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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Earl Scruggs| image = Earl Scruggs 2005.JPG| caption = Scruggs in 2005| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Earl Eugene Scruggs| alias =| birth_date = Birth date|1924|1|6|mf=y| birth_place = Shelby, North Carolina , United States|U.S. | death_date = Death date and age|2012|3|28|1924|1|6|mf=ycite web|author=Associated Press |url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/son-bluegrass-legend-banjo-pioneer-earl-scruggs-dies-in-nashville-at-age-88-changed-music/2012/03/28/gIQAwf3RhS_story.html |title=Son: Bluegrass legend, banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs dies in Nashville at age 88; changed music |publisher=The Washington Post |date= |accessdate=March 28, 2012| death_place = Nashville, Tennessee , U.S.| origin = Shelby, North Carolina, U.S.| instrument = Banjo|5-string banjo , guitar | genre = Bluegrass music|Bluegrass , Country Music|country , Gospel music|gospel | occupation = Bluegrass artist | years_active = 1945–2012| label = MCA Nashville Records | associated_acts = Bill Monroe|Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys , Flatt and Scruggs , Earl Scruggs Revue| website = http://earlscruggs.com/ earlscruggs.com| notable_instruments = A 1934 Gibson Granada previously owned by Don Reno and Snuffy Jenkins, and "Nellie", a 1935 Gibson RB-3 flatheadcite web| title = Gibson Banjos 1925 and Later, # 9584-3| work = Pre-War Gibson Banjo Serial Number Listing| publisher = Banjophiles.org| url = http://www.banjophiles.org/SerNumData/9XXX.htm| accessdate = 2009-07-14cite web| last = Cushman| first = Charlie| title = Scruggs/Reno 1935 RB-3| date = 2009-03-13| url = http://www.charliecushman.com/ScruggsReno.htm| accessdate = 2009-07-14 Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style (now called " Scruggs style ") that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music . Although other musicians had played in three-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in his group, the Blue Grass Boys.
Early life
Scruggs was born near Shelby , Cleveland County, North Carolina , to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs, a farmer and bookkeeper, who played banjo and died when Earl Scruggs was only 4. His older brothers Junie and Horace, plus his two older sisters Eula Mae and Ruby Scruggs all played banjo and guitar. Earl Scruggs mother played the organ.cite web|last=Reitwiesner|first=William Addams|title=Ancestry of Earl Scruggs|publisher=William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services|url= http://www.wargs.com/other/scruggs.html|accessdate=2009-07-14|authorlink=William Addams Reitwiesner He grew up in Cleveland County, North Carolina .cite web|url= http://earlscruggs.com/biography.html |title=Earl Scruggs Biography |publisher=Earlscruggs.com |date= |accessdate=March 28, 2012
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 FoggyMountain 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 , 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 November 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.cite web|url= http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=nGDp--0SbX8 |title=Earl Scruggs Performs At Anti War Demonstration |publisher=Youtube.com |date=July 13, 2009 |accessdate=August 26, 2011 In an interview after his performance, Scruggs said:cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=4_XnFrpIbPYC& pg=PA177& dq=earl+scruggs+anti+war+protest& hl=en& ei=-oFXTryhOI2nsQKclrWmDA& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=6& ved=0CEAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage& q=earl%20scruggs& f=false |title=Garfinkle, Adam. '& #39;Telltale Hearts: The Origins and Impact of the Vietnam Antiwar Movement'& #39;. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995 |publisher=Books.google.com |date=1991-01-26 |accessdate=2012-03-29
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.
In January 1973, a tribute concert was held for Scruggs in Manhattan, Kansas . Among the artists playing were Joan Baez , David Bromberg , The Byrds , Ramblin' Jack Elliott , The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band , and Doc Watson|Doc and Merle Watson . The concert was filmed and turned into the 1975 documentary film Banjoman .cite web | title = IMDb: Banjoman | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072681/| accessdate = 2011-03-29
Awards and honors
Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in Grammy Awards of 1969|1969 for Scruggs' instrumental " FoggyMountainBreakdown ". 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 (musician)|Sting , Johnny Cash , Don Henley , Travis Tritt , and Billy Bob Thornton . Earl Scruggs and Friends (MCA Nashville, 2001)
On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . That same year, he and Flatt were ranked No. 24 on '' CMT 's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music .
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 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 .
Personal life
Scruggs' wife and manager, Louise, died on February 2, 2006, aged 78, at Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville 's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.cite web|title=Music Industry Pioneer Louise Scruggs Dies|publisher= CMT.com |date=2006-02-02|url= http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1523089/20060202/scruggs_earl.jhtml? headlines=true|accessdate=2009-07-14
Death and Funeral
Scruggs died from natural causes on the morning of March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital.cite news |agency= Associated Press |work= The Birmingham News |title=Bluegrass, banjo legend Earl Scruggs dies at 88 |url= http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/03/bluegrass_banjo_legend_earl_sc.html |date=March 28, 2012 |accessdate=March 29, 2012cite news |last=Wilson |first=David |title=Earl Scruggs, Banjoist Who Invented 'Scruggs Style,' Dies at 88 |url= http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-28/earl-scruggs-banjoist-who-invented-scruggs-style-dies-at-88 |work= Bloomberg Businessweek |date=March 28, 2012 |accessdate=March 29, 2012 His funeral was held on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at the Ryman Auditorium , former home of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee at 2pm and was open to the public. He was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in a private service.
Legacy
At an 80th birthday party for Mr. Scruggs in 2004, country singer Porter Wagoner said, “Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball.”
“He is the best there ever was,” Mr. Wagoner said, “and the best there ever will be.”cite web|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/arts/music/earl-scruggs-bluegrass-banjo-player-dies-at-88.html |title=Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass Pioneer, Dies at 88 |publisher=NYTimes.com |date= |accessdate=April 2, 2012
Discography
Albums
Year
Single
Chart Positions
US Country
US
US Heat
US Bluegrass
1967
Strictly Instrumental (with Lester Flatt and Doc Watson )
Rosenberg, Neil V. (1998). "Flatt & Scruggs and the FoggyMountain Boys". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music . Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.& nbsp;173–4.
http://www.flatt-and-scruggs.com/earlbio.html Willis, Barry R. "Biography of Earl Scruggs". Retrieved October 5, 2008.
http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html#92 Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts
External links
http://earlscruggs.com/ Official Website
http://countrymusicpride.com/2008/09/earl-scruggs/ Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com
http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/inductees/flatt_scruggs.html at the Country Music Hall of Fame
http://www.mca-nashville.com/earlscruggs/welcome.html on MCA Nashville
http://www.rounder.com/index.php? id=album.php& catalog_id=6478 on Rounder Records
http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx? cid=117 Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
IMDb name|0780184
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-earl-scruggs-20120329,0,3263115.story Los Angeles Times obituary
Bluegrassmusic Persondata | NAME = Scruggs, Earl Eugene | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American bluegrass musician | DATE OF BIRTH = January 6, 1924 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Shelby, North Carolina , U.S. | DATE OF DEATH = March 28, 2012 | PLACE OF DEATH = Nashville, Tennessee DEFAULTSORT:Scruggs, Earl Category:1924 births Category:2012 deaths Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductees Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists Category:American country banjoists Category:People from Shelby, North Carolina
