Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924, Shelby, North Carolina-died Marc… Read Full Bio ↴Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924, Shelby, North Carolina-died March 28, 2012, Nashville, Tennessee) was a musician noted for creating a banjo style (now called Scruggs style and also formerly known as the three-finger style) that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.
Scruggs joined Bill Monroe'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 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.
Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Scruggs' instrumental Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Scruggs was an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor 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 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 Elton John, 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.
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 (239) for the most banjo players playing one song together (Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Breakdown).
Scruggs' wife and manager Louise Scruggs died on February 2, 2006 at the age of 78 at Nashville, TN's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.
Scruggs joined Bill Monroe'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 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.
Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Scruggs' instrumental Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Scruggs was an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor 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 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 Elton John, 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.
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 (239) for the most banjo players playing one song together (Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Breakdown).
Scruggs' wife and manager Louise Scruggs died on February 2, 2006 at the age of 78 at Nashville, TN's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.
Foggy Mountain Special
Earl Scruggs Lyrics
Instrumental
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Brice W. Alms
Arguably one of the best songs Earl Scruggs ever made.
silverswede1
god bless who ever uploaded this..being a long time banjo player myself, trust me when I tell you this...and i'm NOT saying anything against all the fine players out there .....when all is said and done, when it came to timing, clarity, backup, and that wonderful North Carolina bounce in his playing, in his heyday, Earl Scruggs could'nt be beat! please don't remove this video, it's a great learning tool.
Joshua Gerthoffer
God bless you man.
BeingRomans829ed
There's just something about the way Earl did it. Sort of like, you can eat a Thanksgiving dinner at someone's house and it's good. You can eat a Thanksgiving dinner made by your wife, and it's better. But when you eat that Thanksgiving dinner made by "Mom", it is the best!
There have been and are many good banjo pickers, but Earl's Scruggs' pickin' is "Mom's cookin' ".
Liz Payne
Wow! So damn good! I'm learning the banjo and want to hear MORE
pre9120
He may have talked slow, but there was lightning in those fingers. Love listening to these guys.
Scott Carpenter
Wonderful playing as always - I have just started to learn this one, as at our jam i was doing the Earl "In the Mood" roll over a 12 bar blues (noodling between songs really) and everyone hooked onto it and loved it. FMS would work well in that situation....
clyde
This recording SHOULD draw hundreds of thousands of listeners in a relatively short while. With the passage of enough years, it will draw attention and response appropriate to its astronomical musical value.
leaddispenser9
I'll be severely upset if any off.flatt and scruggs videos are deleted.. these guys... are in a league of their own.
Shayne Titus
Ah man!! That Scruggs banjo picking is the root!! Keeps me pickin’ for sure!!