The king of the five-string banjo has finger picked his last. Along with Lester Flatt, Chubby Wise and of course Bill Monroe, he invented a new American jazz form. And of them, he was the last to go. If there’s a heaven, let’s hope they get their own instruments, and not harps.
[Update a couple minutes later]
(Transplanted Brit) Andrew Stuttaford remembers him.
Here he is (via Alex Massey), playing his signature classic with Steve Martin, who has some thoughts here.
[Late afternoon update]
I should add that, with all respect to Lester Flatt, he wasn’t the pioneer that the others were — he was just in the right place at the right time. He is known primarily for the “Flatt lick,” which he didn’t invent, but did popularize, but as any bio will tell you, he didn’t want to move into the sixties, and he wasn’t a real flat picker — he really just played rhythm. It took the likes of Doc Watson, Clarence White, Dan McCrary, Norman Blake, Tony Rice (and others I’m probably leaving out) to catch the guitar up to the rest of instruments in the genre, in terms of virtuosity.
I wonder what three finger pickin on a harp would sound like.
It would certainly give Enya’s”Orinoco Flow” a different flavor.
I grew up in mainly Kentucky.
But when I started moving around the country I was shocked by two musical bits of craziness. The number of people who had NEVER heard of Bluegrass Music. And the number of people didn’t see how I could own ‘Are You Experienced’, ‘Led zeppelin 1 & 2’ and ‘Flatt & Scruggs at Carnegie Hall’.
I converted a few people. And after the influx of Country Rock bands, many of the old naysayers started buying those old Bluegrass discs.
Mr Scruggs, thanks for some great times. Enjoy your rest.
(hmm…I suddenly have a craving for BBQ mutton and burgoo?!)
I just love Earl Scruggs and his “Scruggs style” of banjo picking. I first heard it from some buddies in high school who started playing bluegrass and invited me to sit in on some jam sessions. (I grew up in Houston.) Got my parents to buy me a banjo and a Scruggs book and took them with me to MIT! Lots of fun. I’m sorry he’s gone. But then I start thinking about Foggy Mountain Breakdown and you just can’t stay sad listening to that! I hope he’s in heaven and forming a bluegrass band. 🙂
If god has any brains at all he’ll let Ear (and Lester) use their banjos. Harps ain’t in it.
Thanks for that video post. It led me to other youtube cuts from Earl Scruggs. I often forget about classes of music and a post like that will remind me of them. So then I’ll go back and re-discover them.
Well, Lester probably wouldn’t know what to do with a banjo. Though a smart God could fix that. A smarter one would give him a guitar.
Oops. my ignorance rises up once again.
Actually, if God is smart, he’ll team up Earl with Clarence White, someone worthy of him. See my post update.
Bluegrass was really big in Pittsburgh too. They didn’t call it Pennsyltucky fer nothing you know! I remember Mac Martin and the Dixie Travellers and getting a chance one night to try out Mac’s 1938 Martin New Yorker… ahhh, what a sweet piece of kit!
First time I ever heard bluegrass called a jazz form. My 75 year old dad teaches banjo lessons twice a week, and my brother is a Tony Rice disciple. I tend towards the Marty Stuart / Vince Gill flavors myself, but it’s all good. God bless Earl and those gone before.
Kind of interesting how many here seem to be bluegrass fans, don’t recall it ever coming up before.
Lester Flatt was a close personal friend of the well-known social conservative and oil-industry entrepreneur J. D. Clampett. That’s good enough for me.