(1924-01-06)January 6, 1924 Cleveland County, North Carolina, U.S.
Died
March 28, 2012(2012-03-28) (aged 88) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Bluegrass
progressive country[1]
gospel
Occupation(s)
Musician
Instrument(s)
5-string banjo
guitar
Years active
1945–2012
Labels
Mercury
Columbia
OKeh
MCA Nashville
Website
earlscruggs.com
Musical artist
Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played. This new style of playing became popular and elevated the banjo from its previous role as a background rhythm instrument to featured solo status. He popularized the instrument across several genres of music.
Scruggs' career began at age 21 when he was hired to play in Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys. "Bluegrass" eventually became the name for an entire genre of country music. Despite considerable success with Monroe, performing on the Grand Ole Opry and recording classic hits such as "Blue Moon of Kentucky", Scruggs resigned from the group in 1948 because of their exhausting touring schedule. Fellow band member Lester Flatt resigned as well, and he and Scruggs later paired up in the duo Flatt and Scruggs. Scruggs' banjo instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" was recorded in December 1949 and released in March 1950. The song became an enduring hit. The song experienced a rebirth of popularity to a younger generation when it was featured in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. The song won two Grammy Awards and, in 2005, was selected for the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry of works of unusual merit.
Flatt and Scruggs brought bluegrass music into mainstream popularity in the early 1960s with their country hit "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", the theme music for the television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies—the first Scruggs recording to reach number one on the Billboard charts. Over their 20-year association, Flatt and Scruggs recorded over 50 albums and 75 singles. The duo broke up in 1969, chiefly because, while Scruggs wanted to switch styles to fit a more modern sound, Flatt was a traditionalist who opposed the change and believed doing so would alienate a fan base of bluegrass purists. Although each of them formed a new band to match their visions, neither of them ever regained the success they had achieved as a team.
Scruggs received four Grammy awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a National Medal of Arts. He became a member of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1985, Flatt and Scruggs were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame and named, as a duo, number 24 on CMT's "40 Greatest Men of Country Music". Scruggs was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States. Four works by Scruggs have been placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame. After Scruggs' death in 2012 at age 88, the Earl Scruggs Center was founded in Shelby, North Carolina, near his birthplace with the aid of a federal grant and corporate donors. The center is a $5.5 million facility that features the musical contributions of Scruggs and serves as an educational center providing classes and field trips for students.
^Flippo, Chet (March 29, 2012). "Nashville Skyline: Earl Scruggs: A Quiet Bluegrass Giant is Gone". CMT. Retrieved July 22, 2023. And he formed a progressive country band with his talented sons Gary and Randy. As the Earl Scruggs Revue, they toured far and wide and continued with musical experimentation.
States. Four works by Scruggs have been placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame. After Scruggs' death in 2012 at age 88, the EarlScruggs Center was founded in...
Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player EarlScruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill...
Awards three times. He was the middle son of EarlScruggs and Louise Scruggs. As a songwriter, Scruggs's credits include "We Danced Anyway", "Love Don't...
The EarlScruggs Revue is a 1973 album by the progressive country band of the same name, formed by EarlScruggs with his sons Gary and Randy Scruggs. Side...
"breakdown" format, written by EarlScruggs and first recorded on December 11, 1949, by the bluegrass artists Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys...
Chris Scruggs (born Christopher Alan Davies-Scruggs December 16, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who plays a variety...
Charles Scruggs of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, American hip hop band from Cleveland, Ohio Chris Scruggs (born 1982), American singer-songwriter EarlScruggs (1924–2012)...
Reeves Leon Rhodes Tex Ritter Marty Robbins Johnny Russell Rusty and Doug EarlScruggs Jean Shepard Mississippi Slim Carl Smith Fiddlin' Arthur Smith Hank Snow...
other popular genres, particularly rock and roll. Banjoist EarlScruggs of Flatt and Scruggs had shown progressive tendencies since the group's earliest...
2004 – Grammy award for Best Country Instrumental (NGDB with EarlScruggs, Randy Scruggs, Jerry Douglas and Vassar Clements) 2015 – Colorado Music Hall...
Del McCoury, David Grisman, Bill Monroe, John Hartford, Ralph Stanley, EarlScruggs and Larry Sparks. Strings is also a rock and metal fan, influenced by...
mandolinist, best known for his collaboration with banjo picker EarlScruggs in the duo Flatt and Scruggs. Flatt's career spanned multiple decades, breaking out...
James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for...
of Elk Park and Banner Elk), North Carolina. Soundtrack music is by EarlScruggs. Children from local elementary schools were recruited to act in the...
tattooed on her biceps), and EarlScruggs. Her interest in the country and bluegrass of Hank Williams and EarlScruggs inspired her to learn the banjo...
Mountain Breakdown" with EarlScruggs 2002 Best Country Instrumental Performance: EarlScruggs, Gary Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Steve Martin, Leon Russell...
music albums and has performed with various bluegrass acts, including EarlScruggs, with whom he won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance...
EarlScruggs was seen both as a legend and a "contemporary musical innovator" who gave his name to his style of playing, the Scruggs Style. Scruggs played...
came in 2001 on a rendition of EarlScruggs's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", done for the collaboration album EarlScruggs and Friends. Throughout the 1980s...
Jiménez, Philip Glass, Warren Zevon, Gram Parsons, Neil Young, Paul Simon, EarlScruggs, Johnny Cash, and Nelson Riddle. Christopher Loudon, of Jazz Times, wrote...
Burt Bacharach The Band Cab Calloway Doris Day Itzhak Perlman Max Roach EarlScruggs 2009 Gene Autry The Blind Boys of Alabama The Four Tops Hank Jones Brenda...
Instrumental Performance for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" from the CD EarlScruggs and Friends. In September 2006 Lee took part in Primal Twang: The Legacy...
& Scruggs ended after the band broke up in 1969. Afterwards, she became the manager of the newly formed bluegrass band EarlScruggs Revue. Scruggs died...
Scruggs played the banjo with a distinctive three-finger picking style that immediately caused a sensation among Opry audiences. Flatt and Scruggs joined...
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