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Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon
In 1945 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, a skinny 21 year-old from North Carolina stepped onto the stage and lit a firestorm by picking the five-string banjo like no one had ever heard before. His rapid three-finger technique and clarity of notes sent the audience into a cheerful frenzy. In just one night, Earl Scruggs transformed the banjo, which had been widely associated with clowns and background accompaniment, into a mainstream solo instrument pursued by countless musicians. After a two year stint with the Father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe, Earl and lead singer/guitarist, Lester Flatt, formed their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, more commonly billed as Flatt and Scruggs. Earl Scruggs recorded and performed with some of the music industry's biggest stars like Billy Joel, Elton John, Sting, the Pointer Sisters, Dan Fogelberg, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Kenny Loggins, Vince Gill, Travis Tritt, Don Henley, and Steve Martin. Gordon Castelnero and David Russell explore Scrugg's rise to fame and lasting legacy on bluegrass music and banjo playing traditions. With interwoven interviews with the Scruggs family and over 30 notable banjo players, this narrative biography will shed light on the history of bluegrass for both amateur and professional musicians, students of music and American history, and any reader entranced by Scrugg's unmistakable sound.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 16, 2021
An enjoyable if quick read. It goes through Scruggs' life at a quick, succinct pace - years flash by in the course of pages - but it also contains interesting quotes and information. I learned new things from it, and it's a good summary solidifying the knowledge I already knew.
The book is a very positive tribute to Earl Scruggs' musical life and influence. While Scruggs was a good human being and it's refreshing to read a biography focusing on that, the book's optimistic phraseology and choice of interview quotes makes it clear the purpose is to celebrate him rather than write a balanced, in-depth biography. Some might call this a hagiography. In addition to lauding phrases that are geared toward celebrating Scruggs' accomplishments, what information was chosen to be included/excluded also lends to the book's tone. To give several quick examples: 1. the book includes Bill Keith's contributions to the Scruggs banjo book without mentioning the subsequent lawsuit and their falling out, 2. the reason Flatt and Scruggs split professional paths was a complex issue, but the book only speaks positively of Earl's choices here, 3. the book mentions Flatt suing Scruggs, but not anything about Scruggs countering to Flatt, 4. extremely important life events that would be downers to read, like the death of Scruggs's son, were brushed over vaguely in a paragraph, and 5. when it mentions Sonny Obsorne decided to develop his own sound in 1957, it omits that it came about because Sonny heard Earl hit a wrong note in Randy Lynn Rag. Small selective stuff like that is resplendent throughout the book.
That said, while this isn't as "objective" of a biography as could exist, the authors do say this is their intention: "[we discussed] the possibility of foregoing a traditionally narrated biography in favor of an oral history from the viewpoints of musicians and entertainers who were inspired by Scruggs" (p. 209). And in that regard, that's also what made this book fun. I do want a comprehensive, balanced biography someday, but I also can't complain I got more published bluegrass material. It's an uplifting book to read. I enjoyed reading a book that celebrated the banjoman, his musical journey, and the excited thrill that's hit the hearts of so many people over the decades.
The book is a very positive tribute to Earl Scruggs' musical life and influence. While Scruggs was a good human being and it's refreshing to read a biography focusing on that, the book's optimistic phraseology and choice of interview quotes makes it clear the purpose is to celebrate him rather than write a balanced, in-depth biography. Some might call this a hagiography. In addition to lauding phrases that are geared toward celebrating Scruggs' accomplishments, what information was chosen to be included/excluded also lends to the book's tone. To give several quick examples: 1. the book includes Bill Keith's contributions to the Scruggs banjo book without mentioning the subsequent lawsuit and their falling out, 2. the reason Flatt and Scruggs split professional paths was a complex issue, but the book only speaks positively of Earl's choices here, 3. the book mentions Flatt suing Scruggs, but not anything about Scruggs countering to Flatt, 4. extremely important life events that would be downers to read, like the death of Scruggs's son, were brushed over vaguely in a paragraph, and 5. when it mentions Sonny Obsorne decided to develop his own sound in 1957, it omits that it came about because Sonny heard Earl hit a wrong note in Randy Lynn Rag. Small selective stuff like that is resplendent throughout the book.
That said, while this isn't as "objective" of a biography as could exist, the authors do say this is their intention: "[we discussed] the possibility of foregoing a traditionally narrated biography in favor of an oral history from the viewpoints of musicians and entertainers who were inspired by Scruggs" (p. 209). And in that regard, that's also what made this book fun. I do want a comprehensive, balanced biography someday, but I also can't complain I got more published bluegrass material. It's an uplifting book to read. I enjoyed reading a book that celebrated the banjoman, his musical journey, and the excited thrill that's hit the hearts of so many people over the decades.
January 13, 2018
What intrigued me: When you're learning Scruggs style banjo you should know more about Earl Scruggs.
What I liked: Excellent insight into Scruggs life, musical path, and the impact he had on bluegrass.
What I didn't like: The last chapter about people influenced by Scruggs was poorly executed.
Favorite quote: "After appearing on the Opry one night in the 1990s, [Charlie] Cushman was pleasantly surprised by a complimentary phone message that awaited him at home:
'I was on there one night with [banjoist and fiddle player] Mike Snider. We had about five minutes left in the show, and he asked me if I had my banjo picks, and I said yes I did. So he took the banjo off, handed it to me, and it was during a commercial break he said, “You play us out of here.” We came back on the air and they introduced Mike and he introduced me and I played “Earl’s Breakdown.” Anyway, I went home that night, it was about midnight, and there was a message on my answering machine. Well, it was Earl saying, “I just watched you on the Nashville Network doing the Opry, and you really played that old tune really well, and I just wanted to let you know I saw that, and we’ll talk to you later.” That was a high point in my career, and if I never played again, I got a compliment from Scruggs. The next day I made sure I didn’t erase that message. I went and got my cassette recorder and I copied it."
You will find my full review on my blog.
What I liked: Excellent insight into Scruggs life, musical path, and the impact he had on bluegrass.
What I didn't like: The last chapter about people influenced by Scruggs was poorly executed.
Favorite quote: "After appearing on the Opry one night in the 1990s, [Charlie] Cushman was pleasantly surprised by a complimentary phone message that awaited him at home:
'I was on there one night with [banjoist and fiddle player] Mike Snider. We had about five minutes left in the show, and he asked me if I had my banjo picks, and I said yes I did. So he took the banjo off, handed it to me, and it was during a commercial break he said, “You play us out of here.” We came back on the air and they introduced Mike and he introduced me and I played “Earl’s Breakdown.” Anyway, I went home that night, it was about midnight, and there was a message on my answering machine. Well, it was Earl saying, “I just watched you on the Nashville Network doing the Opry, and you really played that old tune really well, and I just wanted to let you know I saw that, and we’ll talk to you later.” That was a high point in my career, and if I never played again, I got a compliment from Scruggs. The next day I made sure I didn’t erase that message. I went and got my cassette recorder and I copied it."
You will find my full review on my blog.
April 14, 2017
Final Draft – Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon by Gordon Castelnero and David Russell (Bowman & Littlefield, 2017, 214 pp, $40.00/38.00) uses an oral history approach to document, through a series of lively interviews, excerpts from numerous articles, cuts from films and documentaries, and more to produce a volume both scholarly and readable. With the full cooperation of the Scruggs family, they conducted seventy-two interviews with family members, musicians, recording industry people, and Earl Scruggs' many friends and admirers to create a well-rounded account filled with lots of previously unpublished information while never losing the human touch, always keeping the subject matter interesting and real.
It's rare that the introduction to a book prepares a reader to expect as much from the subject as Bela Fleck's introduction to this new biography of Earl Scruggs. He describes the impact first hearing Scruggs music had on him as well as it's enduring influence. Later, in the mid-eighties, John Hartford gently introduces him to Scruggs, and they become friends. His description of Earl's openness to Fleck's own playing and willingness to explore dimensions of the banjo Fleck had never heard in recordings or seen in performances demonstrates the continual growth in musical content Earl Scruggs had within himself and was willing to explore. Before the book even begins, he emerges as even more complex and interesting than those who would hold him within the confines of bluegrass music, which he helped found and dominated for so many years. By the end, Earl's life takes on increased significance because of his huge influence on musicians and fans far removed from the narrow world of bluegrass.
The early chapters detail Earl's love of music, his early adventures with the banjo, including his refinement of the three finger style that now bears his name from other influences in the air in his part of North Carolina. Like so many of the first and second generation of bluegrass musicians, Earl chose the life of professional musician as an alternative the the drudgery of life on a subsistence farm or in a dusty, unhealthy thread factory. While working 72 hours a day in the Lily thread mill in Shelby, NC, he worked to perfect his approach to the banjo. Stories of how he achieved his metronome-like timing and discovered the unique syncopation of his style enliven the narrative. The book contains the most detailed account of Earl's joining Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys on December 8, 1945. Using quotations from a variety of sources, the authors turn the moment into a word picture that resonates with every banjo adherent and bluegrass fan. Furthermore, out of this moment, the term bluegrass, as applied to a genre featuring Monroe style mandolin, Scruggs style banjo, high speed, and internal rhythm instruments requiring no drums, was born.
While Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs only spent a little over two years with Bill Monroe, before leaving the Blue Grass Boys and later deciding to form their own band, the experience was one of growth and increased recognition. Then, the emergence of Flatt & Scruggs and their twenty one year partnership is detailed, with particular reference to barnstorming, the opportunities provided by the movie Bonnie and Clyde as well as the television program Beverly Hillbillies is covered intensely, as is their subsequent breakup due to Flatt's discomfort with changes in the band direction to respond to rock 'n' roll music and the folk craze, as well as his own declining health.
The text suggests that the years immediately following the breakup of Flatt & Scruggs became the “most rewarding” of his career, as he was able to broaden his musical horizons, become involved with new audiences, include a more complex instrumental pallette, and expand his musical language to approach new horizons. The result became The Earl Scruggs Review, into which he was able to include the musical talents of his emerging musician sons Gary and Randy, along with, later, for a brief time, Steve. Earl also emerged on the national political stage by participating in the huge Vietnam Moratorium demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on November 15, 1969, eliciting much criticism from the, generally, conservative Nashville music community.
With the breakup of the Earl Scruggs Review, Earl entered a long period of semi-retirement, elongated by the tragic death of his youngest son, Steve. The book describes the laurels heaped on Earl late in his life, while the last chapter is a full appreciation of the legacy and contributions of this dominating musician of the second half of the twentieth century. Also included are excellent chapter notes, a lengthy bibliography, and an index. This book is both a worthwhile read and necessary resource for anyone wishing to undertake further research into Earl Scruggs in the future.
Some thoughts on how to experience this book: Some readers of Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon will be intimately familiar with the bluegrass elements of the book, but few will know the full range of Earl Scrugg's creative endeavors. I've tried to include a few representative cuts in the review, including a complete documentary film. Listening to cuts or the entire albums on one of the streaming channels or YouTube will enrich almost any reader's the understanding of Earl Scruggs' music and his range of interests. Give it a try. I have found Spotify to be incredibly useful in expanding my musical horizons as I read and review books about music. A documentary film, Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends released in the early seventies (I believe) demonstrates his far ranging musical imagination.
Though without a book jacket, the cover has an almost fine leatherlike feel I've never experienced, giving it a high quality, collectors aura. Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon by Gordon Castelnero and David Russell (Bowman & Littlefield, 2017, 214 pp, $40.00/38.00) very carefully, and successfully skirts the line between being a book for banjo nerds, bluegrass fans, and general readers. Sometimes slipping into discussions of specific tunings or places Earl develops and employ new licks on the banjo, it still maintains interest, although for those not interested in these details, it's easy to skim them. Meanwhile, the specifics of Earl's background, life, and career are sufficiently filled in to satisfy bluegrass fans wishing to broaden their general and specific knowledge about Earl. Finally, for the more general reader of bluegrass and music history, it details the life and career of one of American music's most important and innovative geniuses throughout the course of a long and varied career. Sadly, the book is priced beyond the means of many who would wish to read it, and may be available, in practice, only in libraries. Nevertheless, it's comprehensive and fully satisfying biography. I was sent a complimentary copy of the book by the publisher at the request of the authors.
To see this review including the videos I used to illustrate various stages in Earl Scruggs' rich and long life, check out the published review on line at No Depression.
Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon by Gordon Castelnero and David Russell (Bowman & Littlefield, 2017, 214 pp, $40.00/38.00) uses an oral history approach to document, through a series of lively interviews, excerpts from numerous articles, cuts from films and documentaries, and more to produce a volume both scholarly and readable. With the full cooperation of the Scruggs family, they conducted seventy-two interviews with family members, musicians, recording industry people, and Earl Scruggs' many friends and admirers to create a well-rounded account filled with lots of previously unpublished information while never losing the human touch, always keeping the subject matter interesting and real.
It's rare that the introduction to a book prepares a reader to expect as much from the subject as Bela Fleck's introduction to this new biography of Earl Scruggs. He describes the impact first hearing Scruggs music had on him as well as it's enduring influence. Later, in the mid-eighties, John Hartford gently introduces him to Scruggs, and they become friends. His description of Earl's openness to Fleck's own playing and willingness to explore dimensions of the banjo Fleck had never heard in recordings or seen in performances demonstrates the continual growth in musical content Earl Scruggs had within himself and was willing to explore. Before the book even begins, he emerges as even more complex and interesting than those who would hold him within the confines of bluegrass music, which he helped found and dominated for so many years. By the end, Earl's life takes on increased significance because of his huge influence on musicians and fans far removed from the narrow world of bluegrass.
The early chapters detail Earl's love of music, his early adventures with the banjo, including his refinement of the three finger style that now bears his name from other influences in the air in his part of North Carolina. Like so many of the first and second generation of bluegrass musicians, Earl chose the life of professional musician as an alternative the the drudgery of life on a subsistence farm or in a dusty, unhealthy thread factory. While working 72 hours a day in the Lily thread mill in Shelby, NC, he worked to perfect his approach to the banjo. Stories of how he achieved his metronome-like timing and discovered the unique syncopation of his style enliven the narrative. The book contains the most detailed account of Earl's joining Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys on December 8, 1945. Using quotations from a variety of sources, the authors turn the moment into a word picture that resonates with every banjo adherent and bluegrass fan. Furthermore, out of this moment, the term bluegrass, as applied to a genre featuring Monroe style mandolin, Scruggs style banjo, high speed, and internal rhythm instruments requiring no drums, was born.
While Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs only spent a little over two years with Bill Monroe, before leaving the Blue Grass Boys and later deciding to form their own band, the experience was one of growth and increased recognition. Then, the emergence of Flatt & Scruggs and their twenty one year partnership is detailed, with particular reference to barnstorming, the opportunities provided by the movie Bonnie and Clyde as well as the television program Beverly Hillbillies is covered intensely, as is their subsequent breakup due to Flatt's discomfort with changes in the band direction to respond to rock 'n' roll music and the folk craze, as well as his own declining health.
The text suggests that the years immediately following the breakup of Flatt & Scruggs became the “most rewarding” of his career, as he was able to broaden his musical horizons, become involved with new audiences, include a more complex instrumental pallette, and expand his musical language to approach new horizons. The result became The Earl Scruggs Review, into which he was able to include the musical talents of his emerging musician sons Gary and Randy, along with, later, for a brief time, Steve. Earl also emerged on the national political stage by participating in the huge Vietnam Moratorium demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on November 15, 1969, eliciting much criticism from the, generally, conservative Nashville music community.
With the breakup of the Earl Scruggs Review, Earl entered a long period of semi-retirement, elongated by the tragic death of his youngest son, Steve. The book describes the laurels heaped on Earl late in his life, while the last chapter is a full appreciation of the legacy and contributions of this dominating musician of the second half of the twentieth century. Also included are excellent chapter notes, a lengthy bibliography, and an index. This book is both a worthwhile read and necessary resource for anyone wishing to undertake further research into Earl Scruggs in the future.
Some thoughts on how to experience this book: Some readers of Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon will be intimately familiar with the bluegrass elements of the book, but few will know the full range of Earl Scrugg's creative endeavors. I've tried to include a few representative cuts in the review, including a complete documentary film. Listening to cuts or the entire albums on one of the streaming channels or YouTube will enrich almost any reader's the understanding of Earl Scruggs' music and his range of interests. Give it a try. I have found Spotify to be incredibly useful in expanding my musical horizons as I read and review books about music. A documentary film, Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends released in the early seventies (I believe) demonstrates his far ranging musical imagination.
Though without a book jacket, the cover has an almost fine leatherlike feel I've never experienced, giving it a high quality, collectors aura. Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon by Gordon Castelnero and David Russell (Bowman & Littlefield, 2017, 214 pp, $40.00/38.00) very carefully, and successfully skirts the line between being a book for banjo nerds, bluegrass fans, and general readers. Sometimes slipping into discussions of specific tunings or places Earl develops and employ new licks on the banjo, it still maintains interest, although for those not interested in these details, it's easy to skim them. Meanwhile, the specifics of Earl's background, life, and career are sufficiently filled in to satisfy bluegrass fans wishing to broaden their general and specific knowledge about Earl. Finally, for the more general reader of bluegrass and music history, it details the life and career of one of American music's most important and innovative geniuses throughout the course of a long and varied career. Sadly, the book is priced beyond the means of many who would wish to read it, and may be available, in practice, only in libraries. Nevertheless, it's comprehensive and fully satisfying biography. I was sent a complimentary copy of the book by the publisher at the request of the authors.
To see this review including the videos I used to illustrate various stages in Earl Scruggs' rich and long life, check out the published review on line at No Depression.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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