Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
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The Second Channel
Back Roads Golf
youtube.com/channel/UC1SyAlmRqg32d4yFA8jt0aA
Youtube Channels to check out!!
Big Daddy's Mississippi
youtube.com/channel/UC_OplD3L30vRFMlys9mnvcg
First church of the Masochist
youtube.com/c/FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes
Michigander man
youtube.com/c/michiganderman
Grave Tales
youtube.com/watch?v=hcY0xINedO4
What's the Deal with Danny
youtube.com/channel/UCzYoOSS-nWVQjl-FSncwLKQ
Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs was born January 6, 1924, in the Flint Hill community in North Carolina. After his fathers death his mother was left to take care of the farm and the five children. Earl being the youngest.
The family members all played music. Earl's siblings, all played banjo and guitar. Scruggs then took up the instrument—he was too small to hold it at first and improvised by setting his brother Junie's banjo beside him on the floor. He moved it around depending on what part of the neck he was playing. After his father's death, Scruggs seemed to take solace in playing music, and when not in school or doing farm chores, spent nearly every spare moment he had practicing. His first radio performance was at age 11 on a talent scout show.
Scruggs is noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style now called "Scruggs style" that has become a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Earl Scruggs did not invent three-finger banjo playing; in fact, he said the three-finger style was the most common way to play the five-string banjo in his hometown in western North Carolina.
When Scruggs was 21, Monroe was looking for a banjo player for his group, because David "Stringbean" Akeman was quitting. At the time, banjo players often functioned in the band as comedians, and the instrument was often held as a prop. Monroe, along with band member Lester Flatt, auditioned several banjo players who had the same traditional playing style as Akeman. When Scruggs auditioned for them at the Tulane Hotel in Nashville, Flatt said," I was thrilled. It was so different! I had never heard that kind of banjo picking.” Scruggs joined Monroe in late 1945, earning $50 a week(about 822 in 2022).
With Monroe and Lester Flatt, Scruggs performed on the Grand Ole Opry and in September 1946 recorded the classic hit "Blue Moon of Kentucky"; a song that was designated by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and later added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Scruggs decided the demands were too great. He was single at the time, and the brief few hours on Saturdays that he made it home, it was just to pack his suitcase at the Tulane Hotel where he lived alone, then repeat the cycle—he had done this for two years. He turned in his resignation, planning to go take care of his mother in North Carolina.
In 1948 Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs formed the duo Flatt and Scruggs and chose the name "the Foggy Mountain Boys" for their backing band. The name came from a song by the Carter Family called "Foggy Mountain Top" that the band used as a theme song at the time.
On September 24, 1962, the duo recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies. Sung by Jerry Scoggins, the theme song became an immediate country music hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode of the series. The song went to #1 on the Billboard country chart, a first for any bluegrass recording.
In early 1969, Scruggs formed the Earl Scruggs Revue, consisting of two of his sons. On November 15, 1969, Scruggs performed live with the newly formed group on an open-air stage in Washington, D.C. at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. Scruggs was one of the few bluegrass or country artists to give support to the anti-war movement.
Scruggs had to retire from the road in 1980 because of back problems, but the Earl Scruggs Revue did not part ways until 1982. Despite the group's commercial success, they were never embraced by bluegrass or country music purists.
At age 88, Earl Scruggs died from natural causes on the morning of March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital. His funeral was held on Sunday, April 1, 2012, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and was open to the public.
In this video, we're investigating the claim that Earl Scruggs is the best banjo player EVER. Is this true? Let's find out!
This video is about exploring the controversy around Earl Scruggs and his claim to be the best banjo player EVER. We'll look at the evidence and try to answer the question: is Earl Scruggs the best banjo player EVER?
Use my LiquidIV code "backroads15" to save 15% off your order
Link to the store for shirts, mugs and hats!
backroads.myspreadshop.com
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UC9dnvvg1YqxK7d2KQjzoQ_g/join
Support the channel through Paypal:
ffpodcastsec@gmail.com
Support through Patreon!
patreon.com/backroads1
The Second Channel
Back Roads Golf
youtube.com/channel/UC1SyAlmRqg32d4yFA8jt0aA
Youtube Channels to check out!!
Big Daddy's Mississippi
youtube.com/channel/UC_OplD3L30vRFMlys9mnvcg
First church of the Masochist
youtube.com/c/FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes
Michigander man
youtube.com/c/michiganderman
Grave Tales
youtube.com/watch?v=hcY0xINedO4
What's the Deal with Danny
youtube.com/channel/UCzYoOSS-nWVQjl-FSncwLKQ
Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs was born January 6, 1924, in the Flint Hill community in North Carolina. After his fathers death his mother was left to take care of the farm and the five children. Earl being the youngest.
The family members all played music. Earl's siblings, all played banjo and guitar. Scruggs then took up the instrument—he was too small to hold it at first and improvised by setting his brother Junie's banjo beside him on the floor. He moved it around depending on what part of the neck he was playing. After his father's death, Scruggs seemed to take solace in playing music, and when not in school or doing farm chores, spent nearly every spare moment he had practicing. His first radio performance was at age 11 on a talent scout show.
Scruggs is noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style now called "Scruggs style" that has become a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Earl Scruggs did not invent three-finger banjo playing; in fact, he said the three-finger style was the most common way to play the five-string banjo in his hometown in western North Carolina.
When Scruggs was 21, Monroe was looking for a banjo player for his group, because David "Stringbean" Akeman was quitting. At the time, banjo players often functioned in the band as comedians, and the instrument was often held as a prop. Monroe, along with band member Lester Flatt, auditioned several banjo players who had the same traditional playing style as Akeman. When Scruggs auditioned for them at the Tulane Hotel in Nashville, Flatt said," I was thrilled. It was so different! I had never heard that kind of banjo picking.” Scruggs joined Monroe in late 1945, earning $50 a week(about 822 in 2022).
With Monroe and Lester Flatt, Scruggs performed on the Grand Ole Opry and in September 1946 recorded the classic hit "Blue Moon of Kentucky"; a song that was designated by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, and later added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Scruggs decided the demands were too great. He was single at the time, and the brief few hours on Saturdays that he made it home, it was just to pack his suitcase at the Tulane Hotel where he lived alone, then repeat the cycle—he had done this for two years. He turned in his resignation, planning to go take care of his mother in North Carolina.
In 1948 Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs formed the duo Flatt and Scruggs and chose the name "the Foggy Mountain Boys" for their backing band. The name came from a song by the Carter Family called "Foggy Mountain Top" that the band used as a theme song at the time.
On September 24, 1962, the duo recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies. Sung by Jerry Scoggins, the theme song became an immediate country music hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode of the series. The song went to #1 on the Billboard country chart, a first for any bluegrass recording.
In early 1969, Scruggs formed the Earl Scruggs Revue, consisting of two of his sons. On November 15, 1969, Scruggs performed live with the newly formed group on an open-air stage in Washington, D.C. at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. Scruggs was one of the few bluegrass or country artists to give support to the anti-war movement.
Scruggs had to retire from the road in 1980 because of back problems, but the Earl Scruggs Revue did not part ways until 1982. Despite the group's commercial success, they were never embraced by bluegrass or country music purists.
At age 88, Earl Scruggs died from natural causes on the morning of March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital. His funeral was held on Sunday, April 1, 2012, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and was open to the public.
In this video, we're investigating the claim that Earl Scruggs is the best banjo player EVER. Is this true? Let's find out!
This video is about exploring the controversy around Earl Scruggs and his claim to be the best banjo player EVER. We'll look at the evidence and try to answer the question: is Earl Scruggs the best banjo player EVER?
