Earl Scruggs, a prolific bluegrass artist who popularized the three-finger method of banjo-picking that came to be known as “Scruggs style,” has died. “Earl Scruggs, the most important banjo player who ever lived, has passed on,” Steve Martin tweeted after news broke that he’d passed. He was 88. The North Carolina native, who died of natural causes yesterday, released at least 29 live and studio albums over the years. And he also wrote this: Beverly Hillbillies Theme Song Scruggs wrote the music and sang “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” aka The Beverly Hillbillies theme song, with Lester Flatt and singer Jerry Scoggins. He won his first Grammy in 1969 for the instrumental “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and followed up with his second in 2002 for a re-recording of it. That version featured Martin on banjo, with Paul Shaffer, Leon Russell, Vince Gill, Albert Lee and Marty Stuart, on 2001’s Earl Scruggs and Friends . He received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2008.
Original post:
Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass Legend, Passes Away at 88
