If you’ve visited the main page of the mega-search site Google this week, you’ll have seen this lovely tribute to the great Earl Scruggs at the top of the page.
It was created as part of their This Day In History series, in honor of the 5th anniversary of the opening of the Earl Scruggs Center, and the 95th anniversary of Earl’s birth on January 6, 1924. Google frequently creates these special images, which they call doodles, to mark important days worthy of remembrance.
They have a special page for Earl which features a brief biography, and links to the Earl Scruggs Center near his hometown in North Carolina, with its museum in his memory.
It also includes this quote from his son, Gary.
“Even though my father, Earl Scruggs, passed away before the Earl Scruggs Center opened, he was involved in its planning stages. It was important for him that the Earl Scruggs Center would serve as more than a museum displaying interesting artifacts and memorabilia, but as an educational facility as well. I very much admired the fact that my Dad was not only a world-class musician, but was also willing and eager to teach his musical skills to anyone asking his advice. His banjo instruction book, Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo, is a testimony to his willingness to share his musical “secrets” with the world. And there’s no doubt, he would be very proud that the Earl Scruggs Center offers educational programs and learning experiences to people of all ages.”
When you see the doodle at full size, it even animates to show the way Earl played his classic number, Foggy Mountain Breakdown.
It’s a lovely tribute to a man who is every bit as much the Father of Bluegrass as Bill Monroe.
Long live the music of Earl Scruggs!
