay with tradition, or, venture into experimentation with new techniques.
Scruggs formed The Earl Scruggs Revue, an all electric band, with his sons Gary on bass and Randy on guitar along with former Flatt and Scruggs dobroist Josh Graves and Vassar Clements on fiddle. Later, Steve Scruggs replaced the group's original drummer, Jody Maphis. The Revue did well and recorded for Columbia throughout the 1970's securing Country chart success three times, including the Top 30 "I Could Sure Use The Feeling."
In 1982 Scruggs recorded an album with Tom T. Hall entitled The Story Teller And The Banjo Man. In July, 1994, after a near fatal plane crash, Scruggs and Bill Monroe performed together for the first time since 1948.
In 1985, along with Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
By the mid 1990's, Scruggs began working on projects with younger artists such as Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs. In 2001, Scruggs recorded Earl and Friends, an outing featuring pop superstars such as Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, Don Henley, and other guests. The disc became the most recent of many careers triumphs in Scruggs' lengthy career when it earned a 2002 Grammy Award for a new rendition of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown".
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