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Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) is a musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger style (now called Scruggs style
Scruggs style

Scruggs style is the most common style of playing the banjo in bluegrass music. It is a fingerpicking method, also known as three-finger style....
) on the 5-string banjo
Banjo

The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by Slavery in the United States Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments....
 that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music
Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has its own roots in Folk music of Ireland, Music of Scotland, Music of Wales and Folk Music of England traditional music....
. Although other musicians had played in 3-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an United States musician who helped develop the style of music known as bluegrass music, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky....
 to fill the banjo slot in the "Blue Grass Boys". Scruggs built on earlier styles to develop a truly new and readily identifiable style, involving: unprecedented smoothness, syncopation, and uninterrupted flow; a large vocabulary of unique and original licks; blues and jazz phrases, evident in backup and in solos such as "Foggy Mountain Special;" and an overall coherency and polish that other stylists lacked, which inspired imitation by newer generations of banjo pickers.

ggs was born in Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby, North Carolina

Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina....
 to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs.






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Encyclopedia


Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) is a musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger style (now called Scruggs style
Scruggs style

Scruggs style is the most common style of playing the banjo in bluegrass music. It is a fingerpicking method, also known as three-finger style....
) on the 5-string banjo
Banjo

The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by Slavery in the United States Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments....
 that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music
Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has its own roots in Folk music of Ireland, Music of Scotland, Music of Wales and Folk Music of England traditional music....
. Although other musicians had played in 3-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an United States musician who helped develop the style of music known as bluegrass music, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky....
 to fill the banjo slot in the "Blue Grass Boys". Scruggs built on earlier styles to develop a truly new and readily identifiable style, involving: unprecedented smoothness, syncopation, and uninterrupted flow; a large vocabulary of unique and original licks; blues and jazz phrases, evident in backup and in solos such as "Foggy Mountain Special;" and an overall coherency and polish that other stylists lacked, which inspired imitation by newer generations of banjo pickers.

Biography

Scruggs was born in Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby, North Carolina

Shelby is a city in Cleveland County, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States. The population was 19,477 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina....
 to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs. Scruggs joined Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an United States musician who helped develop the style of music known as bluegrass music, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky....
's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945 and his syncopated, three-finger picking style quickly became a sensation. In 1948 Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt
Lester Flatt

Lester Raymond Flatt was one of the pioneers of bluegrass music....
 left Monroe's band and formed Flatt and Scruggs. In 1969, Flatt and Scruggs broke up and Scruggs started a new band, the Earl Scruggs Revue, featuring several of his sons.

On September 24th 1962 singer Jerry Scoggins
Jerry Scoggins

Jerry Scoggins was a United States country singer who performed in radio, movies, and television from the 1930's onward. He was noted for singing The Ballad of Jed Clampett, the theme song to the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies....
, Flatt, and Scruggs recorded The Ballad of Jed Clampett
The Ballad of Jed Clampett

"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" was the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies TV show and movie, providing the back story for the series. The song was written by Paul Henning, and sung by Jerry Scoggins accompanied by bluegrass music musicians Flatt and Scruggs....
 for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies is an United States television series about a hillbilly family transplanted to Beverly Hills, California after finding oil on their land....
 which was released October 12th 1962. The theme song became an immediate country music
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
 hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode. Flat 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.

Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
 in 1969
Grammy Awards of 1969

The 11th Grammy Awards were held in 1969. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1968....
 for Scruggs' instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Foggy Mountain Breakdown

"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is a famous bluegrass music instrumental by the seminal bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs. It is used as background music in the 1967 in film motion picture Bonnie and Clyde , especially in the car chase scenes, and has been used in a similar manner in many other pictures and television programs, particularl...
". They were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1989, he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship
National Heritage Fellowship

The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folklore and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts....
. Scruggs was an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor

Induction to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, called the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor from its creation in 1991 through 2006, is managed by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and the Hall itself is maintained at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky....
 in 1991.

In 2002 Scruggs won a second Grammy award for the 2001 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", which featured artists such as Steve Martin
Steve Martin

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an Emmy Award-winning United States actor, comedian, writer, playwright, Film producer, musician, and composer....
 on 2nd banjo
Banjo

The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by Slavery in the United States Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments....
 solo (Martin played the banjo tune on his 1970s stand-up comic acts), Vince Gill
Vince Gill

Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an United States neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a vocalist and musician have placed him in hig...
 and Albert Lee
Albert Lee

For the city in Minnesota, see Albert Lea, MinnesotaAlbert Lee is a Grammy-winning English people guitarist known for his Fingerpicking and hybrid picking technique....
 on electric guitar solos, Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer

Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, Order of Canada is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer currently the bandleader and sidekick on the Late Show with David Letterman....
 on piano, Leon Russell
Leon Russell

Leon Russell is a singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist. Russell attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.First known mostly as a session musician, Russell has played with artists as varied as Jerry Lee Lewis, Phil Spector, Joe Cocker, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Elton John, BB King, Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman...
 on organ, and Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart

John Marty Stuart is an United States country music singer, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music....
 on mandolin. The album, Earl Scruggs and Friends, also featured artists such as John Fogerty
John Fogerty

John Cameron Fogerty is an United States Rock music singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival....
, Elton John
Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John Order of the British Empire is an England singer-songwriter, composer and pianist.In his four-decade career, John has been one of the dominant forces in rock and popular music, especially during the 1970s....
, Sting, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Primarily a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll , as well as blues, folk music and Gospel music....
, Don Henley
Don Henley

Donald Hugh " Don " Henley is an United States rock music singing, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful Grammy Award-winning solo career....
, Travis Tritt
Travis Tritt

James Travis Tritt is a Grammy award-winning American country music artist and occasional actor, more commonly known as Travis Tritt.Starting with the debut single release of "Country Club" in 1989, Travis Tritt has charted more than thirty singles on the U.S....
, and Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton is an American screenwriter, actor and occasional Film director, playwright and singer. His rise to fame began in the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the film Sling Blade, for which he won an Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay; he has since established a successful career as a film actor in...
. Earl Scruggs and Friends (MCA Nashville, 2001).

On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment hall of fame....
. That same year, he and Flatt were ranked #24 on CMT
CMT

CMT can refer to:* Cadmium Mercury Telluride* California mastitis test* California Musical Theatre, a nonprofit arts organization in Sacramento, California...
's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.

Scruggs' wife and manager Louise Scruggs died on February 2, 2006 at the age of 78 at Nashville, TN's
Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the Capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis, Tennessee....
 Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.

On September 13, 2006, Scruggs was honored at Turner Field
Turner Field

Turner Field is a baseball park in Atlanta, Georgia, home to Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves since 1997. Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium, it was completed in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics....
 in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for an Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the National League East of Major League Baseball's National League....
 home game. Organizers (Banjo.com) 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.

Discography


Albums

Year Single Chart Positions
US Country US
Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling Albums and extended play in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine....
 US Heat
Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers is a weekly albums chart introduced by Billboard in 1993 whose purpose is to highlight sales by new and developing musical recording artists....
 US Bluegrass
1967 Strictly Instrumental
Strictly Instrumental

Strictly Instrumental is the title of a recording by United States Folk music artists Doc Watson, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, released in 1967....
 (with Lester Flatt
Lester Flatt

Lester Raymond Flatt was one of the pioneers of bluegrass music....
 and Doc Watson
Doc Watson

Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an United States guitar player, songwriter and singer of Bluegrass music, American folk music, country music, blues and gospel music....
)		    
1969 Changin' Times    
1970 Nashville Airplane    
1972 I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends    
Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends    
Live at Kansas State 20   
1973 Rockin' 'Cross the Country 46   
Dueling Banjos    
The Earl Scruggs Revue  169  
1975 Anniversary Special  104  
1976 The Earl Scruggs Revue 2  161  
Family Portrait 49   
1977 Live from Austin City Limits 49   
Strike Anywhere    
1978 Bold & New 50   
1979 Today & Forever    
1982 Storyteller and the Banjo Man (with Tom T. Hall
Tom T. Hall

Tom T. Hall is an United States country music, songwriter, and country singer. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100....
)		    
Flatt & Scruggs    
1983 Top of the World    
1984 Superjammin    
1998 Artist's Choice: The Best Tracks (1970-1980)    
2001 Earl Scruggs and Friends 39  33 14
2002 Classic Bluegrass Live: 1959-1966    
2003 Three Pickers (with Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs

For the punk rock musician, see Ricky Scaggs.Richard Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a Grammy-winning country music and bluegrass music singer, musician, producer, and composer....
)		 24 179  2
2004 The Essential Earl Scruggs    
2005 Live with Donnie Allen and Friends    


Singles

Year Single US Country
Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales....
 Album
1970 "Nashville Skyline Rag" 74 Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends
1979 "I Sure Could Use the Feeling" 30 Single only
"Play Me No Sad Songs" 82 Today & Forever
1980 "Blue Moon of Kentucky
Blue Moon of Kentucky

"Blue Moon of Kentucky" is a waltz written in 1946 by Bluegrass music musician Bill Monroe and recorded by his band, The Blue Grass Boys. The song has since been recorded by Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Ronnie Hawkins, Rory Gallagher, LeAnn Rimes, Paul McCartney, Boxcar Willie, Ray Charles and others....
"		 46
1982 "There Ain't No Country Music on This Jukebox"
(with Tom T. Hall
Tom T. Hall

Tom T. Hall is an United States country music, songwriter, and country singer. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100....
)		 77 Storyteller and the Banjo Man
"Song of the South
Song of the South (song)

"Song of the South" is a country music written by Bob McDill and recorded by Alabama from their 1989 album Southern Star . The song reached number one on both the United States and the Canadian country charts....
" (with Tom T. Hall)		 72


DVDs


  • Earl Scruggs - His Family and Friends (2005)* Private Sessions (2005)
  • The Bluegrass Legend (2006)


Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs

For the punk rock musician, see Ricky Scaggs.Richard Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a Grammy-winning country music and bluegrass music singer, musician, producer, and composer....
  • The Three Pickers (2003)


Flatt and Scruggs
  • The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 1 (2007)
  • The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 2 (2007)


Footnotes


External links