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Monday October 1st, 2001
Earl Scruggs takes 'an exciting trip' with Friends
In 1996, bluegrass pioneer and Gibson banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs suffered a heart attack in the recovery room of a hospital shortly after hip-replacement surgery. "Coming out of that, all of a sudden as the recuperation started happening, I was just watching his playing grow and grow," says son Randy Scruggs. "He was playing like he was in his 20s. All of a sudden, as that was happening, we wanted to do another album. We asked, 'What can we do that dad would enjoy doing?'"
What they enjoyed doing was gathering Elton John, Dwight Yoakam, Travis Tritt, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Leon Russell, Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash, John Fogerty, Don Henley, Johnny Cash, and actors Steve Martin (on banjo) and Billy Bob Thornton (singing Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire") to record the all-star album Earl Scruggs and Friends (MCA), Earl's first new album in seventeen years.
The album was lovingly produced by Scruggs' multi-talented son Randy and features son Gary as well.
"The first track we recorded with Elton John," Randy says. "When he came in, he actually brought a box set of early material that Dad had recorded. Elton was a fan of Dad's, and Dad was a huge fan of Elton's. It set the mood and the stage."
Randy says the song selection process was "always very open. The important thing to me was that it was something the guest artist would feel passionate about, and at the same time, something Dad could dig his teeth into, in terms of performance on the banjo."
Scruggs joined the late Lester Flatt in Bill Monroe's band in 1945. The combination was so potent that it spawned imitators and launched the bluegrass movement. Flatt and Scruggs broke away from Monroe in 1948 to form Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys. That group was also popular and influential, with Flatt & Scruggs featured periodically on the TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies as well as scoring a hit with the show's theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett."
Flatt and Scruggs were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985.
Together, they recorded the best-known and best-selling bluegrass song of all time: "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." "Earl had written and recorded it in 1949," recalls Earl's wife of 53 years, Louise Scruggs, who is also his manager. "Warren Beatty called when he was producing Bonnie and Clyde and said he found this wonderful record of Earl's that he thought would work great in the movie. Ends up it won a Grammy, and Earl got the Millionaire Award [for airplay] from BMI."
Flatt and Scruggs performed together until 1969, when Earl formed the Earl Scruggs Revue with sons Gary, Randy, and Steve.
"Earl Scruggs is one of the true pioneers of American music," insists Don Henley, who first met Randy in the early '70s. "He is a living example of a strain of musical authenticity that runs back to the earliest musical traditions of this country."
Just a click away...
Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs and Friends
Flatt & Scruggs
Country Music Hall of FameSays MCA Nashville chairman Bruce Hinton, "There are just a few people in the entire 20th century that forever changed the ways an up-and-coming musician would think about how they were supposed to play their instruments and what their possibilities might be with it. That's a very unique legacy. You look at people like Louis Armstrong. No one had thought about playing a trumpet that way before him, or Chet Atkins on guitar. Earl has certainly brought that to the banjo -- not to mention he is one of the architects of bluegrass music."
"It isn't often that you can have such a cast of individuals of this caliber come together and celebrate music," Randy says. "They were there because of my dad, but what my dad represents is what turned up within the recording of the music: outstanding and unique musicianship and artistry. That's what we wanted to capture."
Earl is pleased with the results. "They are all exciting to me," he says of the 12 cuts. "I'll start listening to the album, and sometimes I'll play one for two or three days just over and over, and then I'll move to another one. Later, I'll come back to that first one. So it's been an exciting trip for me."
And Earl says he would like to go out and perform select dates in support of the album: "Music has been my life. To me it's a prison to think about retiring or just quitting -- either word is a bad word to me."
Gibson's Original Acoustic Instruments bluegrass division is proud to be the exclusive manufacturer of the only banjos worthy of Earl Scruggs' name. The five Gibson Earl Scruggs banjos have evolved over the years to reflect the evolution of Earl's music and artistry. Each Scruggs model features figured maple, an immaculate lacquer finish and multiple binding.
The Standard: This instrument replicates Earl's personal Granada model. Although Earl's instrument originally had gold-plated hardware, the plating has long ago worn off, so the Standard features nickel-plated hardware to look just like Earl's.
'49 Classic: In 1949 Earl Scruggs sent his banjo back to the Gibson factory to have a new fingerboard installed, and it came back with the then-current "bow-tie" inlay pattern. In 1992 a replica of this famous banjo joined the Gibson Earl Scruggs line as the '49 Classic.
Golden Deluxe: Introduced in 1992, the Earl Scruggs Golden Deluxe adds an elegant touch of satin gold to the classic look of the Earl Scruggs model.
Flint Hill Special: The Earl Scruggs Flint Hill Special, introduced in 1997, adds the elegant touches of a bound headstock and engraved armrest to the classic styling of the Scruggs Standard.
Special: The Earl Scruggs Special debuted in 1995 as the most highly ornamented banjo in Earl's signature series. Ornately engraved gold-plated parts and lavish abalone trim make the Special a showpiece instrument. Earl's signature is inlaid in abalone on the resonator.
Call 1-800-4GIBSON or email Gibson Customer Support for more information about Gibson Earl Scruggs banjos.
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