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Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass Banjo Master: RIP
March 30, 2012 12:30 AM

Earl Scruggs was simply amazing and iconic:

Earl Scruggs, the bluegrass banjo player whose hard-driving picking style influenced generations of players and helped shape the sound of 20th-century country music with his guitar-playing partner, Lester Flatt, died on Wednesday in a Nashville hospital. He was 88.

Mr. Scruggs and Mr. Flatt probably reached their widest audiences with a pair of signature songs: "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," which they recorded in 1949 with their group the Foggy Mountain Boys, and which was used as the getaway music in the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde"; and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," the theme song of the 1960s television sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies." (Mr. Scruggs and Mr. Flatt also appeared on the show at times.)

But he also helped shape the "high, lonesome sound" of Bill Monroe, often called the father of bluegrass, and pioneered the modern banjo sound. His innovative use of three fingers rather than the claw-hammer style elevated the five-string banjo from a part of the rhythm section -- or a comedian's prop -- to a lead or solo instrument. What became known as the syncopated Scruggs picking style helped popularize the banjo in almost every genre of music.

He started at the beginning and ran through the middle years:

In 1959 the group appeared at the first Newport Folk Festival, an offshoot of the Newport Jazz Festival, introducing the Scruggs style to the folk-music revival of those years. Soon young folk musicians were adopting his style, and the Foggy Mountain Boys began to play the college folk-festival circuit. Mr. Scruggs also began to work with his growing sons, Gary, Randy and Steve. And he recorded material by Bob Dylan and other folk-rockers.

Mr. Flatt, by contrast, disliked the new music and felt it was alienating the band's grass-roots fans. In 1969 the two broke up -- they had also performed as Flatt & Scruggs -- and Mr. Scruggs, with his sons, formed the Earl Scruggs Revue, a mostly acoustic group with drums and electric bass. It broadened his repertory to include rock, and the group played on bills with acts like Steppenwolf and the singer-songwriter James Taylor, sometimes before audiences of 40,000.

He made it into the 21st century and made it to the end:

He continued to play into the 21st century. In 2001 he released a CD, "Earl Scruggs and Friends," his first album in a decade and an extension of the Earl Scruggs Revue. In 12 songs, he collaborated with Elton John, Dwight Yoakam, Travis Tritt, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Vince Gill, John Fogerty, Don Henley, Johnny Cash and the actor Steve Martin, a banjo player.

And finally, this says it all:

At an 80th birthday party for Mr. Scruggs in 2004, the country singer Porter Wagoner said, "Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball."

"He is the best there ever was," Mr. Wagoner said, "and the best there ever will be."

Before you go, make sure you check out this tribute video to Earl Scruggs at the NY Times site:

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