Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs was to the five-string banjo what Paganini was to the violin. As part of the Foggy Mountain Boys and later Flatt & Scruggs (both with Lester Flatt), he created the sound of bluegrass and helped bring it to national recognition through radio shows, recordings, television appearances, and concerts. During the '40s, the group added "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" to the bluegrass canon, and during the '50s and '60s, they became the most visible bluegrass act in the country, performing often on television. The duo's popularity peaked in 1962, when they recorded the theme song to the television sitcom The Beverly Hillbilles. The theme, called "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," became the first number one bluegrass single in early 1963, and the duo made a number of cameos on the show.
By the end of the '60s, Scruggs wanted to expand their sound and pushed Flatt to cover Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" in 1968 as well as land concert appearances in venues that normally booked rock & roll acts. Flatt wanted to continue in a traditional bluegrass vein. Inevitably, the opposing forces came to a head in 1969, and the duo parted ways. Appropriately, Flatt formed a traditional bluegrass band, the Nashville Grass, while Scruggs assembled a more progressive outfit, the Earl Scruggs Revue, with his two sons.
The Revue appealed more to a young and urban audience and, with dobro player Josh Graves, played rock and other non-country music. By the end of the '70s, Flatt & Scruggs began ironing out the details of a proposed reunion album, but they were scrapped upon Flatt's death on May 11, 1979. Scruggs made many albums after his parting with Flatt, highlighted by 1982's The Storyteller and the Banjo Man (with Tom T. Hall) and 2001's Earl Scruggs and Friends (which featured an all-star cast including Johnny Cash, Elton John, Sting, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Leon Russell, and Steve Martin). Scruggs was often seen on TV as well, often for reunion appearances. In 2012, he died in Nashville at the age of 88.
© David Vinopal /TiVo
-
Strictly Instrumental
Country - Released by Columbia Nashville Legacy on 1 Jan 1967
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Columbia Records Country Music Foundation Heritage Edition
Country - Released by Columbia Historic Edition on 1 Jan 1982
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When the Saints Go Marching In
Country - Released by Columbia Nashville Legacy on 5 Aug 2016
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Three Pickers
Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs
Country - Released by Rounder Records on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Earl Scruggs And Friends
Country - Released by MCA Nashville on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Essential Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs
Country - Released by Columbia Nashville Legacy on 28 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Flatt & Scruggs - The Complete Mercury Recordings
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Foggy Mountain Boys
Country - Released by Mercury Nashville on 22 Apr 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Saw The Light With Some Help From My Friends
Country - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 1 Jan 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs With The Foggy Mountain Boys
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Foggy Mountain Boys
Country - Released by Mercury Records on 1 Jan 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Storyteller and the Banjo Man
Country - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 1 Jan 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dueling Banjos
Country - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 1 Jun 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs Of The Famous Carter Family
Country - Released by Columbia on 1 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Flatt & Scruggs
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Foggy Mountain Boys
Country - Released by Mercury Nashville on 24 Apr 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Earl Scruggs Performing With His Family And Friends
Country - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 9 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hard Travelin'
Country - Released by Legacy Recordings on 12 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classic Bluegrass Live 1959-1966 (Live)
Country - Released by Vanguard Records on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
20th Century Masters: The Best Of Flatt & Scruggs - The Millennium Collection
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Foggy Mountain Boys
Country - Released by Mercury Nashville on 24 Apr 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection (1924-2012)
Country - Released by Vintage Masters Inc. on 28 Mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of the Famous Carter Family - The Complete 1961 Columbia Recordings
Country - Released by Soundmark on 1 Oct 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Pop - Released by Black Sheep Music on 16 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Foggy Mountain Jamboree
Country - Released by RedDirt on 1 Jan 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo