Memories from the Homestead: Earl Scruggs took Bill Monroe's sound into overdrive

On Tuesday, January 6, the Bluegrass music world celebrated what would have been the 102nd birthday of banjo superstar Earl Scruggs, born in Cleveland County, North Carolina, January 6, 1924. His unique and drastically different style would become the standard that all banjo players would strive for. Thanks to Scruggs, the five-string banjo would become a lead instrument.

     I'm not going into great detail here with a full Scruggs biography; that would take weeks! Instead, I'd like to discuss his time with Bill Monroe and the impact it made; that would set this genre apart from all the other country/hillbilly acts.

     It was in September 1945 that Bill Monroe's banjo player Dave "Stringbean" Akeman departed to join Grand Ole Opry star Lew Childre and form a comedy act. Monroe and his guitarist/lead singer Lester Flatt auditioned several banjo players. Twenty-one-year-old Earl Scruggs was living in Nashville at the Tulane Hotel at the time, and Bill and Lester met him there for an audition. Scruggs played "Sally Goodin" and "Dear Old Dixie." Monroe didn't really show any emotion and asked Flatt his opinion. Lester replied, "Get him whatever it costs." Scruggs became the newest Blue Grass Boy, and soon Opry listeners and fans would notice a new sound. 

     Earl Scruggs took a three-finger style approach to picking using his thumb, index and middle finger, in a forward rolling rapid pattern. This style is what turned the banjo from a rhythm instrument to a lead instrument. And within a short time, many more banjo pickers would copy this technique that is now a key ingredient in Bluegrass banjo.

Bill Monroe at the mic and Earl Scruggs on banjo, onstage in 1946. (Photo courtesy of WSM Radio/Grand Ole Opry)

On September 16, 1946, Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, who were under contract with Columbia Records, entered a studio in Chicago and recorded eight selections. The line-up was Monroe on mandolin, Lester Flatt on guitar, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Chubby Wise on fiddle and Howard Watts on bass. These eight selections are easy to find on YouTube. Here are the titles:

Heavy Traffic Ahead

Why Did You Wander

Blue Moon of Kentucky 

Toy Heart

Summertime Is Past and Gone

Mansions For Me

Mother's Only Sleeping 

Blue Yodel No. 4

     The kickoff on "Heavy Traffic Ahead" to my knowledge features the first recorded Lester Flatt G run, and listen closely, in just five seconds, the intro solos everyone instrumentally except Watts on bass. It's very obvious the band is having fun. The young man on the banjo was really stirring things up when the group performed each week on the Grand Ole Opry.

     I was introduced to Monroe's music and this band line-up in 1997 when I purchased a box set of the entire Monroe Columbia recordings from 1945 to 1949. I spent a lot of time listening to Ricky Skaggs dust off many of these great recordings with his band Kentucky Thunder. I would also invest in the remainder of Monroe's commercial recordings and other notable Bluegrass bands as well.

     I slowly started learning Monroe's mandolin technique and tried hard on the guitar to figure out Lester Flatt 's G run and rhythm style, and for the first time started using a capo for songs in A and B flat, and even B natural. Basic Bluegrass guitar, in other words, which was a totally different style from what I had been doing in the Sons of the Pioneers Western style.  

     Another one of the signature Monroe recordings that caught my interest during this time was his hard driving mandolin number, "Blue Grass Breakdown." Scruggs had a big part in this one too. The date was October 27, 1947.

     This particular tune was full-throttle all the way. It's divided into verses, the lead instruments doing their solos. Check out the recording on YouTube. The released cut has a dozen verses while the unissued take has 14. The band is clearly improvising. Those of you familiar with these instrumentals will also know that this song is without question the blueprint for Flatt and Scruggs' hit "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," which they introduced at a recording session in December 1949. 

     Then came the break-up. In late January 1948, Flatt, Scruggs and Cedric Rainwater announced they were leaving Bill's band. Monroe was paying them $60 per man a week. The talents of these men were beyond superb, and feeling they had gained a great reputation in their time with Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs would soon form their own band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Monroe felt betrayed indeed, and the "Bluegrass Cold War" took off. Monroe didn't speak to either man for over twenty years. Monroe and Flatt publicly reconciled at a festival in 1971, two years after Flatt and Scruggs disbanded.

      Scruggs for the remainder of his career stayed very active. He formed the Earl Scruggs Revue with his sons. Their sound was certainly more contemporary and many career milestones took place for Scruggs.

     Scruggs played the Grand Palace here in Branson at a Bluegrass event in August 2010, at age 86. The crowd loved him.  

     For many years each January, a birthday celebration would be hosted in Scruggs' Nashville home with many guests showing up for an informal pickin' party in the living room. These performers often included Vince Gill, Travis Tritt, Marty Stuart, Tom T. Hall, Mac Wiseman, Jerry Douglas and many others.  

     Earl Scruggs passed away at the age of 88 on March 28, 2012, in Nashville, Tennessee. His legacy is very strong today. 

     It's still easy to find the Columbia box set. “The Essential Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys,” 1945-1949, is an awesome two-CD set featuring all six historic sessions, everything Scruggs did with Bill Monroe and includes a booklet with all the session info, plus photos. It's a must have for pickers and fans.