Earl Scruggs Archives - Bluegrass Today

Life without Earl

This tribute to Earl Scruggs on the anniversary of his passing is a contribution from Jim Mills, a life-long student of Scruggs-style banjo, and a serious collector of the sort of pre war Gibson banjos that Earl played. Jim also maintains a large collection of photos and memorabilia of Flatt & Scruggs and other early bluegrass pioneers. After many years touring with the likes of Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs, he now makes his living buying and selling pre war banjos.

Something really astonishing has occurred to me that I never thought possible, something I can honestly say never even crossed my mind when I was younger.

I have lived an entire year – 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days as of today, Thursday March, 28 2013 – on this planet without my musical hero, Mr. Earl Scruggs, being here in person.

This never crossed my mind because I guess in my earlier years, Earl was simply bigger than life to me. He was there on the Beverly Hillbillies show every week, kicking it off and ending the program with the theme song. He was there on all those Flatt and Scruggs album covers and songbooks that I studied, and still have to this day. He and his music had absolutely infiltrated my heart, brain, and mind so thoroughly that he’d become an integral part of me.

He was the one and only catalyst for my life’s passion, Playing The Banjo, like tens of thousands of others out there today. Had I not heard Earl play, I’d have more than likely not learned to play the banjo.

It’s a rare thing for a person in this day and age to actually get to meet and know their Hero in life. And by the term hero, I mean a real hero. Not just someone you look up to, admire, etc., but a major inspiration and driving force throughout your life.

Think about it for a minute… what would it mean to a top classical violinist if he or she could drive over to Paganini’s house, or to a rock guitar player if they could go to Jimi Hendrix’s place? Have him come to the door and greet them warmly, then go inside and sit down and talk for a while, and maybe even play some music together. Well, I got to do just that with my Hero, Mr. Earl Eugene Scruggs, and even though I didn’t go to see him that often – or call him that often, either – I still had solace in knowing that Earl was there at home on Franklin Road, and I could pick up the phone and call say “Howdy Earl,” and hear his voice on the other end of the line whenever I wanted to.

When that came to an end last March 28^thit left a great void in my world, and as I said, I guess it was one of those things you never want to think about, and so I just didn’t. But now as time has flown by this past year, as it continues to do, I can look back and be so very thankful that I did get to know my Hero in life. And not only my Hero, but many other people’s Hero too.

I thought for a moment and pondered… I’m one of the most fortunate folks I know to have gotten to know the Absolute Architects of what we know today as Bluegrass Music. I look back now with great joy in knowing that I actually met folks like Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Chubby Wise, Kenny Baker, Jimmy Martin, Benny Simms, Josh Graves, Benny Martin, Paul Mullins, Jim McReynolds, Doug Dillard, John Hartford and they actually knew my name. This all got me to thinking that we should be grateful for all these folks, maybe even more so than we are.

Kids coming along today in bluegrass will never get to know these musical icons. Can you imagine how many classical artists today would have liked to have met their music’s architects, from Bach to Beethoven and beyond? Or for that matter how many country music stars of today would have liked to have met Hank Williams Sr. or Patsy Cline?

This inspires me to invite you to go out and see your Hero’s of today, and tell them how much you appreciate them. We still have many of the Original Architects here with us: Ralph Stanley, Mac Wiseman, Jim Shumate, Sonny and Bobby Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Paul Williams, Bobby Hicks, Curly Seckler, Jesse McReynolds, just to name a few.

And don’t ignore the modern Hero’s on the scene today. Walk up to Shawn Lane, Michael Cleveland, Ron Stewart, Adam Steffey, Joe Mullins, Ricky Wasson, Barry Bales, Rob McCoury, Dwight McCall, John Bowman, Junior Sisk, Ronnie McCoury, Alison Krauss, Russell Moore, Stuart Duncan, Dan Tyminski, or Tim Stafford and tell them how great a singer or picker they are. They don’t come along but once in a lifetime folks. Tell Doyle Lawson, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, J. D. Crowe, Del McCoury, Tony Rice, and Bobby Hicks how good it is to see them and that you’re glad they came. I can tell you they’ll still appreciate it just as much today as they did in their early days – maybe even more – and you’ll never forget meeting them.

Reflecting on this past year, I am reminded of a conversation I overheard at Earl Scruggs’ Memorial Service last March. This conversation was being led by a prominent rock and roll guitarist, and he wasn’t in any way a bluegrass player or historian, but had a world of reverence for Earl’s talent. He said something that day that was so utterly profound, in my opinion, that I’ve never forgotten it.

The conversation was concerning Earl Scruggs’ worldwide influence on the masses. He said that “Earl Scruggs just may be the most imitated musician of all time on his respective instrument.” He went on to explain that if you were comparing classical violinists for example, they had their heros and imitators through the decades – Heifetz, then Perlman, and today’s violin hero may be Joshua Bell – but that they all had their heydays so to speak, their moment in the sun. Then another Top Dog’s style or technique would take over the majority of popularity for a decade or so. He then explained that in rock and roll guitar, there was Chuck Berry in the 1950s, then a decade later there was Jimi Hendrix in the ’60s, then Eric Clapton, then Eddie Van Halen, and so on.

He then changed gears completely and said, “but Earl Scruggs has held the undeniable title of the greatest single influence the five string banjo has ever known,” and has maintained that title “nonstop for over 60 years now – to this very day.” He said that you could go on You Tube, and there you’d find 9 year old kids trying to copy Earl Scruggs’ playing as closely as possible, note for note, “right this minute.”

And I guess it took this rock and roll guy, far removed from our traditional bluegrass eyes and ears to see this so clearly. I’d never really thought about it in that way before, but I can honestly say that every banjo player I’ve ever met, and had any kind of conversation with about major influences – from J. D. Crowe to Bela Fleck – all admitted that whatever they accomplish with the banjo is mainly due to the inspiration of just one man, Mr. Earl Scruggs.

And to that I say, “Long Live Earl!”

A Waltz For Earl from Tim Carter

Nashville banjo picker Tim Carter has composed and recorded a lovely tribute to Earl Scruggs, using the uncommon form of a banjo waltz.

The tune is titled A Waltz For Earl, and Tim has used it as a backdrop for this video containing dozens of memorable photos of the recently-departed banjo master.

Big Lick Scruggs tribute video

Here’s video of the Earl Scruggs tribute held last weekend at the Big Lick Festival in North Carolina.

We published some photos yesterday taken by Laura Tate Ridge, and now comes this 27-minute video of the stage presentation, hosted by Little Roy Lewis and Lizzy Long. In addition to some fine banjo picking’ from Lizzy, Roy, Sammy Shelor, Steven Baldridge, Marc Pruett and others, a number of poignant stories about Earl are shared.

Earl Scruggs in the Congressional Record

Harold Rogers, a 16 term Congressman representing the 5th District in Kentucky, had the following tribute to Earl Scruggs read into the Congressional Record on April 17.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Earl Scruggs, who passed away on March 28, 2012. He was a noted banjo player whose style changed the way the banjo is played and whose music will endure for generations.

Born on January 6, 1924 in western North Carolina, Scruggs came into a musical family. His parents, brothers and sisters all had musical talents and traditional music was heard all around him. His love for music started at an early age after watching his older brothers master the banjo, which promoted his interest in playing. The support and practice he received at home with his family produced an artist who would go on to leave an indelible mark on traditional American and bluegrass music.

Scruggs began his remarkable 67-year career in music in 1945 when he began playing with Bill Monroe, the father of Bluegrass music, and his band the Blue Grass Boys. On these earliest recordings, his peculiar style of playing the banjo, which brought out a syncopated rolling rhythm using three fingers as opposed to the old ‘‘clawhammer’’ style, was immediately recognized as a fresh approach to playing the instrument. This style has been imitated by so many players that today it is referred to as the ‘‘Scruggs style’’ and is the preferred style among many musicians in traditional and bluegrass music. Bluegrass music is an essential part of the heritage of my congressional district in Southern and Eastern Kentucky, and many of the musicians in my region were influenced by him and play the banjo in his style.

In 1948, Scruggs joined forces with band mate Lester Flatt to form Flatt & Scruggs, and the two played together for over 20 years. In the 1970s, he formed the band Earl Scruggs Revue and expanded his audiences into genres where the banjo is not commonly heard, and even shared the stage with many folk, rock, and pop acts of the time, broadening the reach of traditional and bluegrass music. Even those who are not familiar with bluegrass music have likely heard Scruggs’ playing on ‘‘The Ballad of Jed Clampett,’’ which was the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies television program, as well as his Grammy Award winning ‘‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown.’’

Earl Scruggs was a two time Grammy Award winner, inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor, as well as a recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 1992. His presence on stage will be sorely missed, but his music will last for many years to come.

Banjo Stylin’ – Porchlight Sessions

The producers of the upcoming Porchlight Sessions film have assembled this set of outtakes from the many hours of footage they shot as a tribute to Earl Scruggs.

You’ll see comments and music from Chris Pandolfi, Béla Fleck and Alison Brown – not just about Scruggs, but also about the revolution he set in motion.

The Porchlight Sessions, still in post-production, is a project masterminded and produced by Anna Schwaber. Its goal is to put bluegrass and other forms of modern Appalachian-derived folk music into a more favorable perspective than is often the case, and explain the music and the culture to the uninitiated.

As Anna put it in an earlier interview with Bluegrass Today:

“I realized fairly early on that there was little compelling educational content about the region of the US that I grew up in. When I younger, I was an avid white-water kayaker and spent my summers on rivers in the Smokys while based in Brevard, NC. I remember the music as a soundtrack to these adventures, which was cool and all but we’d watch films like Deliverancebefore kayaking the river it was filmed on, the Chatooga River.

I really didn’t like how the people of the region were depicted in mainstream cinema and felt that a lot of my distaste for the music was steeped in the fact that is was poorly documented. As an artist and filmmaker, I saw this subject as my responsibility. I wanted everyone in the masses who equated bluegrass to the misleading concepts in Deliverance to see the beauty in the culture surrounding the music as I saw it.”

The film combines interviews and live performances in a documentary style. Some of the music is captured in its element, while some is special for the producers – like this unamplified bit from Crooked Still.

http://www.porchlightsessions.com/videos/crooked%20still.mov

Schwaber is soliciting support now at Kickstarter to raise the money needed to complete editing and get the film onto screens.

Earl Scruggs interview online

Back in 1989, former Blue Grass Boy Doug Hutchens taped a lengthy interview with Earl Scruggs that ran on Doug’s radio show – which went by the clever title, Bluegrass Today.

The occasion of Earl’s passing has prompted Doug to make the audio from this discussion available online, and it is posted in 15 parts at Banjo Hangout.

Doug played both bass and banjo for Monroe in 1971, and later had the opportunity to work with Scruggs as a Gibson employee when the Earl Scruggs model banjo was being reconfigured in the Spring of ’89. It was later that year – on Halloween night – that the interview was recorded.

Here’s a piece of the discussion, where Earl describes the serious auto accident he and his family were in during the Fall of 1955.

Earl Scruggs on his auto accident: [http://traffic.libsyn.com/thegrasscast/car_wreck.mp3]

You can hear the rest of the interview at Banjo Hangout. Scroll down the page to see the various segments.

Many thanks to Doug Hutchens and Frank Schoepf for making this material available.

Thanks for everything, Earl

The day we all knew was inevitable has come, but knowing it’s coming doesn’t make it any easier when it does. It doesn’t seem possible, but this man I only met for a few brief minutes probably had more impact on the direction my life took as an adult than any human being, other than my parents.

As a boy, I was in many ways like Earl Scruggs (or at least how he seemed to me); a little quiet and shy, and drawn to music at a young age. I loved to sing, and was selected in auditions to perform in my elementary school choir, followed by experimentations with a cornet (borrowed from a cousin when I wanted a saxophone), a chord organ, and a guitar. Like many of my generation, my greatest exposure to the banjo was the Beverly Hillbillies and Hee Haw television shows, and I was fascinated by the bright, rapid-fire sound.

I got my first banjo at the age of 13, for Christmas; a Harmony (plastic rim and resonator). In selling my parents the banjo, the music store promised a teacher, but I received instruction from a guitar player who didn’t even own a banjo, let alone know how to play one. We became friends years later and I thanked him for being such a bad teacher that even a beginner could recognize it and quit in search of the right path. However after months of struggling, I was nowhere closer to learning how to make the sounds I was hearing on television, until I found Earl’s book.

Suddenly, all of the mysteries of the magic Earl created were accessible (not easy, but possible). With the accompanying vinyl LP, I began spending hours each day, driving my family nearly crazy (the most common phrases I heard: “go to your room” and “close your door”). Over the next several years, I joined my first group, became respected and sought after in local music circles – which were predominately comprised of adults, giving me a certain level of confidence and maturity most sixteen year olds don’t possess.

Although I appreciated everything my family did for me, my family was not well-to-do, and the income I earned playing and teaching as a teenager made a college education and a better life financially possible. I joined the musicians union at sixteen and routinely earned more on a weekly basis performing on the weekend than I could have by working full-time for minimum wage (which was less than four dollars an hour in the late 1970’s, a painful fact I learned during a few months working at a discount store during a brief period between bands).

I met my wife of 30 years, Valerie, through mutual musician friends, while we were attending different high schools. I often joke on stage that I held auditions for a wife and she was the best guitar player-vocalist. I was finanically independent upon graduating high school and worked my way through college and law school, along with the help of Valerie, largely on the strength of teaching and performing our music. I am the only one of three children in my family to graduate from college, let alone going on to a professional degree, all made possible by the ability I gained from the instruction and inspiration I received from Earl.

I can’t imagine what my life would have been like had I not found Earl’s book and learned to play the banjo. It gave me joy, pride, confidence, the ability to earn a living, friends, my wife, a fulfilling pursuit that keeps my wife and I close during a time in life when some marriages drift apart, a way to bring joy to others and help out worthy causes in our community — need I go on?

One of the great moments in my life was the coincidence (I think it was no coincidence) of deciding to visit the Grand Ole Opry one night and being able to get backstage only to find out that Earl Scruggs was making a rare visit (he wasn’t listed on the bill and did not perform). While it was only a few minutes, I had the chance to talk to him and express how much his inspiration and assistance meant to me and what a difference it had made in my life.

While I am envious of those who had the privilege of knowing Earl well on a personal level, I don’t know how he could have had any bigger impact on any life. It is literally like he handed me the keys to a vehicle that transported me down a certain path in life. At the same time, I know my story is not unique and that there are probably thousands of others that have been similarly affected. What greater tribute could be offered to anyone than to say they made the world a better place and positively influenced such a large part of humanity in a way that will endure, possibly for the remainder of whatever time this world may exist.

As a closing thought, I’d like to think that maybe Flatt & Scruggs have finally reunited and that I’ll get to see them perform together in person someday.

Thanks for everything, Earl.

Kaz Inaba honors Earl Scruggs

Noted Japanese bluegrass artist Kazuhiro Inaba sent along this video tribute to the late Earl Scruggs.

I played “The Scruggs Medley” with my great respect and appreciation for Earl Scruggs last night at Mister Kelly’s in Osaka.

Since I started to play the banjo at age 15, he has been like God of 5 string.

And still he is.

A hearty handshake and a pat on the back for the first commenter to name all the tunes in order.

Earl: Exceptional Efficiency, Extreme Elegance

This commemoration of Earl Scruggs comes from Jack Hatfield, who has earned his living teaching Scruggs’ music for almost 40 years. His Scruggs Corner columns for Banjo Newsletter are collectors items, as they contained start-to-finish transcriptions from Scruggs recordings, including backup. Jack also operates the Smoky Mountain Banjo Academy, dedicated to passing on and preserving the playing of both three finger and clawhammer banjo. The 2012 event is scheduled for May 4-6, sponsored in part by Nechville.

Here, Jack seeks to provide a thumbnail description of what made Earl Scruggs’ playing so unique – from a technical standpoint – for the non-banjo playing fan.

We lost a legend recently. It remains virtually undisputed: Earl Scruggs was both the architect and the Master of bluegrass banjo style. We can ponder what bluegrass would be like, or even there would even be a genus of music called bluegrass if Bill Monroe had stuck with Stringbean, or if Don Reno had not been called to serve in the military.

It was the addition of Earl Scruggs’ banjo style that crystallized the Monroe sound, providing the missing element Monroe was seeking that would make his band unique. Monroe didn’t know himself exactly what he was looking for, and even for a while after Earl joined the band he was still not sure it was the right component. However, when audiences at the Grand Ole Opry and radio audiences around the South responded wildly to Earl’s playing, he had to keep the young man, and so bluegrass was born.

Why did this particular style of banjo playing intrigue us like no other? Homo sapiens crave organization. The most basic way to organize sounds (or anything else) is with equal spacing. Like the ocean waves on the shore or our own heartbeat…equal spacing. This is what Earl brought to the banjo…equal note spacing. Though he did not invent the three-finger style, he took what others were doing and refined it so the notes were not only evenly spaced, but also extremely fast. Couple this with the loud, piercing, brilliant tone of a banjo and like it or not, it is as impossible to ignore as a machine gun.

The notes of the five-string banjo in a bluegrass ensemble are like the evenly spaced steel rods used to reinforce concrete. The bass and guitar in a bluegrass rhythm section are like the fence posts and the banjo notes are like the pickets. Without the pickets, the fence would not be a fence. In fact, if you have ever run a stick along a picket fence, you have created a crude model of bluegrass rhythm.

The equal note spacing speaks for itself, but how did Earl achieve the blinding speed? He did it by not repeating a digit on consecutive eighth notes, and by limiting the number of licks and finger sequences. Reduce Earl’s finger sequences to their most basic elements and there are only three: The Alternating Thumb sequence (T-I-T-M) the Forward sequence (T-I-M) and the Backward sequence (M-I-T). He combined these building blocks to create five or six patterns that would fit neatly within a four beat measure of common time.

Later the term “roll” was coined to describe these patterns. Earl’s rolls allowed an odd number of digits to fit into an even number of beats. Virtually everything Earl did employed these five or six rolls, cut and pasted in different combinations. Think of it – Earl recorded dozens of instrumentals, hundreds of solos on vocal numbers, thousands of verses of backup, all using only five or six finger sequences! The more something is rehearsed, the better it is performed. In using a limited number of right hand sequences, Earl practiced each millions of times. This is why he was able to hone his licks to such a high level of speed and precision.

The final piece of the puzzle: Earl played the melody. Those who do not play the banjo may not appreciate how difficult it is to maintain a continuous stream of eighth notes, while not repeating a digit, and still render a recognizable melody. However, the rolls Earl devised do exactly that. In addition to precise note spacing and high speed, they allow the stronger thumb to play most of the melody notes on the all-important first and fourth downbeats.

Ralph Stanley was more simplistic – he thought in terms of the more elemental three note forward roll. He attains excellent note spacing and speed because of the simplicity… however, his approach does not allow the thumb to play as many of the melody notes, and more melody notes are misplaced a half beat to accommodate the roll. Ralph often extended the forward roll across measure lines.

Earl also extended the forward roll across measure lines, but primarily in backup and when the melody notes were spaced far enough apart. Both of these musicians have the incredible drive, which can only be produced by an extended forward roll. Don Reno used more sequences than Earl. He rendered an accurate melody, even on complex pop and swing instrumentals, but because of his much more extensive “lickabulary,” the note spacing was not as precise. His entire approach was more sophisticated, so naturally he appealed to fewer listeners, those who had more refined musical tastes.

This comparison/contrast is not meant to detract from either of the other great bluegrass pioneers – their fans loved their music as much as Earl’s loved his, and there is room in the music world for these three approaches and infinitely more. This is merely to point out that Scruggs’s style created a proportion of note spacing, speed, and melody that appealed to a greater audience. This appeal was greatly magnified by Flatt & Scruggs’ contributions to the Beverly Hillbillies television show, and the movie Bonnie and Clyde.

However, to give credit where credit is due…Earl was the first. If he were not the first and the best, he would not have been chosen to do these sound tracks in the first place. He would not have been the only banjo player of his generation to perform at Carnegie Hall.

Did Earl analyze his approach and plan this out ahead of time? I think not. I believe when one is devoted to a musical instrument, their music eventually takes on their personality. Earl was a simple man. He was a man of few words, but those words were direct, sincere, and to the point. Progressive banjo players use more notes, more finger sequences, more complex chord voicings, and many of them have produced great music. However, less is more. The limited number and basic nature of Earl’s right hand sequences made possible a precision of timing and rate of speed that none of his peers could equal. Earl’s genius lay in his simplicity.

Rhythm is the most fundamental aspect of music. Precise timing is something even non-musicians can relate to. This is why, when Earl played the five-string banjo, he was not just communicating with other banjo players or other musicians. He was communicating on a deep psychological level with Everyman.

Earl: Exceptional Efficiency and Extreme Elegance.

Ryan Cavanaugh on Earl Scruggs

This Earl Scruggs tribute is a contribution from avant-garde and jazz banjo pioneer, Ryan Cavanaugh.

I was fortunate enough to have a few conversations with our hero Earl Scruggs, and having spent my formative years in an extensive study of his music, I will be inserting a little something Earl in all of my solos at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC next week.

I felt like really got to know Earl from the age of 10-15. I spent hour upon hour with his instructional book and records, even being influenced by his style of dress and hair style!

I attended Earl’s funeral service and was deeply moved by speeches from Charlie Daniels, Béla Fleck, John McEuen, and Vince Gill. I learned that Earl was indeed the sweet man he portrayed in all of his photos and interviews and that is something I found great comfort in. He was a good friend and father best of all.

My farewell to him was a tearful one for sure. Nashville has lost an icon and it feels as if a big part of it died with him.