The Hal Leonard music publishing company has announced the imminent release of a new book of Earl Scruggs banjo transcriptions. Titled The Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook, it will offer tablature for 84 classic Scruggs solos taken from both recordings and live shows over the course of his lengthy and remarkable career.
The books lists Earl Scruggs as the author, and was created with the approval of the Earl Scruggs estate. At this point, we have been unable to determine who prepared these transcriptions, but Hal Leonard describes them as “accurately transcribed” and indicates that they are published using the same tablature format as Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo.
Of course there is no way that Earl could have approved these transcriptions himself, unless he and his son, Gary, had begun working on this project more than ten years ago. We assume that Gary and Hal Leonard had chosen a qualified transcriber for something as potentially important as this, and that they have been carefully proofed
Initial publication for The Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook had been listed for February, but unexpected delays have pushed availability back to May, but the company was able to provide us with this complete list of song titles. It includes solos, intros, and endings for music he recorded with Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Earl Scruggs Revue, and on various albums where he appeared as a guest. References to available recordings are included for each song or tune.
Before I Met You
Big Black Train
Bugle Call Rag
Can The Circle Be Unbroken (Will The Circle Be Unbroken)
Come Back Darling
The Crawdad Song
Daisy May
Dig A Hole In The Meadow
Doin’ My Time
Don’t Get Above Your Raising
Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down
Down The Road
Duelin’ Banjos
Farewell Blues
Fireball
Fireball Mail
Flop Eared Mule
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Foggy Mountain Rock
Foggy Mountain Special
Get In Line Brother
Gotta Travel On
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
Have You Come To Say Goodbye
Hear The Whistle Blow, One Hundred Miles
Heavy Traffic Ahead
I Ain’t Goin’ To Work Tomorrow
I Saw The Light
I Want To Be Loved (But Only By You)
I Wonder Where You Are Tonight
I’d Rather Be Alone
I’ll Go Stepping Too
I’ll Just Pretend
I’ll Never Shed Another Tear
I’ll Stay Around
I’m Goin’ Back To Old Kentucky
I’m Head Over Heels In Love
If I Should Wander Back Tonight
It’s Mighty Dark To Travel
Jazzing
Jingle Bells
John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man
Just Joshin’
Lonesome Road Blues
Love And Wealth
Love Is Just A Four Letter Word
Mama Blues
Molly And Tenbrooks
Mountain Dew
My Cabin In Caroline
My Home’s Across The Blue Ridge Mountains
My Little Girl In Tennessee
My Long Journey Home
My Saro Jane
Nashville Skyline Rag
Nine Pound Hammer
Nobody’s Business
Nothing To It
On The Rock Where Moses Stood
Pain In My Heart
Petticoat Junction
Pike County Breakdown
Polka On A Banjo
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms
Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town
Salty Dog Blues
Shortenin’ Bread
Six White Horses
Soldier’s Joy
Some Of Shelly’s Blues
Some Old Day
Somebody Touched Me
Somehow Tonight
Standin’ In The Need Of Prayer
Steel Guitar Rag
Till The End Of The World Rolls Around
‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered
Toy Heart
We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart
When I Left East Virginia
When The Angels Carry Me Home
Why Don’t You Tell Me So
Will You Be Loving Another Man
You Can’t Stop Me From Dreaming
Jim Mills provided a Foreword to the book, and Hal Leonard’s pre-publication notes say that tuning and capo information for each piece are included. They also suggest that for the instrumental tracks, complete tablature is given so we presume that means that multiple solos are transcribed.
Let’s hope that by indicating this new publication as following the tablature format of Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo, that it does not include the questionable and unnecessary grace notes that made the recent reprint of that volume so confusing for less skilled players to study.
Though The Earl Scruggs Banjo Songbook does not yet list on the Hal Leonard web site, it is available for pre-order from a number of online resellers. It is offered in a large sized paperback edition, at 192 pages, for $29.99.
This is a book that every banjo player will want to own, and could become the ultimate reference point for students and historians of the music of the one and only Earl Scruggs.
