The Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum in Nashville has announced that the next two volumes of the Best Of Flatt & Scruggs TV Show will be released on DVD October 9, 2007. Like the first two volumes which came out this past March, each of these new DVDs will features a pair of Flatt & Scruggs TV shows, originally aired in 1961 and ’62.
From the August 2 press release:
Until the late 1980s, it was believed that no copies of this groundbreaking series had survived. In 1989, however, advertising executive Bill Graham discovered and donated to the Museum 24 intact shows. Soon after, 12 more were acquired from another source. The shows were innovative on several levels: Each show’s mix of uptempo tunes, comedy bits, spotlight instrumentals and occasional guest performances was a template that subsequent country variety shows would follow. Additionally, the Martha White in-show advertising and accompanying cooking demonstrations were precursors to modern product placement.
Titled Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry, the show ran from 1955 until 1969, when the pair ended their partnership to take separate musical paths. These shows illustrate the band’s greatness as a well-oiled performing unit. "Those were good years," Scruggs said of the era captured on these programs. "Basically, we had a good time with each other‚ĶThere’s nothing like that on the air now, I don’t reckon."
Volume 3 promises two guest performances by Ricky Skaggs at seven years old, trading licks with Scruggs on Foggy Mountain Special, and singing his version of The Osborne Brothers hit Ruby. Volume 4 has the television debut of Randy Scruggs, performing on autoharp.
Of course, both DVDs are bursting at the seams with classic Flatt & Scruggs performances. A detailed description of each volume can be found on the CMHOF site.
They will be released jointly by Shanachie Entertainment and the Country Music Hall Of Fame, who have also announced that the four final sets of shows will be available in 2008.
The first two volumes have been warmly received by bluegrass lovers all over the world, and these next ones are not likely to disappoint.
