R.I.P. Earl Scruggs

[Tiki Torches]

Earl Scruggs, Country Music Hall of Famer Dies at 88 (From The Tennessean)

[springparrot]

Sail on Earl....you are a legend..

[Tiki Torches]

Thanks to their frequent appearances on shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, Flatt and Scruggs were among the very first musicians to register on my musical radar in a truly significant way. This was during a time when my tastes also included the Beatles, Zeppelin, Sabbath, the Grateful Dead and others but somehow Flatt & Scruggs fit right in. Years later, the Earl Scruggs Revue album Live! From Austin City Limits turned my ear, though in a somewhat different way this time. This was bluegrass with drums, something the purists frowned upon. Also, Earl was embracing the work of artists such as The Byrds, Loudon Wainwright III and Bob Dylan, not exactly musicians who were highly thought of among most bluegrass purists. It was around this same time that Old and In the Way (Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, John Kahn and Vassar Clements) were also challenging the norms of bluegrass convention, though that wasn't really what they set out to do. They were just doing what came natural. The Earl Scruggs Revue and Old and In the Way were very instrumental in opening my ears up to some very new and different sounds. For that, I will remain forever thankful. I finally got to see Earl in concert when he came to the Museum of Art in Raleigh back in the summer of 2004. That's an evening I will never forget. He returned to the area a couple of years ago to play at Memorial Auditorium in Chapel Hill but canceled the show at the last minute because he was too ill to perform.

Many years ago, the same brother than turned me onto the Earl Scruggs Revue Live! From Austin City Limits album purchased another Earl record, this one was called Earl Scruggs: His Family & Friends which he'd found in the budget bin at the local Woolworth's Department store in Goldsboro, NC. It was the soundtrack to a PBS special that had only aired once. I thought I'd never get to see the actual program but several years ago, while visiting the now defunct Paradise Records in Fayetteville, NC I found it on a CD/DVD twofer. This is a selection from that DVD:

[popcornjack]

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obi ... 53841194/1

An influence without partner. Changed banjo and helped create bluegrass music through his style of play. Much like Jimmy created pathways between music, Earl did the same thing in the 50's and 60's. Sail on. Heaven's band just got that much better.

[juliancolton]

Mr. Scruggs doesn't get half the credit he deserves. He is one of my favorite performers of all time. No amount of years is long enough, but 88 is a very decent life.

[pair8head]

If there was ever a finer Banjo player I never heard them.

Sail on Earl

[Tiki Torches]

There definitely wouldn't be a Béla Fleck without Earl Scruggs. I forgot to mention it in my previous post but around the same time I was getting into the Earl Scruggs Revue and Old and In the Way I had also picked up an album by a band called New Grass Revival. Béla wasn't on that record but he would join them shortly thereafter. Not long ago, I watched a documentary on Hulu starring Béla called Throw Down Your Heart where he travels to Africa to perform with people on the street as well as in other more formal settings. Since I grew up associating the banjo with bluegrass it was hard to imagine it's true origins in African and Calypso music over the years. Throw Down Your Heart does an outstanding job of showcasing those roots.

[big john]

What a talent.

[phjrsaunt]

There definitely wouldn't be a Béla Fleck without Earl Scruggs. I forgot to mention it in my previous post but around the same time I was getting into the Earl Scruggs Revue and Old and In the Way I had also picked up an album by a band called New Grass Revival. Béla wasn't on that record but he would join them shortly thereafter. Not long ago, I watched a documentary on Hulu starring Béla called Throw Down Your Heart where he travels to Africa to perform with people on the street as well as in other more formal settings. Since I grew up associating the banjo with bluegrass it was hard to imagine it's true origins in African and Calypso music over the years. Throw Down Your Heart does an outstanding job of showcasing those roots.

Can't wait to get home so I can watch this video. Bela Fleck is one talented dude.