Scruggs, Earl Eugene
Scruggs, Earl Eugene,
1924–2012, American banjo player, b. Flint Hill, N.C. He developed a distinctive syncopated, three-finger style on the five-string banjo that changed the way it is played. From a family of country-music players, he appeared on local radio as a teenager and joined Bill MonroeMonroe, Bill(William Smith Monroe), 1911–96, country singer, musician, and songwriter, often called the "father of bluegrass," b. Rosine, Ky. A mandolin and guitar player, Monroe founded the Blue Grass Boys in 1938, and the group began playing country and western music
..... Click the link for more information. 's Blue Grass Boys in 1945. Three years later Scruggs and Lester Flatt, the band's guitarist/singer, formed the Foggy Mountain Boys. In their 21 years together, Flatt & Scruggs became a country-music legend, largely due to the success of Scruggs's compositions, e.g., the Grammy-winning "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (1950); "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," (1962), theme of television's Beverly Hillbillies (1962–71), helped make them more widely known. Scruggs later played in a band with his sons, exploring various musical styles.