Back during the 50's and 60's, the prevailing technique for   banjo pickers was "Seeger" style(but mostly for accompanying)--early on,many of the "Hootenanny" generation of banjo pickers hadn't even heard of Earl, and later on a lot of the "protest" generation associated him with the "Beverly Hillbillies"--Tastes changed--and now "Scruggs style" is the only banjo picking that a lot of people have heard--