Editing Earl Scruggs

{{Short description|American musician (1924–2012)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Earl Scruggs
| image           = Earl Scruggs 2005.JPG
| caption         = Scruggs in 2005
| birth_name      = Earl Eugene Scruggs
| birth_date      = {{Birth date|1924|01|06}}
| birth_place     = [[Cleveland County, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{Death date and age|2012|03|28|1924|01|06}}
| death_place     = [[Nashville, Tennessee]], U.S.
| origin          =
| instrument      = {{hlist|[[Banjo|5-string banjo]]|[[guitar]]}}
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Bluegrass music|Bluegrass]]|[[progressive country]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cmt.com/news/xh8fom/nashville-skyline-earl-scruggs-a-quiet-bluegrass-giant-is-gone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723155318/https://www.cmt.com/news/xh8fom/nashville-skyline-earl-scruggs-a-quiet-bluegrass-giant-is-gone |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |title=Nashville Skyline: Earl Scruggs: A Quiet Bluegrass Giant is Gone |last=Flippo |first=Chet |date=March 29, 2012 |website= |publisher=[[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]] |access-date=July 22, 2023 |quote=And he formed a progressive country band with his talented sons Gary and Randy. As the Earl Scruggs Revue, they toured far and wide and continued with musical experimentation.}}</ref>|[[Gospel music|gospel]]}}
| occupation      = Musician
| years_active    = 1935–2012
| label           = {{hlist|[[Mercury Records|Mercury]]|[[Columbia Records|Columbia]]|[[Okeh Records|OKeh]]|[[Universal Music Group Nashville#MCA Nashville|MCA Nashville]]}}
| past_member_of  = [[Flatt and Scruggs]]
| website         = {{URL|earlscruggs.com/}}
}}

'''Earl Eugene Scruggs''' (January 6, 1924&nbsp;– March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger [[banjo]] picking style, now called "[[Scruggs style]]", which is a defining characteristic of [[bluegrass music]]. His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played. This new style of playing became popular and elevated the banjo from its previous role as a background rhythm instrument to featured solo status. He popularized the instrument across several genres of music.

Scruggs played in [[Bill Monroe]]'s band, the Blue Grass Boys. "Bluegrass" eventually became the name for an entire genre of country music. Despite considerable success with Monroe, performing on the [[Grand Ole Opry]] and recording classic hits such as "[[Blue Moon of Kentucky]]", Scruggs resigned from the group in 1948 because of their exhausting touring schedule. Fellow band member [[Lester Flatt]] resigned as well, and he and Scruggs later paired up in the duo [[Flatt and Scruggs]]. Scruggs's banjo instrumental "[[Foggy Mountain Breakdown]]" was recorded in December 1949 and released in March 1950. The song became an enduring hit. The song experienced a rebirth of popularity to a younger generation when it was featured in the 1967 film ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]''. The song won two [[Grammy Award]]s and, in 2005, was selected for the Library of Congress' [[National Recording Registry]] of works of unusual merit.

Flatt and Scruggs brought bluegrass music into mainstream popularity in the early 1960s with their country hit "[[The Ballad of Jed Clampett]]", the theme music for the television sitcom ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]''—the first Scruggs recording to reach number one on the [[Billboard charts]]. Over their 20-year association, Flatt and Scruggs recorded over 50 albums and 75 [[Single (music)|singles]]. The duo broke up in 1969, chiefly because, while Scruggs wanted to switch styles to fit a more modern sound, Flatt was a traditionalist who opposed the change and believed doing so would alienate a fan base of bluegrass purists. Although each of them formed a new band to match their visions, neither of them ever regained the success they had achieved as a team.
 
Scruggs received four Grammy awards, a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] and a [[List of recipients of the National Medal of Arts|National Medal of Arts]]. He became a member of the [[International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame]] and was given a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]. In 1985, Flatt and Scruggs were inducted together into the [[Country Music Hall of Fame]] and named, as a duo, number 24 on [[CMT (U.S. TV channel)|CMT]]'s "40 Greatest Men of Country Music". Scruggs was awarded a [[National Heritage Fellowship]] by the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], the highest honor in the [[Folk music|folk]] and traditional arts in the United States. Four works by Scruggs have been placed in the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]]. After Scruggs's death in 2012 at age 88, the [[Cleveland County Courthouse (Shelby, North Carolina)|Earl Scruggs Center]] was founded in Shelby, North Carolina, near his birthplace with the aid of a federal grant and corporate donors. The center is a $5.5 million facility that features the musical contributions of Scruggs and serves as an educational center providing classes and field trips for students.

==Early life==
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | audio1 = [https://freshairarchive.org/segments/bluegrass-musician-earl-scruggs-1 Bluegrass Musician Earl Scruggs], interviewed by [[Terry Gross]] on ''[[Fresh Air]]'', 34:58, January 9, 2004.<ref name="Fresh Air">{{cite web |title=Bluegrass Musician Earl Scruggs |work=[[Fresh Air]] |publisher=[[WHYY-FM|WHYY]] ([[NPR]]) |date=January 9, 2004 |url=https://freshairarchive.org/segments/bluegrass-musician-earl-scruggs-1 |access-date=September 15, 2019}}</ref> }}

Earl Scruggs was born January 6, 1924, in the Flint Hill community of [[Cleveland County, North Carolina|Cleveland County]], North Carolina, a small community just outside of [[Boiling Springs, North Carolina|Boiling Springs]], about 10 miles west of [[Shelby, North Carolina|Shelby]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Reitwiesner |first=William Addams |title=Ancestry of Earl Scruggs |publisher=William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services |url=http://www.wargs.com/other/scruggs.html |access-date=July 14, 2009 |author-link=William Addams Reitwiesner |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109065732/http://www.wargs.com/other/scruggs.html |archive-date=January 9, 2009}}</ref> His father, George Elam Scruggs, was a farmer and a bookkeeper who died of a protracted illness when Earl was four years old.<ref name="scruggsbio">{{cite web |url=http://earlscruggs.com/biography.html |title=Earl Scruggs Biography |publisher=Earlscruggs.com |access-date=March 28, 2012}}</ref> Upon his father's death, Scruggs's mother, Georgia Lula Ruppe (called Lula), was left to take care of the farm and five children, of which Earl was the youngest.<ref name="biography-dot-com">{{cite web |title=Earl Scruggs Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/earl-scruggs-20638979#synopsis |website=biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222052637/http://www.biography.com/people/earl-scruggs-20638979#synopsis |archive-date=February 22, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The family members all played music. The father played an [[Banjo#Five-string banjo|open back banjo]] using the [[Clawhammer|frailing]] technique, though as an adult Earl had no recollection of his father's playing.<ref name="willis">{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Barry R. |editor-last=Weissman |editor-first=Dick |title=America's music, Bluegrass |date=1998 |publisher=Pine Valley Music |location=Franktown, Colorado |isbn=0-9652407-1-1 |url=http://www.flatt-and-scruggs.com/earlbio.html |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=April 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427185254/http://www.flatt-and-scruggs.com/earlbio.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="scruggsbio" /> Mrs. Scruggs played the [[pump organ]].<ref name="scruggsbio" /> Earl's siblings, older brothers Junie and Horace and older sisters Eula Mae and Ruby, all played banjo and guitar. Scruggs recalled a visit to his uncle's home at age six to hear a blind banjo player named Mack Woolbright, who played a finger-picking style and had recorded for Columbia Records.<ref name="Lofgren">{{cite journal |last1=Lofgren |first1=Lyle |journal=Inside Bluegrass |title=Remembering the Old Songs: The Man Who Wrote the Home Sweet Home |url=http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-ManHomeSweet.html |publisher=Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association |oclc=14507837 |date=November 2009}}</ref><ref name="brown-paul">{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Paul |title=The Story Of 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' |url=https://www.npr.org/2000/04/01/1072355/npr-100-earl-scruggs |website=npr.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=February 21, 2017 |date=April 1, 2000}}</ref> It made an impression on Scruggs, who said, "He'd sit in the rocking chair, and he'd pick some and it was just amazing. I couldn't imagine—he was the first, what I call a good banjo player."<ref name="brown-paul" /> 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.<ref name="websitebio">{{cite web |title=Earl Scruggs Biography/Chapter 1/The Early Years |url=http://earlscruggs.com/biography.html |website=earlscruggs.com |publisher=Earl Scruggs |access-date=February 9, 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref name="glaser">{{cite web |last1=Glaser |first1=Emily |title=Scruggs Style: The Life and Times of Earl Scruggs |url=http://porterbriggs.com/scruggs-style-the-life-and-times-of-earl-scruggs/ |website=PorterBriggs.com |access-date=June 2, 2018 |archive-date=June 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180601171841/http://porterbriggs.com/scruggs-style-the-life-and-times-of-earl-scruggs/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> His first radio performance was at age 11 on a talent scout show.<ref name="associated" /> Because his father had died, Scruggs was deferred from military service in World War II so he could support his mother.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Earl Scruggs learned that he could make a career out of making music|last=Goldsmith|first=Thomas|url=https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/article235197007.html|publisher=Raleigh News and Observer|date=September 19, 2019|access-date=July 18, 2024}}</ref>

==Development==
[[File:Finger_picks_(1).jpg|thumb|upright=0.64|alt=Finger picks|Finger picks on thumb, index and middle finger]]
Scruggs is noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style now called "[[Scruggs style]]" that has become a defining characteristic of [[bluegrass music]].<ref name="trishka">{{cite book |last1=Trischka |first1=Tony |title=Banjo song book |date=1977 |publisher=Oak Publications |location=New York |isbn=0825601975}}</ref> Prior to Scruggs, most banjo players used the [[clawhammer|frailing or clawhammer technique]], which consists of holding the fingers bent like a claw and moving the entire hand in a downward motion so that the strings are struck with the back of the middle fingernail. This motion is followed by striking the thumb on a single string.<ref name="clawhammer-video">{{cite web |last1=Laird |first1=Brad |title=Basic Clawhammer Lick |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv-nYYJO_5k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/vv-nYYJO_5k |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live |website=youtube.com |publisher=Free Banjo Videos.com |access-date=March 2, 2017 |date=February 13, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The three-finger style of playing is radically different from frailing; the hand remains stationary and only the fingers and thumb move, somewhat similar to [[classical guitar technique]].<ref name="brown-paul" /> Scruggs style also involves using [[Fingerpick|picks]] on three digits ''(see photo)'', each plucking individual strings—downward with the thumb, then upward with the index and middle finger in sequence. When done skillfully and in rapid sequence, the style allows any digit (though usually the thumb) to play a melody, while the other two digits play [[arpeggio]]s of the melody line. The use of picks gives each note a louder percussive attack, creating an exciting effect, described by ''The New York Times'' as "like thumbtacks plinking rhythmically on a tin roof".<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |last1=Lehman-Haupt |first1=Christopher |title=Earl Scruggs Dies at 88; Shaped Bluegrass Sound |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/arts/music/earl-scruggs-bluegrass-banjo-player-dies-at-88.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 29, 2012 |page=B17 |access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref> This departure from traditional playing elevated the banjo to become more of a solo instrument—a promotion from its former role of providing background rhythm or serving as a comedian's prop—and popularized the instrument in several genres of music.<ref name="associated">{{cite web |agency=Associated Press |title=Bluegrass, banjo legend Earl Scruggs dies at 88 |url=http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/03/bluegrass_banjo_legend_earl_sc.html |website=blog.al.com |publisher=Alabama Media Group |access-date=March 1, 2017 |date=March 28, 2012}}</ref><ref name="telegraph">{{cite web |title=Earl Scruggs/Obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9174642/Earl-Scruggs.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9174642/Earl-Scruggs.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=telegraph.co.uk |date=March 29, 2012 |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |access-date=February 9, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="instruction-book">{{cite book |last1=Scruggs |first1=Earl |title=Earl Scruggs and the 5-string banjo/Foreword by Nat Winston |date=2005 |publisher=Hal Leonard |location=Milwaukee, Wis. |isbn=0634060422 |edition=Rev. and enhanced ed. [CD included].}}</ref>

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.<ref name="brown-paul" /> An early influence was a local banjoist, [[Snuffy Jenkins|DeWitt "Snuffy" Jenkins]], who plucked in a finger style. According to banjoist and historian [[Tony Trischka]], "Jenkins came about as close as one could to Scruggs style without actually playing it".<ref name="trishka" /> At age ten, when Scruggs first learned the technique, he recalled that he was at home in his room after a quarrel with his brother. He was idly playing a song called "Reuben" and suddenly realized that he was playing with three fingers, not two. "That excited me to no end", he later recalled, and said he ran through the house repeatedly yelling "I've got it".<ref name="brown-paul" /><ref name="websitebio" /> From there he devoted all his free time to perfecting his timing and to adding syncopation and variations to it. Controversy exists as to the actual origin of three-finger picking style.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jonassen |first1=Mikael |title=The Impact of Earl Scruggs on the Five String Banjo |url=https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/54135/Masteroppgave.pdf |website=Duo.uio.no |access-date=June 2, 2018}}</ref> [[Don Reno]], an eminent banjo player who also played this style and who knew Scruggs at that young age, described Scruggs's early playing as similar to that of Snuffy Jenkins.<ref name="willis" /> Scruggs, however, consistently referred to it as his own, saying that he adapted to it "a syncopated roll that was quite different."<ref name="willis" /><ref name="bader-brian">{{cite web |last1=Bader |first1=Brian |title="Foggy Mountain Breakdown"—Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (1949) Added to the National Registry: 2004 |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/FoggyMtBreakdown2.pdf |website=loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> On the subject, [[John Hartford]] said, "Here's the way I feel about it. Everybody's all worried about who invented the style and it's obvious that three finger banjo pickers have been around a long time—maybe since 1840. But it's my feeling that if it wasn't for Earl Scruggs, you wouldn't be worried about who invented it."<ref name="willis" />

==With Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys==
At age 15, Scruggs played in a group called [[The Morris Brothers]] for a few months, but quit to work in a factory making sewing thread in the Lily Textile Mill near his home in North Carolina.<ref name="cooperbook">{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Peter |title=Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride |date=2017 |publisher=Spring House |location=Nashville |isbn=978-1-940611-70-9 |page=48}}</ref> He worked there about two years, earning 40 cents an hour, until the draft restriction for World War II was lifted in 1945, at which time he returned to music, performing with "Lost John Miller and his Allied Kentuckians" on WNOX in Knoxville.<ref name="willis" /> About this time an opening to play with Bill Monroe became available.

[[File:MonroeBrothers.jpg|thumb|Bill and Charlie Monroe, c. 1936]]

[[Bill Monroe]], 13 years older than Scruggs, was prominent in country music at the time. His career started with the "Monroe Brothers", a duo with his brother [[Charlie Monroe|Charlie]]. Bill sang the high tenor harmony parts, a sound called "high lonesome", for which he became noted.<ref name="jargon">{{cite web |title=High Lonesome Sound |url=http://www.jargondatabase.com/Category/Music/Bluegrass-Jargon/High-Lonesome-Sound |website=jargondatabase.com |access-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref><ref name="bluegrass">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Bluegrass Music |url=http://bluegrassheritage.org/history-bluegrass-music/ |website=bluegrassheritage.org |date=January 9, 2015 |publisher=Bluegrass Heritage Foundation |access-date=February 7, 2017}}</ref> The brothers split up in 1938 and Bill, a native of "the Bluegrass State" of Kentucky, formed a new group called Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. They first played on the Opry in 1939 and soon became a popular touring band featuring a vocalist named [[Lester Flatt]].<ref name="bluegrass" /> The name "[[bluegrass music|bluegrass]]" stuck and eventually became the eponym for this entire genre of [[country music]] and Monroe became known as "the father of bluegrass".<ref name="bill-monroe-bio">{{cite web |title=Bill Monroe Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/bill-monroe-21369943#synopsis |website=biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222194035/http://www.biography.com/people/bill-monroe-21369943#synopsis |archive-date=February 22, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

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—their clawhammer playing was almost inaudible.<ref name="washington">{{cite news |last1=McArdle |first1=Terence |title=Bluegrass musician Earl Scruggs, 88, dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/bluegrass-musician-earl-scruggs-88-dies/2012/03/28/gIQAcTyqhS_story.html |access-date=February 1, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 28, 2012}}</ref> 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."<ref name="willis" /><ref name="tulane">{{cite web |title=Hotel Tulane, Nashville, Tenn., circa 1917 |url=http://digital.library.nashville.org/cdm/ref/collection/nr/id/2263 |website=digital.library.nashville.org |publisher=Nashville Public Library Digital Collections |access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref> Scruggs joined Monroe in late 1945, earning $50 a week.<ref name="nytimes" /> After they accepted Scruggs as one of the Blue Grass Boys, the roster consisted of Bill Monroe (vocals/mandolin), Lester Flatt (guitar/vocals), Earl Scruggs (banjo), Chubby Wise (fiddle), and Howard Watts (stage name Cedric Rainwater) on bass. This group of men became the prototype of what a bluegrass band would become.<ref name="cooper">{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Peter |title=1924–2012: Earl Scruggs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/218637258 |agency=Gannett |newspaper=Tennessean |date=March 29, 2012 |pages=A1–3}}</ref>

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. The work schedule was heavy in Monroe's band. They were playing a lot of jobs in movie theaters all over the south, riding in a 1941 [[Chevrolet]] from town to town, doing up to six shows a day and not finishing up until about eleven at night. Lester Flatt said, "It wasn't anything to ride two or three days in a car. We didn't have buses like we do now, and we never had our shoes off".<ref name="willis" /> The self-imposed rule was to always get back in time to play the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville each Saturday night.<ref name="fresh-air">{{cite web |last=Gross |first=Terry |title=Earl Scruggs: The 2003 Fresh Air Interview |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/03/30/149612506/earl-scruggs-the-2003-fresh-air-interview |website=npr.org |publisher=National Public Radio (NPR) |access-date=March 11, 2017 |date=March 29, 2012}}</ref> Scruggs said of Monroe that "Bill would never let the music go down no matter how tired we were. If a man would slack off, he would move over and get that mandolin up close on him and get him back up there".<ref name="willis" /> Despite the group's success, 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.<ref name="fresh-air" /> He turned in his resignation, planning to go take care of his mother in North Carolina. Flatt had also made up his mind to leave, but he had not told anyone. He later gave his two-week notice, but, before the notice was up, the bass player Howard Watts announced that he was leaving too. Despite Monroe's pleading, they left the band. Monroe thought Flatt and Scruggs had a secret understanding, but both men denied it. Monroe did not speak to either one for 20 years thereafter, a feud well known in country music circles.<ref name="nytimes" />

==Flatt and Scruggs==
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.<ref name="nytimes" /><ref name="fellowship" /> Flatt later acknowledged that they consciously tried to make their sound different from Monroe's group. In the spring of 1949, their second Mercury recording session yielded the classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", released on 78 RPM [[phonograph record]]s that were in use at the time.<ref name="78rpmyale">{{cite web |title=The History of 78 RPM Recordings |url=https://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/historyof78rpms |website=web.library.yale.edu |publisher=Yale University Library: Irving S. Gilmore Music Library |access-date=January 11, 2024 |date=2001}}</ref>{{listen |filename=Foggy Mountain Breakdown Earl Scruggs.ogg |title=Foggy Mountain Breakdown |description=}} In the mid-1950s, they dropped the mandolin and added a [[Dobro]], played by [[Josh Graves|Buck "Uncle Josh" Graves]].  Previously, Scruggs had performed something similar, called "Bluegrass Breakdown" with Bill Monroe, but Monroe had denied him songwriting credit for it. Later, Scruggs changed the song, adding a minor chord, thus creating "Foggy Mountain Breakdown".<ref name="new-yorker">{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Steve |title=The Master From Flint Hill: Earl Scruggs |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-master-from-flint-hill-earl-scruggs |website=newyorker.com |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=February 24, 2017 |date=January 13, 2012}}</ref> The song contains a musical oddity: Flatt plays an E major chord against Scruggs's E minor. When asked about the dissonance years later, Scruggs said he had tried to get Flatt to consistently play a minor there to no avail; he said he eventually became used to the sound and even fond of it.<ref name="e-minor">{{cite web |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Thomas |title="Foggy Mountain Breakdown"—Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (1949) |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/FoggyMtBreakdown.pdf |website=loc.com |publisher=US Government Library of Congress |access-date=March 6, 2017}}</ref> The song won a Grammy and became an anthem for many banjo players to attempt to master.<ref name="brown-paul"/> The band routinely tuned its instruments a half-step higher than standard tuning in those days to get more brightness or pop to the sound, returning to standard pitch in the 1960s.<ref name="semitone-two">{{cite book |last1=Trischka |first1=Tony |last2=Warwick |first2=Pete |title=Masters of the Five-String Banjo/Earl Scruggs |date=November 2000 |publisher=Mel-Bay |isbn=0786659394 |url=http://www.drbanjo.com/drbshop/excerpts/masters-of-the-5-string-banjo.php |access-date=March 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318085348/http://www.drbanjo.com/drbshop/excerpts/masters-of-the-5-string-banjo.php |archive-date=March 18, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The popularity of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" resurged years later when it was featured in the 1967 film ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'', which introduced the song to a younger generation of fans.<ref name="cooper"/> Scruggs received a phone call from the show's producer and star, [[Warren Beatty]], first asking Scruggs to write a song for the movie. Soon Beatty called back saying that he wanted to use the existing vintage Mercury recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", and rejected the argument that it was recorded 18 years prior at a radio station with no modern enhancements.<ref name="fresh-air" /> The film was a hit, called by the ''Los Angeles Times'' "a landmark film that helped usher in a new era in American filmmaking".<ref name="landmark">{{cite web |last1=McLellan |first1=Dennis |title=Arthur Penn dies at 88; director of landmark film 'Bonnie and Clyde' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-30-la-me-penn-20100930-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=March 12, 2017 |date=September 30, 2010}}</ref> In 2005, the song was selected for the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry of works of unusual merit.<ref name="libofcongress">{{cite web |title=Librarian of Congress Names 50 Recordings to the 2004 National Recording Registry |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-05-087/ |website=loc.com |publisher=Library of Congress, USA |access-date=February 9, 2017 |date=April 5, 2005}}</ref><ref name="assocpress">{{cite web |title=Bluegrass, banjo legend Earl Scruggs dies at 88 |url=http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/03/bluegrass_banjo_legend_earl_sc.html |website=blog.al.com |publisher=Alabama Media Group |access-date=February 9, 2017 |ref=Associated Press |date=March 28, 2012}}</ref>[[File:Flatt_and_Scruggs-Foggy_Mountain_Gold_(record_album).jpg|thumb|left|315x316px|alt=Picture of Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt with names underneath|Earl Scruggs on left]]

In October 1951, the band recorded "Earl's Breakdown" which featured a technique where Scruggs would manually de-tune the second and third strings<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Are D Tuners On A Banjo? – Deering® Banjo Company |url=https://www.deeringbanjos.com/blogs/faqs/10375365-what-are-d-tuners-on-a-banjo |access-date=September 27, 2021 |website=www.deeringbanjos.com |date=March 30, 2013 |language=en}}</ref> of the banjo during a song using a cam device he had made to attach to the instrument, giving the surprise effect of a downward string bend. He and his brother Horace had experimented with it when they were growing up.<ref name="willis" /> Scruggs had drilled some holes in the peghead of his banjo to install the device and chipped the pearl inlay. He covered the holes with a piece of metal, which can be seen on the album cover of ''Foggy Mountain Jamboree''. The technique became popular and led to improvement of the design (without drilling holes) by Bill Keith who then manufactured [[Beacon Banjo Company|Scruggs-Keith Tuners]].<ref name="keith-tuners">{{cite web |last1=Ford |first1=Frank |title=Keith Banjo Tuners |url=http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Banjo/KeithTuners/keithtuners.html |website=frets.com |publisher=Frank Ford |access-date=February 22, 2017 |date=March 1, 2001}}</ref><ref name="beacon">{{cite web |last1=Keith |first1=Bill |title=Beacon Banjo Company/The Story |url=http://www.beaconbanjo.com/story/ |website=beaconbanjo.com |publisher=Beacon Banjo Company |access-date=February 23, 2017 |date=July 19, 2000}}</ref> The original tuners Scruggs made and used are now in a museum display at the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina.<ref name="goad-john">{{cite web |last1=Goad |first1=John C. |title=Earl Scruggs Center opens in a deluge |url=https://bluegrasstoday.com/earl-scruggs-center-opens-in-a-deluge/ |website=bluegrasstoday.com |publisher=Bluegrass Today |access-date=February 25, 2017 |date=January 13, 2014}}</ref>

In 1953, [[Martha White|Martha White Foods]] sponsored the band's regular early morning radio shows on [[WSM (AM)|WSM]] in Nashville, where the duo sang the company's catchy bluegrass jingle written by Pat Twitty.<ref name="pat-twitty">{{cite web |title=Pat Twitty/Writing and Arrangement/Credits |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2251274-Pat-Twitty?filter_anv=0&subtype=Writing-Arrangement&type=Credits |website=discogs.com |publisher=Discogs |access-date=February 22, 2017}}</ref> About this time, country music television shows, on which Flatt and Scruggs appeared regularly, went into syndication, vastly increasing the group's exposure.<ref name="television">{{cite web |last1=Erlwine |first1=Stephen T. |last2=Vinopal |first2=David |title=CMT Artists/About Flatt and Scruggs |url=http://www.cmt.com/artists/flatt-scruggs/biography/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120231340/http://www.cmt.com/artists/flatt-scruggs/biography/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |website=cut.com |publisher=Viacom International |access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> Despite the group's increasing popularity and fan mail, WSM did not allow Flatt and Scruggs to become members of the Grand Ole Opry at first. According to ''Tennessean'' writer Peter Cooper, Bill Monroe was in opposition and worked behind the scenes to keep Flatt and Scruggs off the Opry to the extent of having petitions made against their membership.<ref name="cooper" /><ref name="vega-banjo">{{cite book |last1=Castelnero |first1=Gordon |last2=Russell |first2=David |title=Earl Scruggs:banjo icon |date=2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham |isbn=9781442268654 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIM1DgAAQBAJ&q=vega}}</ref> In 1955 Martha White Foods' CEO Cohen E. Williams intervened by threatening to pull all of his advertising from WSM unless the band appeared on the Opry in the segment sponsored by his company.<ref name="willis" /><ref name="cooper" /><ref name="revue" /> As years went by, the band became synonymous with Martha White to the extent that the advertising jingle became a hit, and the band rarely played a concert without it.<ref name="revue" /> Fans shouted requests for them to play it, even at Carnegie Hall.<ref name="linda-dale">{{cite web |last1=Dale |first1=Linda Williams |title=The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture/Martha White Foods |url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1555 |website=tennesseeencyclopedia.net |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref>

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.<ref name="billboard">{{cite web |last1=Vinopal |first1=David |title=Artists/Earl Scruggs/Biography |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/276045/earl-scruggs/biography |website=billboard.com |publisher=Billboard |access-date=February 10, 2017}}</ref> The song spent 20 weeks on that chart; it also reached #44 on Billboard's pop chart.<ref name="jed-clampett">{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Richard |title=On this Day/Ballad of Jed Clampett |url=http://bluegrasstoday.com/on-this-day-8-ballad-of-jed-clampett/ |website=bluegrasstoday.com |publisher=Bluegrass Today |access-date=February 10, 2017 |date=January 19, 2013}}</ref> The television show was also a huge hit, broadcast in 76 countries around the world.<ref name="fresh-air" /> In Queens, New York a five-year-old boy named [[Béla Fleck]] heard the Jed Clampett theme on television.<ref name="tippett">{{cite web |last1=Tippett |first1=Krista |title=Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn: Truth, Beauty, Banjo |url=https://onbeing.org/programs/bela-fleck-abigail-washburn-truth-beauty-banjo/ |website=onbeing.org |publisher=Krista Tippett Public Productions |access-date=July 7, 2017 |date=November 24, 2016}}</ref> Fleck said, "I couldn't breathe or think; I was completely mesmerized." He said it awakened a deeply embedded predisposition that "was just in there" to learn how to play the banjo.<ref name="vega-banjo"/> Flatt and Scruggs appeared in several episodes as family friends of the fictional Clampetts. In their first appearance (season 1, episode 20), they portray themselves in the show and perform both the theme song and "Pearl, Pearl, Pearl". That song went to #8 on the country chart in 1963.<ref name="willis" /> Scruggs published an instruction book entitled "Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo" in 1968. It received a Gold Book Award by the publisher, Peer-Southern Corporation when it sold over a million copies.<ref name="willis" /> Over their 20-year association, Flatt and Scruggs recorded over 50 albums and 75 single records and featured over 20 different musicians as "Foggy Mountain Boys"—[[Session musician|side men]] backing the duo.<ref name="rosenberg">{{cite book |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Neil V. |title=Bluegrass: a history |date=1993 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |isbn=0-252-06304-X |edition=rev. paperback |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hp1Sm81MYboC}}</ref><ref name="fifty-albums">{{cite web |title=Flatt and Scruggs/Discography |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/flatt-scruggs-mn0000227527/discography/all |website=allmusic.com |publisher=AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group |access-date=March 3, 2017}}</ref>

By the end of the 1960s, Scruggs was getting bored with repetition of the classic bluegrass fare.<ref name="rosenberg" /> By now, his sons were professional musicians, and he was caught up in their enthusiasm for more contemporary music. He said, "I love bluegrass music, and still like to play it, but I do like to mix in some other music for my own personal satisfaction, because if I don't, I can get a little bogged down and a little depressed".<ref name="associated" /> Scruggs also wanted to play concerts in venues that normally featured rock and roll acts.<ref name="billboard" /> Columbia Records executives told Flatt and Scruggs that they intended to try a new producer, [[Bob Johnston]], instead of their long-time producer [[Don Law]].<ref name="rosenberg" /> Johnston had produced [[Bob Dylan]]'s records. This new association produced ''Changin' Times'', ''[[Nashville Airplane]]'', and ''The Story of Bonnie and Clyde'' albums.<ref name="rosenberg" /> Flatt was not happy with some of this material—he didn't like singing Bob Dylan songs and refused to perform them, saying "I can't sing Bob Dylan stuff, I mean. Columbia has got Bob Dylan, why did they want me?".<ref name="rosenberg" /><ref name="liner notes">{{cite web |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Neil V. |title=Liner notes for "Flatt and Scruggs"-Time-Life Records |url=http://www.bobdylanroots.com/scruggs.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020425155601/http://www.bobdylanroots.com/scruggs.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=April 25, 2002 |website=bobdylanroots |publisher=Time-Life Records TLCW-04 |access-date=February 1, 2017}}</ref> Even the success of the ''Bonnie and Clyde'' album was not enough to prevent their breakup in 1969. After the split, Flatt formed a traditional bluegrass group with [[Curly Seckler]] and [[Marty Stuart]] called [[Nashville Grass|The Nashville Grass]], and Scruggs formed the [[#Earl Scruggs Revue|Earl Scruggs Revue]] with his sons.<ref name="television" /><ref name="marty stuart">{{cite book |last1=Parsons |first1=Penny |last2=Stubbs |first2=Eddie |title=The Nashville Grass: 1973–1994." Foggy Mountain Troubadour: The Life and Music of Curly Seckler |date=2016 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Chicago |pages=157–184 |jstor=10.5406/j.ctt18j8xtz}}</ref>

Neither Flatt nor Scruggs spoke to each other for the next ten years—until 1979 when Flatt was in the hospital. Scruggs made an unannounced visit to his bedside. The two men talked for more than an hour. Even though Flatt's voice was barely above a whisper, he spoke of a reunion. Scruggs answered yes, but told Flatt they would talk when he was better. Flatt said, "It came as quite a surprise and made me feel good."<ref name="washington-post">{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Barbara |title=Lester Flatt, 64, Leader in Bluegrass Revival, Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/05/12/lester-flatt-64-leader-in-bluegrass-revival-dies/8a60bf32-9d23-44e3-925d-5ff6ba4c8239/ |access-date=February 27, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 12, 1979}}</ref> However, Flatt never recovered and died May 11, 1979. Historian Barry Willis, speaking of the meeting, said "Earl gave Lester his flowers while he was still living."<ref name="willis" /> (He was referring to a 1957 Flatt and Scruggs recording of "Give Me My Flowers While I'm Still Living".)<ref name="flowers-living">{{cite news |last1=Thanki |first1=Juli |title=Bluegrass great Curly Seckler dead at 98 |url=http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/12/27/bluegrass-great-curly-seckler-dead/930007001/ |access-date=December 28, 2017 |newspaper=Tennessean |date=December 28, 2017 |page=11-A |quote=Photo caption: Banjo master Earl Scruggs, mandolin magician Curly Seckler and guitarist Lester Flatt blend some sweet spiritual harmony on "Give Me My Flowers While I'm Livin' " on July 28, 1957.}}</ref>

==Earl Scruggs Revue==
In early 1969, Scruggs formed the Earl Scruggs Revue, consisting of two of his sons, Randy (guitar) and Gary (bass) and later Vassar Clements (fiddle), Josh Graves (Dobro) and Scruggs's youngest son, Steve (drums).<ref name="revue">{{cite book |last1=Kingsbury |first1=Paul |last2=McCall |first2=Michael |last3=Rumble |first3=John W. |title=The Encyclopedia of Country Music: the ultimate guide to the music/ Earl Scruggs & the Earl Scruggs Revue |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-539563-1 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLZz02EzmBYC&q=earl+scruggs+revuehttps%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DtLZz02EzmBYC&pg=PT1315}}</ref> 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.<ref name="new-yorker" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGDp--0SbX8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/nGDp--0SbX8 |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live |title=Earl Scruggs Performs At Anti War Demonstration |publisher=Youtube.com |date=July 13, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Earl Scruggs Revue gained popularity on college campuses, live shows and festivals and appeared on the bill with acts like [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]], [[The Byrds]] and [[James Taylor]].<ref name="associated" /> They recorded for Columbia Records and made frequent network television appearances though the 1970s. Their album ''I Saw the Light with a Little Help from my Friends'' featured [[Linda Ronstadt]], [[Arlo Guthrie]], [[Tracy Nelson (singer)|Tracy Nelson]], and the [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]].<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |last1=Monger |first1=James C. |title=I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-saw-the-light-with-some-help-from-my-friends-mw0000187032 |website=allmusic.com |publisher=Allmusic, member of the RhythmOne group |access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> This collaboration sparked enthusiasm by the latter to make the album ''[[Will the Circle be Unbroken (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album)|Will the Circle be Unbroken]]''. Earl and Louise Scruggs made phone calls to eminent country stars like [[Roy Acuff]] and [[Maybelle Carter|"Mother" Maybelle Carter]] to get them to participate in this project to bring a unique combination of older players with young ones.<ref name="cooper" /> Bill Monroe refused to participate saying he had to remain true to the style he pioneered, and this "is not bluegrass"<ref name="monroe-reader">{{cite book |last1=Hurst |first1=Jack |editor1-last=Ewing |editor1-first=Tom |title=The Bill Monroe reader |date=2000 |publisher=Univ. of Illinois Press |location=Urbana |isbn=0252025008 |page=102 |edition=1st pbk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MnMROS4srL8C&q=bill+monroe+%2B+jack+hurst&pg=PA101 |access-date=February 22, 2017}}</ref> The album became a classic, and was selected for the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry of works of unusual merit.<ref name="associated" />

Scruggs had to retire from the road in 1980 because of back problems, but the Earl Scruggs Revue did not part ways until 1982.<ref name="biography-dot-com" /> Despite the group's commercial success, they were never embraced by bluegrass or country music purists.<ref name="revue" /> Scruggs remained active musically and released ''The Storyteller and the Banjoman'' with Tom T. Hall in 1982, and a compilation album ''Top of the World'' in 1983. In 1994, Scruggs teamed up with [[Randy Scruggs]] and [[Doc Watson]] to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] benefit album ''[[Red Hot + Country]]''. In 2001, Scruggs broke a 17-year personal album hiatus with the album ''Earl Scruggs and Friends'', featuring [[Elton John]], [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], [[Don Henley]], [[Johnny Cash]], [[Dwight Yoakam]], [[Billy Bob Thornton]], and [[Steve Martin]].<ref name="arizona">{{cite news |last1=Rodgers |first1=Larry |title=Earl Scruggs and Friends |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8920614/arizona_republic/ |access-date=February 3, 2017 |issue=Music Section |newspaper=The Arizona Republic |date=August 30, 2001 |page=41}}</ref> It includes the song "Passin' Thru", written by Johnny Cash and Randy Scruggs. He also released a live album ''The Three Pickers'' with Doc Watson and [[Ricky Skaggs]], recorded in [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]] in December 2002.<ref name="three-pickers">{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Zac |title=The Three Pickers/Review |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-three-pickers-mw0000028936 |website=allmusic.com |publisher=Allmusic, member of the RhythmOne group |access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
*In 1989, Scruggs was awarded a [[National Heritage Fellowship]] given by the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], the highest honor in the [[Folk music|folk]] and traditional arts in the United States.<ref name="fellowship">{{cite web |title=Earl Scruggs: Bluegrass Banjo Player |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/earl-scruggs |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>
*Flatt and Scruggs were inducted together into the [[Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum|Country Music Hall of Fame]] in 1985. 
*Scruggs was an inaugural inductee into the [[International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame]] in 1991 and into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref name="ncmhof">{{cite web |title=NCMHOF/Inductee Gallery/2009 Inductees/Earl Scruggs |url=https://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/inductee-item/earl-scruggs/ |website=northcarolinahalloffame.org |publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame |access-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref> 
*In 1992, he was one of 13 recipients to be awarded the [[List of recipients of the National Medal of Arts|National Medal of Arts]]. The award is authorized by Congress for outstanding contributions to the arts in the United States and presented by the President of the United States. 
*Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1968 for Scruggs's instrumental "[[Foggy Mountain Breakdown]]".<ref name="grammys-foggy">{{cite web |title=Grammys/Past winners search/Foggy Mountain Breakdown |url=https://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=%22Foggy+Mountain+Breakdown%22&year=All&genre=All |website=grammy.com |publisher=The Recording Academy |access-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> Scruggs won a second Grammy in 2001 for the same song featuring artists [[Steve Martin]], [[Vince Gill]], [[Albert Lee]], [[Paul Shaffer]], [[Leon Russell]], [[Marty Stuart]], [[Jerry Douglas]], [[Glen Duncan]] and Scruggs's two oldest sons, [[Randy Scruggs|Randy]] and Gary.<ref name="grammys-foggy" /> He totaled four Grammy awards over his career and in 2008 received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual [[Grammy Award]]s. 
*On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].<ref name="apple ford">{{cite web |last1=Appleford |first1=Steve |title=Hollywood Star Walk/Earl Scruggs |url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/earl-scruggs/ |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=February 22, 2017 |date=February 22, 2010}}</ref> 
*That same year, he and Flatt were ranked No. 24 on ''[[CMT (U.S. TV channel)|CMT]]'s 40 Greatest Men of Country Music''.<ref name="cmtsource">{{cite web |title=CMT Pays Tribute to the '40 Greatest Men of Country Music' in a Tantalizing Three-Hour CMT Original Special |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cmt-pays-tribute-to-the-40-greatest-men-of-country-music-in-a-tantalizing-three-hour-cmt-original-special-74597112.html |website=Prnewswire.com |publisher=Country Music Television |access-date=February 8, 2017 |date=March 27, 2003}}</ref><ref name="bogus">{{cite web |title=40 Greatest Men in Country Music |url=https://start.mobilebeat.com/threads/40-greatest-men-of-country-music.11272/ |website=start.mobilebeat.com |publisher=Country Music Television |access-date=February 8, 2017 |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211075327/https://start.mobilebeat.com/threads/40-greatest-men-of-country-music.11272/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> 
*In 2005, Scruggs was awarded an honorary doctorate from Boston's [[Berklee College of Music]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.berklee.edu/bt/171/bb_scruggs.html |title=Berklee Today &#124; Berklee College of Music |website=Berklee.edu}}</ref> 
*In January 1973, a tribute concert honoring Scruggs was held in [[Manhattan, Kansas]] featuring artists [[Joan Baez]], [[David Bromberg]], [[The Byrds]], [[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]], [[Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]], and [[Doc Watson|Doc and Merle Watson]]. The concert was filmed and turned into the 1975 documentary film called ''Banjoman''.<ref>{{cite web |title=IMDb: Banjoman |website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072681/ |access-date=March 29, 2011}}</ref> It premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center, attended by Tennessee senators [[Bill Brock]] and [[Howard Baker]], [[Ethel Kennedy]], and [[Maria Shriver]].<ref name="premiere">{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Lynn |title=Premiere 'Overwhelms' Earl Scruggs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8925954/the_tennessean/ |access-date=February 3, 2017 |issue=First Edition |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=November 17, 1975 |page=26}}</ref> Scruggs attended the event in a wheelchair, recuperating from a crash of his private plane.<ref name="jerry-thompson">{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Jerry |title=Earl Scruggs Suffers Multiple Injuries in Small Plane Crash |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=8925307 |issue=176 |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=September 30, 1975 |volume=70 |page=1}}</ref> 
*The [[Coen brothers]] made a reference to The Foggy Mountain Boys in the 2000 film, ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]'', by naming the movie band "The Soggy Bottom Boys"<ref name="coenbros">{{cite web |last1=Wallace |first1=Jeff |title=5 things you didn't know about Flatt & Scruggs |url=http://www.axs.com/5-things-you-didn-t-know-about-flatt-scruggs-67580 |website=axs.com |publisher=AXS |access-date=February 10, 2017 |date=October 17, 2015}}</ref> 
*On September 13, 2006, Scruggs was honored at [[Turner Field]] in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for an [[Atlanta Braves]] home game. Organizers won a listing in "[[Guinness World Records|The Guinness Book of World Records]]" for the most banjo players (239) playing one tune together (Scruggs's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"). The pickers formed two groups, one on each side of home plate, and a video tribute to Scruggs's life was shown.<ref name="guiness">{{cite web |last1=Lawless |first1=John |title=New Guinness Book record for banjo pickers |url=https://bluegrasstoday.com/new-guinness-book-record-for-banjo-pickers/ |website=bluegrasstoday.com |publisher=Bluegrass Today |access-date=February 22, 2017 |date=September 14, 2006}}</ref> 
*Four works by Scruggs have been placed in the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]]: "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (single, inducted 1999); ''Foggy Mountain Jamboree'', (album, inducted 2012); ''Foggy Mountain Banjo'', (album, inducted 2013); and Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (single, inducted 1998) on which Scruggs performed. The award was established by The Recording Academy in 1973 to honor works at least 25 years old that have lasting qualitative or historical significance.<ref name="grammy-hall">{{cite web |title=Grammy Hall Of Fame/Past Recipients |url=https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#f |website=grammy.org |publisher=The Recording Academy |access-date=March 12, 2017}}</ref>
*The [[Google Doodle]] of January 11, 2019, paid homage to Scruggs by featuring a "close-up" animated demonstration of the "Scruggs style".<ref name=2019CNET>{{Citation |year=2019 |title=Google Doodle celebrates Earl Scruggs, banjo-picking pioneer |publisher=[[CNET]] |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-celebrates-earl-scruggs-banjo-picking-pioneer/}}</ref>

==Banjos==
In the late 1950s Scruggs met with Bill Nelson, one of the owners of the [[Vega Company|Vega Musical Instrument Company]] in Boston, to sign a contract to design and endorse a new banjo to be called "The Earl Scruggs Model".<ref name="vega-banjo" /> The company had made banjos since before 1912 and already had a [[Pete Seeger]] model.<ref name="vega-catalogs">{{cite web |title=Vintage Vega Catalogs in PDF Format |url=http://www.musicmansteve.com/catalogs/VegaCatalogsEnew.htm |website=musicamnsteve.com |publisher=Music Man Steve |access-date=February 25, 2017}}</ref> There would be four Scruggs models in the top-of-the-line banjos they produced. It was the first time a prominent bluegrass banjo player had played any brand other than a [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]].<ref name="rosenberg" /> Scruggs participated in Vega's marketing campaign that claimed that the banjo was constructed to Scruggs's design specifications, which was true, but the finished product fell short of his expectations.<ref name="vega-banjo" /> According to Scruggs's friend and fellow banjoist, Curtis McPeake, Scruggs never cared for it. McPeake stated, "They were good banjos, they just wasn't [''sic''] what Earl wanted to play."<ref name="vega-banjo" /> Scruggs continued to perform and record using his Gibson Granada. The Vega company was sold to the C.F. Martin company in 1970, and the contract was dissolved.<ref name="vega-banjo" />

In 1984, Gibson produced what Scruggs had wanted—the Gibson "Earl Scruggs Standard", a replica of his personal 1934 Gibson Granada RB Mastertone banjo, number 9584-3.<ref name="granada">{{cite web |title=1934 RB Granada |url=http://www.banjophiles.com/SerNumData/9584-3.html |website=banjophiles.org |publisher=Banjophiles |access-date=March 7, 2017}}</ref> This banjo had been changed over its long existence and the only remaining original parts were the rim, the tone ring and the resonator (the wooden back of the instrument).<ref name="granada" /> The banjo was originally gold-plated, but the gold had long-since worn off and had been replaced with nickel hardware. Gibson elected to make the replica model nickel-plated as well, to look like Scruggs's own.<ref name="gibson-banjo">{{cite web |title=Earl Scruggs Standard Banjo |url=http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/Banjo/Gibson-Original/Earl-Scruggs-Standard.aspx |website=gibson.com |publisher=Gibson Guitar Company |access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref> Scruggs's actual 1934 model was previously owned by a series of influential players beginning with Snuffy Jenkins, who bought it for $37.50 at a pawn shop in South Carolina.<ref name="scruggsbio" /> Jenkins sold it to Don Reno, who sold it to Scruggs.<ref name="scruggsbio" /><ref name="earnest-banjo">{{cite web |last1=Earnest |first1=Greg |title=Gibson RB-Granada Mastertone #9584-3, the "Earl Scruggs" |url=http://www.earnestbanjo.com/gibson_banjo_RB-granada_mastertone_9584-3.htm |website=earnestbanjo.com |publisher=Greg Earnest |access-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-date=August 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806095132/http://www.earnestbanjo.com/gibson_banjo_RB-granada_mastertone_9584-3.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> When Scruggs acquired it, the instrument was in poor condition and he sent it to the Gibson Company for refurbishing, including a new fingerboard, pearl inlays, and a more slender neck. During this time Scruggs used his Gibson RB-3 for some of the Mercury recording sessions. Banjo enthusiasts have located the shipping records from Gibson to determine the exact dates the Granada Mastertone was missing on certain recordings.<ref name="earnest-banjo" />

On May 22, 2023, Scruggs's personal Gibson Granada Mastertone, heard on "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", was donated by the family to the [[Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum]] to become part of the permanent collection.<ref name="dowlingdonation">{{cite news |last1=Dowling |first1=Marcus |title=Earl Scruggs' Gibson banjo donated to permanent collection of country hall |issue=124 |publisher=The Tennessean |date=May 25, 2023 |volume=119 |pages=2–A, 16–A}}</ref> A ceremony to celebrate the gift was attended by a host of bluegrass, Americana, and country music stars.<ref name="dowlingdonation"/>

==Louise Scruggs==
{{Main|Louise Scruggs}}
On December 14, 1946, 19-year-old Anne Louise Certain attended the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. She went backstage after the performance to meet some of the performers, including Scruggs, who had been with Bill Monroe's band about a year at that time. Scruggs and Certain began dating and fell in love. They were married about a year and a half later in April 1948.<ref name="cooper" /> When Flatt and Scruggs formed the new group, Scruggs had done most of the bookings for the band, but being on the road for hours in a car and stopping at a phone booth to communicate with venues, often at odd hours, was difficult. Louise had a business aptitude and began helping by doing the phone work.<ref name="vega-banjo" /> She eventually became the booking agent and ultimately the group's manager, Nashville's first woman to become prominent in that role.<ref name="cooper" /> Her acumen and skills in the job were prescient. She turned the band into TV personalities and helped propel them into what today would be called rock stars, touring with [[Joan Baez]] and performing at the prestigious [[Newport Folk Festival]].<ref name="Louise_CMT">{{cite web |title=Music Industry Pioneer Louise Scruggs Dies |url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1523089/music-industry-pioneer-louise-scruggs-dies/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110065909/http://www.cmt.com/news/1523089/music-industry-pioneer-louise-scruggs-dies/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 10, 2015 |website=[[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]] |publisher=Viacom International |access-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref> She recruited noted artist [[Thomas B. Allen (painter)|Thomas B. Allen]], who had done covers for ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' to create cover illustrations for 17 of the group's albums.<ref name="illustrator">{{cite web |last1=Orr |first1=Jay |title=Illustrator Thomas B. Allen Honored With Exhibit, Concert: Marty Stuart and Earl Scruggs Pay Tribute at the Ryman |url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1473119/illustrator-thomas-b-allen-honored-with-exhibit-concert-marty-stuart-and-earl-scruggs-pay-tribute-at-the-ryman/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315174414/http://www.cmt.com/news/1473119/illustrator-thomas-b-allen-honored-with-exhibit-concert-marty-stuart-and-earl-scruggs-pay-tribute-at-the-ryman/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |website=[[CMT (American TV channel)|CMT]] |publisher=Viacom |access-date=March 14, 2017 |date=June 23, 2003}}</ref> She helped market the group to younger audiences at college campuses and arranged a live album to be recorded at [[Carnegie Hall]]. Earl Scruggs said, "What talent I had never would have peaked without her. She helped shape music up as a business, instead of just people out picking and grinning."<ref name="cooper" /> Louise died from complications of respiratory disease<ref name="louiserespiratory">{{cite magazine |last1=Han |first1=Sarah |title=Manager Louise Scruggs, 78 |magazine=Billboard |date=February 18, 2006 |volume=118 |issue=7 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7BQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Louise+scruggs |access-date=October 22, 2018}}</ref> on February 2, 2006, at age 78, six years before her husband.<ref name="Louise_CMT" /> In 2007, The Country Music Hall of Fame created The Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum, an annual event to honor a music industry business leader.<ref name="louisecmhof">{{cite web |title=Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum/Honorees |url=http://countrymusichalloffame.org/contentpages/the-louise-scruggs-memorial-forum#.WKDdh7GZMxM |website=countrymusichalloffame.org |publisher=Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum |access-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-date=December 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204013545/http://countrymusichalloffame.org/contentpages/the-louise-scruggs-memorial-forum#.WKDdh7GZMxM |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1955, Scruggs received word that his mother, Lula, had suffered a stroke and heart attack in North Carolina. The only flight available from Nashville involved such a series of connecting cities that it was not feasible to fly. Scruggs and his wife, with sons Gary and Randy, decided to drive all night from Nashville to see her when they were involved in an automobile accident just east of Knoxville about 3 a.m. October 2.<ref name="mother_dies">{{cite news |title=Opry Star's Mother Dies in North Carolina |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8920695/car_wreck_was_sept_1955/ |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=October 24, 1955 |page=20}}</ref> Their car was hit by a drunk driver, a [[Fort Campbell]] soldier who had pulled out from a side road into their path, then fled the scene after the collision.<ref name="patrolmen">{{cite news |title=Patrolmen Seek GI's Indictment After 2 Injured |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8920776/the_tennessean/ |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=October 4, 1955 |page=10}}</ref> The children were not hurt, but Earl suffered a fractured pelvis and dislocations of both hips, which would plague him for years, and Louise had been thrown into the windshield, receiving multiple lacerations.<ref name="willis" /> They were flown to a Nashville hospital where Scruggs remained hospitalized for about two months. He received thousands of letters from well-wishers.<ref name="willis" /><ref name="gee_wonderful">{{cite news |last1=Reaney |first1=Eldred |title=Gee—It's Wonderful to have Fans |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=October 14, 1955 |page=12}}</ref> He returned to music in January 1956, about four months after the injury, but after working a week or so, one of the hips collapsed, and he returned to the hospital for a metal hip to be implanted.<ref name="vega-banjo" /> Seven years later, the other hip required similar surgery.<ref name="second-hip">{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Phil |title=The Nashville Sound/Scruggs Recovering |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/112913830/?terms=%22Earl%2BScruggs%22%2B%2B%2Bsurgery |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=August 5, 1962 |page=5F}}</ref> The first metal hip lasted for some 40 years, but eventually failed, requiring a [[total hip replacement]] in October 1996, when he was age 72. While still in the recovery room after this hip operation, Scruggs suffered a heart attack; he was returned to the operating room later the same day for quintuple coronary bypass surgery.<ref name="quintuple">{{cite news |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Thomas |title=Scruggs has surgery |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/113395059/?terms=%22Earl%2BScruggs%22%2B%2B%2Bsurgery |newspaper=The Tennessean |date=October 16, 1996 |page=4B}}</ref> Despite the dire circumstances, he recovered and returned to his musical career.

Scruggs was involved in a solo plane crash in October 1975. He was flying his 1974 Cessna Skyhawk II aircraft home to Nashville around midnight from a performance of the Earl Scruggs Revue in Murray, Kentucky. On his landing approach he was enveloped in dense fog and overshot the runway at [[Cornelia Fort Airpark]] in Nashville and the plane flipped over. The automatic crash alert system in the plane did not function, and Scruggs remained without help for five hours. He crawled about 150 feet from the wreckage with a broken ankle, broken nose, and facial lacerations, afraid that the plane might catch fire. His family was driving home from the same concert and was unaware of the crash, but his niece became worried when he did not arrive. She called police at about 4 a.m., and they went to the airport, where they heard Scruggs's cries for help from a field near the runway.<ref name="jerry-thompson" /> He recovered, but was in a wheelchair for a few weeks, including for the premiere of the Scruggs documentary ''Banjoman'' at the Kennedy Center.<ref name="jerry-thompson" />
[[File:Randy, Earl &amp; Gary Scruggs (3989499458).jpg|thumb|Scruggs performing with his sons Randy and Gary at [[Hardly Strictly Bluegrass]], 2009]]
Steve Scruggs, Earl's youngest son, was the drummer for the Earl Scruggs Revue at one point. He died in September 1992 of a self-inflicted gun shot after killing his wife, according to prosecutor Dent Moriss.<ref name="steve">{{cite news |title=Murder-Suicide by a Star's Son |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/25/us/murder-suicide-by-a-star-s-son.html |work=New York Times Company |agency=Associated Press |page=A16 |access-date=February 1, 2017 |date=September 25, 1992}}</ref> Middle son Randy Scruggs, guitarist and music producer, died after a short illness on April 17, 2018, at the age of 64.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://musicrow.com/2018/04/award-winning-randy-scruggs-passes/ |title=Award Winning Randy Scruggs Passes |last=Oermann |first=Robert |date=2018 |website=MusicRow |access-date=April 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/randy-scruggs-award-winning-musician-and-songwriter-dead-at-64-629799/ |title=Randy Scruggs, Award-Winning Musician and Songwriter, Dead at 64 |first=Stephen L. |last=Betts |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=April 18, 2018 |issn=0035-791X |access-date=April 18, 2018}}</ref> Eldest son Gary Scruggs, also a musician, songwriter and music producer, died December 1, 2021, at age 72.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite web |url=https://bluegrasstoday.com/gary-scruggs-passes/ |title=Gary Scruggs passes |last=Thompson |first=Richard |date=December 6, 2021 |website=Bluegrass Today |access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Judd |first=Cameron |date=December 10, 2021 |title=Gary Scruggs Left Us At 'Speed Of Life' |url= |newspaper=The Greenville Sun |location=Greeneville, Tennessee |access-date=}}</ref>

Every January for many years, Scruggs's birthday was celebrated by a party at his home on Franklin Road in Nashville. After a buffet dinner, guests would gather in the living room for an informal "pickin' party" where some of country music's best known stars would sing and play with no one around but family and close friends.<ref name="cooper" /> The attendees over the years included [[Tom T. Hall]], [[Béla Fleck]], [[Travis Tritt]], [[Vince Gill]], [[Tim O'Brien (musician)|Tim O'Brien]], [[Emmylou Harris]], [[Mac Wiseman]], [[Marty Stuart]], [[Porter Wagoner]], [[Bill Anderson (singer)|Bill Anderson]], [[Jerry Douglas]], [[Josh Graves]] and many others. At Scruggs's 80th birthday party in 2004, country singer [[Porter Wagoner]] said, "Earl is to the five-string banjo what [[Babe Ruth]] was to baseball. He is the best there ever was and the best there ever will be."<ref name="nytimes" />

At age 88, Earl Scruggs died from natural causes on the morning of March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital.<ref name="associated" /> His funeral was held on Sunday, April 1, 2012, at the [[Ryman Auditorium]] in Nashville, Tennessee, and was open to the public. He was buried at [[Spring Hill Cemetery (Nashville)|Spring Hill Cemetery]] in a private service.

==The Earl Scruggs Center==
[[File:Earl Scruggs Center.jpg|thumb|Earl Scruggs Center]]
The Earl Scruggs Center opened January 11, 2014—a $5.5 million, 100,000 square foot facility located in the court square of [[Shelby, North Carolina]], at the [[Cleveland County Courthouse (Shelby, North Carolina)|renovated county courthouse]].<ref name="center-opens">{{cite web |last1=McFadyen |first1=Duncan |title=Earl Scruggs Center Opens In Shelby |url=http://wfae.org/post/earl-scruggs-center-opens-shelby |website=Wfae.org |publisher=NPR Charlotte (WFAE) |access-date=February 24, 2017 |date=January 11, 2014}}</ref> It showcases the musical contributions of Scruggs, the most eminent ambassador of the music of that region, and features a museum and a life-sized statue of Scruggs at a young age.<ref name="goad-john" /> The center received a $1.5 million economic development grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and also funds from corporate donors.<ref name="rose-julie">{{cite web |last1=Rose |first1=Julie |title=Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby picked for $1.5M grant |url=http://wfae.org/post/earl-scruggs-center-shelby-picked-15m-grant |website=Wfae.org |publisher=NPR Charlotte, WFAE |access-date=March 1, 2017 |date=April 6, 2010}}</ref> It serves as an educational center providing classes and field trips for students.<ref name="center">{{cite web |title=Earl Scruggs Center/About us |url=http://earlscruggscenter.org/about-us/the-center/ |website=earlscruggscenter.org |publisher=Earl Scruggs Center |access-date=February 24, 2017}}</ref> The opening was celebrated by a sold-out concert by [[Vince Gill]], [[Travis Tritt]], [[Sam Bush]], and others.<ref name="center-opens" />

On January 6, 2024, on what would have been Scruggs's 100th birthday, a memorial concert was held at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium to benefit the Scruggs Center.<ref name="100th">{{cite news |last1=Dowling |first1=Marcus |title=Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday celebrated Saturday at Ryman. |agency=USA Today Network |issue=7 |publisher=The Tennessean (Nashville) |date=January 9, 2024 |volume=120 |pages=2–A, 12–A}}</ref> At the concert, three dozen noted bluegrass artists, including [[Jerry Douglas]], [[Béla Fleck]], [[Sam Bush]], [[The Earls of Leicester (band)|The Earls of Leicester]], [[Del McCoury]], [[Sierra Hull]] and [[Jeff Hanna]] performed until nearly midnight.<ref name="100th"/>

==Selected discography==
===Early singles===
; Mercury Records Singles
{{div col}}
* 1949: God Loves His Children / I'm Going to Make Heaven My Home 
* 1949: We'll Meet Again Sweetheart / My Cabin in Caroline
* 1949: Baby Blue Eyes / Bouquet in Heaven
* 1949: Down the Road / Why Don't You Tell Me So
* 1950: I'll Never Shed Another Tear / I'm Going to Be in Heaven Sometime
* 1950: No Mother or Dad / [[Foggy Mountain Breakdown]]
* 1950: Is It Too Late Now / So Happy I'll Be
* 1950: My Little Girl in Tennessee / I'll Never Love Another
* 1951: Cora Is Gone / That Little Old Country Church House
* 1951: Pain in My Heart / Take Me in a Lifeboat
* 1951: Doin' My Time / Farewell Blues
* 1951: Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms / I'll Just Pretend
; Columbia Records Singles
* 1951: Come Back Darling / I'm Waiting to Hear You Call Me Darling
* 1951: I'm Head over Heels in Love / We Can't Be Darlings Anymore
* 1951: Jimmie Brown the Newsboy / Somehow Tonight
* 1951: Don't Get Above Your Raising / I've Lost You
* 1951: 'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered / Earl's Breakdown
* 1952: Get in Line Brother / Brother I'm Getting Ready to Go
* 1952: Old Home Town / I'll Stay Around
* 1952: Over the Hills to the Poorhouse
* 1952: I'm Gonna Settle Down / I'm Lonesome and Blue
; Mercury Records Singles
* 1952: Pike County Breakdown / Old Salty Dog Blues
* 1952: Preachin' Prayin' Singin' / Will the Roses Bloom
* 1953: Back to the Cross / God Loves His Children
; Okeh Records Singles
* 1953: Reunion in Heaven / Pray for the Boys
; Columbia Records Singles
* 1953: Why Did You Wander / Thinking about You
* 1953: If I Should Wander Back Tonight / Dear Old Dixie
* 1953: I'm Working on a Road / He Took Your Place
* 1953: I'll Go Stepping Too / Foggy Mountain Chimes
* 1954: Mother Prays Loud in Her Sleep / Be Ready for Tomorrow May Never Come
* 1954: I'd Rather Be Alone / Someone Took My Place with You
* 1954: You're Not a Drop in the Bucket / Foggy Mountain Special
* 1954: 'Till the End of the World Rolls 'Round / Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky
* 1955: You Can Feel It in Your Soul / Old Fashioned Preacher
* 1955: Before I Met You / I'm Gonna Sleep with One Eye Open
* 1955: Gone Home / Bubbling in My Soul
* 1956: Randy Lynn Rag / On My Mind
* 1956: Joy Bells / Give Mother My Crown
* 1956: What's Good for You / No Doubt about It
* 1957: Six White Horses / Shucking' the Corn
* 1957: Give Me the Flowers While I'm Living / Is There Room for Me
* 1957: Don't Let Your Deal Go Down / Let Those Brown Eyes Smile at Me
* 1957: I Won't Care / I Won't Be Hangin' Around
* 1958: Big Black Train / Crying Alone
* 1958: Heaven / Building on Sand
* 1958: I Don't Care Anymore / Mama's and Daddy's Little Girl
* 1959: A Million Years in Glory / Jesus Savior Pilot Me
* 1959: Cabin on the Hill / Someone You Have Forgotten
* 1959: Crying My Heart Out over You / Foggy Mountain Rock
* 1960: The Great Historical Bum / All I Want Is You
* 1960: Polka on a Banjo / Shucking the Corn (Remake)
* 1960: I Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow / If I Should Wander Back Tonight
* 1961: Where Will I Shelter My Sheep / Go Home
* 1961: Jimmie Brown the Newsboy / Mother Prays Loud in My Sleep?
* 1962: Cold Cold Lovin' / Just Ain't
* 1962: Hear the Whistle Blow a Hundred Miles / The Legend of the Johnson
* 1962: [[The Ballad of Jed Clampett]] / Coal Loadin' Johnny
* 1963: Pearl Pearl Pearl / Hard Travelin'
* 1964: My Saro Jane / [[You Are My Flower]]
* 1964: Petticoat Junction / Have You Seen My Dear Companion
* 1964: Workin' It Out / Fireball
* 1964: Little Birdie / Sally Don't You Grieve
* 1965: Father's Table Grace / [[I Still Miss Someone]]
* 1965: Go Home / Ballad of Jed Clampett
* 1965: Gonna Have Myself a Ball / Rock Salt and Nails
* 1965: Memphis / Foggy Mountain Breakdown
* 1966: Green Acres / I Had a Dream (With June Carter)
* 1966: Colours / For Lovin' Me
* 1966: The Last Thing on My Mind / Mama You Been on My Mind
* 1967: It Was Only the Wind / Why Can't I Find Myself with You
* 1967: Roust-A-Bout / Nashville Cats
* 1967: The Last Train to Clarksville / California up Tight Band
* 1967: Theme from Bonnie and Clyde (Foggy Mountain Breakdown) / My Cabin in Caroline
* 1967: Down in the Flood / Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Remake)
* 1968: [[Like a Rolling Stone]] / I'd Like to Say a Word for Texas
* 1968: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight / Universal Soldier
* 1969: Foggy Mountain Breakdown / Like a Rolling Stone
* 1969: Universal Soldier / Down in the Flood
* 1969: Maggie's Farm / Tonight Will Be Fine
{{div col end}}

===Later singles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="2"| Chart Positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|-
! style="width:50px;"| <small>[[Hot Country Songs|US Country]]</small>
! style="width:50px;"| <small>CAN Country</small>
|-
| 1970
| "Nashville Skyline Rag"
| style="text-align:center;"| 74
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| ''Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends''
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1979
| "I Sure Could Use the Feeling"
| style="text-align:center;"| 30
| style="text-align:center;"| 41
| rowspan="3"| ''Today & Forever''
|-
| "Play Me No Sad Songs"
| style="text-align:center;"| 82
| style="text-align:center;"| 66
|-
| 1980
| "[[Blue Moon of Kentucky]]"
| style="text-align:center;"| 46
| style="text-align:center;"| —
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1982
| "There Ain't No Country Music on This Jukebox"<br /><small>(with [[Tom T. Hall]])</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| 77
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| rowspan="2"| ''Storyteller and the Banjo Man''
|-
| "[[Song of the South (song)|Song of the South]]" <small>(with Tom T. Hall)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| 72
| style="text-align:center;"| —
|}

===Guest singles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! rowspan="2"| Artist
!| Chart Positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|-
! style="width:50px;"| <small>US Country</small>
|-
| 1998
| "Same Old Train"
| Various Artists
| style="text-align:center;"| 59
| style="text-align:left;"| ''[[Tribute to Tradition]]''
|}

===Music videos===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Video
! Director
|-
| 1992
| "The Dirt Road" <small>(with [[Sawyer Brown]])</small>
| [[Michael Salomon]]
|-
| 1998
| "Same Old Train" <small>(Various)</small>
| Steve Boyle
|-
| 2001
| "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" <small>(Earl Scruggs and Friends)</small>
| Gerry Wenner
|}

===Albums===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Title
! colspan="4"| Chart Positions
|-
! style="width:60px;"| <small>[[Billboard charts#Country|US Country]]</small>
! style="width:60px;"| <small>[[Billboard 200|US]]</small>
! style="width:60px;"| <small>[[Top Heatseekers|US Heat]]</small>
! style="width:60px;"| <small>[[Billboard charts#Top Bluegrass Albums|US Bluegrass]]</small>
|-
| 1957
| ''Foggy Mountain Jamboree''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1959
| ''Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs with the Foggy Mountain Boys''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1961
| ''Foggy Mountain Banjo''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1963
| ''I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''The Ballad of Jed Clampett''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1964
| ''Flatt and Scruggs Live at Vanderbilt University''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''The Fabulous Sound of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1965
| ''Town and Country''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1966
| ''Flatt and Scruggs Greatest Hits''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1967
| ''[[Strictly Instrumental (Doc Watson, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs album)|Strictly Instrumental]]'' <small>(with [[Lester Flatt]] and [[Doc Watson]])</small>
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1967
| ''5 String Banjo Instruction Album''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1968
| ''The Story of Bonnie and Clyde'' <small>(with [[Lester Flatt]] and the [[Foggy Mountain Boys]])</small><ref>{{cite journal |date=June 1, 1968 |journal=Billboard Magazine |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |title=Nashville Scene |volume=80 |issue=22 |page=43 |issn=0006-2510 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |access-date=November 24, 2009}}</ref>
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1969
| ''Changin' Times''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1970
| ''Nashville Airplane''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''20 All-Time Great Recordings''
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1972
| ''I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''Live at Kansas State''
| style="text-align:center;"| 20
| style="text-align:center;"| 204
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1973
| ''Rockin' 'Cross the Country''
| style="text-align:center;"| 46
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''[[Dueling Banjos]]''
| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 202
| 
| 
|-
| ''[[The Earl Scruggs Revue]]''
| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 169
| 
| 
|-
| 1975
| ''Anniversary Special''
| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 104
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1976
| ''The Earl Scruggs Revue 2''
| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 161
| 
| 
|-
| ''Family Portrait''
| style="text-align:center;"| 49
| 
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1977
| ''Live from Austin City Limits''
| style="text-align:center;"| 49
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''Strike Anywhere''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1978
| ''Bold & New''
| style="text-align:center;"| 50
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1979
| ''Today & Forever''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1982
| ''Storyteller and the Banjo Man'' <small>(with [[Tom T. Hall]])</small>
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''Flatt & Scruggs''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1983
| ''Top of the World''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1984
| ''The Mercury Sessions 1''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''The Mercury Sessions 2''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| ''Superjammin{{'}}''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1987
| ''The Golden Hits''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1992
| ''The Complete Mercury Sessions''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 1998
| ''Artist's Choice: The Best Tracks (1970–1980)''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 2001
| ''Earl Scruggs and Friends''
| style="text-align:center;"| 39
| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 33
| style="text-align:center;"| 14
|-
| 2002
| ''Classic Bluegrass Live: 1959–1966''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 2003
| ''Three Pickers'' <small>(with [[Doc Watson]] and [[Ricky Skaggs]])</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| 24
| style="text-align:center;"| 179
| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
|-
| 2004
| ''The Essential Earl Scruggs''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 2005
| ''Live with Donnie Allen and Friends''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 2007
| ''Lifetimes: Lewis, Scruggs, and Long''
| 
| 
| 
| 
|}

==DVDs==

===Earl Scruggs===
* ''Earl Scruggs—His Family and Friends'' (2005)
*:(Recorded 1969. Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Bill Monroe, Joan Baez et al.)
* ''Private Sessions'' (2005)
* ''The Bluegrass Legend'' (2006)

===Earl Scruggs, [[Doc Watson]] and [[Ricky Skaggs]]===
* ''The Three Pickers'' (2003)

===Flatt and Scruggs===
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 1'' (2007)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 2'' (2007)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 3'' (2007)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 4'' (2007)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 5'' (2008)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 6'' (2008)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 7'' (2009)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 8'' (2009)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 9'' (2010)
* ''The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol. 10'' (2010)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Goldsmith, Thomas. ''Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of an American Classic.'' University of Illinois Press, 2019.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website|http://earlscruggs.com/}}
* [http://www.flatt-and-scruggs.com/ Flatt and Scruggs Preservation Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806061801/http://flatt-and-scruggs.com/ |date=August 6, 2018 }}
* [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/earl-scruggs Earl Scruggs Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Library]] (2004)

{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{Grand Ole Opry members}}
{{International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame}}
{{Banjo}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scruggs, Earl}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Activists from North Carolina]]
[[Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists]]
[[Category:American country banjoists]]
[[Category:Blue Grass Boys members]]
[[Category:Bluegrass musicians from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Burials at Spring Hill Cemetery (Nashville, Tennessee)]]
[[Category:Columbia Records artists]]
[[Category:Country musicians from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Foggy Mountain Boys members]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Grand Ole Opry members]]
[[Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners]]
[[Category:North Carolina Heritage Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Cleveland County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Progressive country musicians]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]