"The Master From Flint Hill: Earl Scruggs" by Steve Martin (New Yorker)
Some nights he had the stars of North Carolina shooting from his fingertips. Before him, no one had ever played the banjo like he did. After him, everyone played the banjo like he did, or at least tried. In 1945, when he first stood on the stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and played banjo the way no one had ever heard before, the audience responded with shouts, whoops, and ovations. He performed tunes he wrote as well as songs they knew, with clarity and speed like no one could imagine, except him. When the singer came to the end of a phrase, he filled the theatre with sparkling runs of notes that became a signature for all bluegrass music since. He wore a suit and Stetson hat, and when he played he smiled at the audience like what he was doing was effortless. There arent many earthquakes in Tennessee, but that night there was.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/01/steve-martin-earl-scruggs.html#ixzz1juwtmP00
I read once that when Grandpa Jones first heard Earl Scruggs play, he said "I might as well throw away my banjo now." (And thankfully he didn't.)
Uncle Joe
(58,508 posts)Thanks for the thread, eshirl.
eShirl
(18,507 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,508 posts)mistertrickster
(7,062 posts)I wonder if he was doing that deliberately, pushing the fretted strings up to make them sharper. It could just be the recording speeding up and slowing down too . . .
Still, the phrasing is pure fire.
Uncle Joe
(58,508 posts)racing though the backroads.
I believe that's why it was such a perfect song for the movie "Bonnie and Clyde."
bluedigger
(17,090 posts)Ex Lurker
(3,816 posts)to oppose the Vietnam War.
wilt the stilt
(4,528 posts)in Washington. This was the first rally and it was a really intense day.
unc70
(6,125 posts)Snuffy Jenkins had developed a similar style during the 1930's, several others had picked it up from him. While Snuffy recorded some earlier, in 1940 his band recorded nearly forty songs that provide an amazing snapshot of NC & SC music before Bill Monroe moved here and teamed up with Lester and Earl.
The band went by several names, the recordings used "Byron Parker and the Moutaineers". A collection with all those tracks was released about a year ago. You can find and sample them on iTunes by searching on that name. Parker was the station announcer in Columbia, SC and for their radio show, but he did not play or sing.
In 1940, they were probably the most popular band in SC and much of NC. After the war, Snuffy and Homer Pappy Sherrill would perform together until Snuffy's death. I knew Clyde Skippy Robbins, like Jenkins from Harris, NC. They all remained friends. There are family recordings of them in their 80s having fun playing together. They still had it.
I expect many of you will be surprised when listen to the Hillbillies / Mountaineers / Hired Hands. Love your feedback.