Thursday, March 29, 2012

from DASHMANN, a Goodbye


Earl Scruggs, creator of the 3 finger banjo picking style which gives bluegrass music its modern sound, passed away at 88 years old today. As Bill Monroe is the father of Bluegrass music, Earl Scruggs, this legend, pioneer and personal hero, was certainly the archetect of what that genre has become. For those who do not recognize him, he played the banjo in the "Beverly Hillbillies" TV series and "Bonnie and Clyde " movie.

2 comments:

Dashmann said...

I guess you have to appreciate Bluegrass music to realixe the influence and artistry of Mr. Scruggs. He was a good man , involved his children in trying to push the envelope of progressive music and remaining true to one woman who was also his business manager until the end. He took acoustic music from claw hammer banjo to 3 finger roll --- always wearing a suit and tie, and doing it all with dignity ----

Dashmann said...

Although Earl was important to me, I guess he was really a niche musician, great in his own right, but unimportant outside of his genre. Although I could lament this, it is kind of neat that so many forms of music thrive today. I might or might not like a lot of them, but think of all the things that have been done with just 8 basic notes !!!!!!!!
And who originally discovered the wonder of making 8 notes say so much to us all ????????
What a wonder ---