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Tuesday December 3rd, 2002
Earl Scruggs to receive star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Legendary entertainer and innovator Earl Scruggs will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, February 13, 2003. Scruggs is being honored for his more than 55 years of musical creations and performances on records, radio, television and films. He made the banjo a household word and has created some of the most recognizable songs in our collective consciousness. One of his best-known works, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," became a banjo standard when it was originally recorded in 1949. It went on to win a Grammy in 1968 after being featured in the film Bonnie and Clyde and it won a second Grammy in 2001 as performed on Scruggs latest album Earl Scruggs and Friends.
"Earl Scruggs has taken the five-string banjo into every corner of our culture including Hollywood so its fitting that he is the first banjo player to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame," says Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson chairman and CEO. "Banjos were not manufactured on a regular basis after World War II until Earls banjo style received worldwide recognition in the 1950s. His first banjo was a Gibson RB-11, and hes been a Gibson signature artist since 1984. Were extremely proud of our long association with him, and we offer our heartfelt congratulations to him on this momentous occasion."
Earl with artist Randall Martin "The Earl," Gibsons latest Earl Scruggs signature model, is a limited edition, collectible/tribute banjo that was introduced this summer. The instrument, hand-crafted at Gibson's Original Acoustic Instruments factory in Nashville, features Earls autograph and a hand-drawn portrait of Scruggs by world-renowned artist Randal Martin, and it will be in production when Scruggs receives his star
In early 2000 Scruggs began work on a project, his first new recording in 17 years. Earl wanted to take his signature sound and apply it to the sounds of some of todays most popular and influential artists and songwriters. The list of stars that joined the MCA Records project, Earl Scruggs and Friends, includes: Elton John, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Don Henley, John Fogerty, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash, Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, actors Billy Bob Thornton and Steve Martin, Leon Russell, Paul Schaffer, Albert Lee, Jerry Douglas, Glen Duncan and Scruggs sons Gary, Randy and Steve
Scruggs has resumed touring this year with a select number of concert dates including this Saturday night, December 7, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Born in 1924 in North Carolina, Earl Scruggs has played Gibson banjos from the beginning of his professional career in rural North Carolina in the 1930s. His "three-finger roll" technique known as "Scruggs-style picking" virtually reinvented the five-string banjo and brought it from near-obscurity into many different types of music, from traditional fiddle tunes to modern rock styles.
Working with Bill Monroe in the 1940s, his driving banjo became the signature sound of bluegrass music. From 1948-69 with partner Lester Flatt, Scruggs spread his banjo style beyond bluegrass, into folk music and eventually to Hollywood with the No. 1 recording of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (the theme from TVs "Beverly Hillbillies.") Earl then formed the Earl Scruggs Revue with his three sons and from 1969-80 he continued to advance the banjo into an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles.
Flatt & Scruggs Through the years, musicians from every style of music have performed with Scruggs. His awards and accolades include three Grammy wins from 12 nominations; an honorary doctorate from Gardner Webb College in North Carolina; an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Associations Hall of Honor; the National Heritage Fellowship Award; the North Carolina Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame; the National Medal Of Arts; the 2002 Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award and numerous others.
Visit Earl Scruggs here.
For more information about Gibson Earl Scruggs banjos call 1-800-4GIBSON or send us an email.
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