Gordon Castelnero - Earl Scruggs

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Castelnero, Gordon, 1965 | Russell, David, 1960, July 5

Title: Earl Scruggs : banjo icon / Gordon Castelnero, David Russell.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2017] | Series: Roots of American music: folk, Americana, blues, and country | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016050166 (print) | LCCN 2016050662 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442268654 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442268661 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: Scruggs, Earl. | BanjoistsUnited StatesBiography. | LCGFT: Biographies.

Classification: LCC ML419.S38 C37 2017 (print) | LCC ML419.S38 (ebook) | DDC 787.8/81642092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050166

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife, Amy, and daughter, Cassandra,

both of whom I am blessed to have by the grace

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Gordon Castelnero

With deep devotion to my wife, Sherry; my children, Kurt, Sandra, Weston, and Veronica; and my mother, Virginia, each of whom are a blessing from God, and to my father, Ken, who passed away during this project.

David L. Russell

Bla Fleck

I first heard Earl Scruggss banjo in The Beverly Hillbillies theme song in Queens, New York, when I was about five years old. My big brother, Louie, and I were enjoying the rare privilege of watching Grandpas TV during the day, unsupervised. When that theme came on, I couldnt breathe or think; I was completely transfixed. As it finished, I turned to my brother and said, Did you just hear that? He replied, Hear what? I said, Wait, it will come back at the end of the show, and it did, for a short reprise under the credits. Isnt that amazing? I asked, and he responded without enthusiasm, I guess. It had no impact on him whatsoever, but my life had just been changed irrevocably and forever.

Over the many years since my first exposure to that sound, Ive found that nearly every serious banjoist has had his or her Earl Scruggs come hither moment. Some were behind the wheel listening to the radio and had to pull over because they simply couldnt drive anymore. For some it was Foggy Mountain Breakdown, for some The Beverly Hillbillies theme, for others the Grand Ole Opry or the Flatt and Scruggs TV shows. But once that sound stopped, they were left with an incredible compulsion to go find a banjo and learn to play it.

One of the most profound things about Earl is that impact. There have been a lot of great banjo players since who have all expanded the language, but no one so far has had the effect of Earl. I believe that there are banjo people and non-banjo people, and its not usually based on personal choice. Its hard to believe, but some folks just dont like the banjo, while for the true banjo person its a deeply embedded predisposition. Its just in there, and when they hear Earl Scruggs they are awakened and activated.

Once activated, the next step is to learn to play, and once they have spent some time doing that, they find themselves even more blown away by Earl. One of the most fascinating properties of his playing is the apparent effortlessness of it all. But it takes an awful lot of skill to make it look so effortless.

Now the advancing banjoist must dig deep into the Scruggs instruction book. A focused enough disciple will discover every mistake in the tablature. These mistakes appear to have been put in there intentionally, to separate the serious people from the hacks. Even this seems perfect.

Next, one should study all the different live versions of the songs to truly understand how Earl varies the songs in subtle ways with every performance. Youll start to realize that his banjo parts are not set pieces but melodies that he can express in various ways based on how he is feeling that day. Its his own personal language, and naturally he does not choose to say things the same way every time.

And finally, the highest level a banjo player used to be able to aspire toward was to actually meet the man.

I want to tell you how I got to meet Earl Scruggs. When I came onto the scene, he didnt seem to be out playing, so hearing him in person wasnt possible. Folks figured it was a low-ebb period for him healthwise, and sure enough a few years later he had a quintuple bypass that left him feeling much better and ready to get out and play some music again.

When I moved to Nashville to join New Grass Revival in 1981, I was hoping Id eventually get to meet him, but it wasnt happening. Over the course of several years, I did meet and become warm friends with John Hartford, who was very close to Earl. One day John told me that he was getting together with Earl regularly and encouraging him to get out his banjo, which was exciting for me to hear. He asked me if Id ever met Earl, and I confessed that sadly I had not. He scratched his head or his chin, and said, Let me think about that.