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28 Mar 12 - 08:05 PM (#3330383) Subject: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: pdq Please post testimonials as they become available. |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:12 PM (#3330384) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: Guy Wolff I just saw this on line and came home here to see if a thread had been started. What a large place this wonderful man took up in so many of our lives . I cant thank him enough for all the joy he brought to my days here on earth . Warm thoughts to his whole family .. Guy |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:15 PM (#3330386) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: Nancy King Definitely one of a kind. RIP, Earl. |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:15 PM (#3330387) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: katlaughing What a sad day for his family, friends, and fans. I agree, Guy, what an impact he made and for so long. Condolences to all, kat |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:16 PM (#3330388) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: GUEST,BanjoRay Nobody could do it like Earl - a great great player. He enriched us all...... |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:38 PM (#3330393) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: Desert Dancer Not an obituary, but a fine recent tribute. ~ Becky in Tucson The Master from Flint Hill: Earl Scruggs Posted by Steve Martin New Yorker, Culture Desk blog January 17, 2012 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 aren't many earthquakes in Tennessee, but that night there was. As boys in the little community of Flint Hill, near Shelby, North Carolina, Earl and his brother Horace would take their banjo and guitar and start playing on the porch, then split up and meet behind the house. Their goal was to still be on the beat when they rejoined at the back. Momentously, when he was ten years old, after a fight with his brother, he was playing his banjo to calm his mind. He was practicing the standard "Reuben" when found he could incorporate his third finger into the picking of his right hand, instead of the his usual two, in an unbroken, rolling, staccato. He ran back to his brother, shouting, "I've got it, I've got it!" He was on the way to creating an entirely new way of playing the banjo: Scruggs Style. He was only twenty-one when he was in on the founding of bluegrass music, adding the Scruggs' banjo sound to Bill Monroe's great blend of guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin, and Monroe's iconic high, lonesome voice, singing, "It's mighty dark for me to travel." He had already been playing Scruggs style for eleven years. On the Grand Ole Opry's Ryman Auditorium stage, the banjo had been played well, but mostly in the old style, and mostly by comedians, prompting Uncle Dave Macon, a beloved regular, to say about Earl from the wings, "That boy can play the banjo, but he ain't one damned bit funny." It was at the Ryman, in 1946, that he met his future wife, Louise. They made eye contact while he was performing as she sat in the third row, stage left. Ten years later, when it became obvious that Earl was not only famous but verging on a legend, Louise, exhibiting country firmness and gumption, became his gate-keeper, defending the soft-spoken Earl from celebrity abuse, ill-advised contracts, and too many free dates or dubious honors. But Earl always obliged the youngsters and amateurs (including this writer, whom Earl showed how to play "Sally Goodin'," his way, when I was twenty-two). Sometime after Monroe denied him songwriting credit on "Bluegrass Breakdown," Scruggs left Monroe, changed the F chord in "Bluegrass Breakdown" to E minor, and wrote "Foggy Mountain Breakdown. " It became, arguably, the most famous banjo instrumental, a song that speeds along at a clip of eleven notes per second. It is known by most people as the theme from the movie "Bonnie and Clyde," and also supplied Earl with an income for life. The banjo lends itself to showing off: it's often played fast and thrillingly, fingers flying up and down the neck, the right hand connecting to the left with seemingly impossible accuracy. But Earl always remembered his mother's advice when he was a boy: "Play something that has a tune to it." His first and last priority was to make music, which keeps his sound melodic and accessible. Yet, even professional players today say, "How did he do that?" It is not easy to make the melody note land in the right place when rolling three fingers over five strings, but Earl could syncopate, "bend" a string—which caused one note to move unbroken into another—and he could audibly retune the banjo in the middle of a song, leading to the invention of a mechanical device called "Scruggs' pegs." Earl knew when and how to surprise the heck out of the listener. After he left Monroe, in 1948, Scruggs teamed up with Lester Flatt, who had also left Monroe, and Earl maintained his position, unassailed, as the greatest and most influential banjo player who ever lived. They toured the rough backroads of the bluegrass circuit, where jarring potholes knocked their instruments haywire, and they tuned each night to Flatt's G string on his guitar—which, over the months, crept up in pitch. By the end of the tour, they were often a half-step too high, which they soon learned suited Flatt's baritone voice. The long zigzag march through the clubs and radio stations of America counted, though, and Monroe was annoyed as Flatt and Scruggs became as famous as he was. In 1962, they headlined the Newport Folk Festival, sold out Carnegie Hall, and, one year later, Earl's banjo helped send "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" to No. 1 on the country charts. Then the Bob Dylan revolution and Beatles revolution hit almost simultaneously. At one point, a producer convinced the band to incorporate this new music into Flatt and Scruggs, persuading Flatt to sing, unbecomingly, "Everybody must get stoned." Earl split with Lester Flatt in 1969 for a hundred reasons, but one among them was he had never approved of Flatt's onstage joke in reference to a raucous member of the band: "He's got a mouth on him like Martin Luther King." In the late nineteen-sixties, Earl continued to be introduced to new sounds through his musical sons Randy and Gary, and also by drop-ins to his Nashville house: Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and others who wanted to pick with the famous Earl Scruggs. Ravi Shankar came by with his sitar, and, after their unlikely jam session, they satisfied Ravi's mystical craving for Kentucky Fried Chicken by sharing a bucket. Eventually, Earl grew his hair a bit long, joined Randy and Gary to create the Earl Scruggs Revue, and added drums to the band—a bluegrass no-no. A few years later, he released a solo album featuring songs by Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. When he showed up at a Washington, D.C., anti-Vietnam War protest, the country-music world from which he sprang wondered if he had blown a gasket. A grand part of American music owes a debt to Earl Scruggs. Few players have changed the way we hear an instrument the way Earl has, putting him in a category with Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, and Jimi Hendrix. His reach extends not only throughout America, but to other countries, including Japan, where bluegrass bands, strangely, abound, as well as Australia, Russia, the U.K., Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic, which boasts not only bands but banjo makers. Most, if not all, of the banjo players play Scruggs style. Earl is now eighty-eight, and it's been seventy-eight years since he first shouted, "I've got it!" and reinvigorated the banjo. Picking with Earl at his home in Nashville is a holy anointment, and playing Earl's banjo, the one he recorded "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on in 1949, well, that's like holding the Grail. Sometimes on these special evenings, everyone will sit around playing their instruments, and the tunes will glide easily from one to another, like it has on the porches and living rooms of America for hundreds of years. But then Earl will settle in, playing backup or taking the lead, and you hear the sound, the one you heard when you first fell in love with the banjo, and you can't help but have a slight intake of breath. Unmistakable. That's Earl Scruggs. The five-string banjo could not have had a better genius. The author (Steve Martin) wishes to thank Gary Scruggs, Pete Wernick, and Tony Trischka for confirming facts and contributing memories to this article. Foggy Mountain Breakdown (on Soundcloud, as embedded in the article) |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:52 PM (#3330399) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: GUEST,kendall He was one of the greats alright. probably influenced more banjo pickers than anyone else. Was it Frank Profitt who said, "I'd like to be able to play like Scruggs, then not."? |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:57 PM (#3330400) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: Jeri I saw him in 1979 at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX with my mother. My mother's gone, the Armadillo's gone, and now Earl's gone too. I'm pretty sure me and Austin are still here. |
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28 Mar 12 - 08:58 PM (#3330401) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: SINSULL Banjo players are sexier...I could have done without this news. RIP SINS |
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28 Mar 12 - 09:26 PM (#3330409) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: Dan Schatz Earl Scruggs was arguably one of the most influential musicians in American cultural history - as much or more so than Bill Monroe himself. It's a great loss, and that's all there is to it. Dan |
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28 Mar 12 - 09:29 PM (#3330410) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) From: Janie Very nice tribute from Steve Martin. Thanks for linking to it Becky. |
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28 Mar 12 - 10:59 PM (#3330428) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Ross Campbell A working link:- Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys |
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28 Mar 12 - 11:05 PM (#3330429) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: catspaw49 I agree Janie......and my thanks as well Becky. I remember a discussion we had here 10 years or so back about Bluegrass. Basically we talked about the beginnings of various musical forms. While it is very hard to come up with a moment in time when jazz or rock or even classical or whatever began, with Bluegrass it began the first time Earl Scruggs played with Bill Monroe. Bill Monroe had the style already but the true trademark of the genre came with Earl Scruggs. Thanks Earl....... Spaw |
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28 Mar 12 - 11:23 PM (#3330432) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: ChanteyLass Oh, sad. Obits http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-03-28/earl-scruggs-banjo-legend-bluegrass-dies/53841194/1 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/03/earl-scruggs-remembering-a-bluegrass-and-american-music-legend.html http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-28/earl-scruggs-banjoist-who-invented-scruggs-style-dies-at-88 I am sure there will be many more. |
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28 Mar 12 - 11:24 PM (#3330433) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Amos JUst got the word from old Mudcatter Banjoest who talked to Earl's son Garry. A great man has passed on. May he pick forever in his own kind of heaven. A |
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28 Mar 12 - 11:29 PM (#3330438) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Lonesome EJ A long life, well lived. There should be a Constellation named after him. |
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28 Mar 12 - 11:45 PM (#3330442) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Desert Dancer Thanks for the link fix, Ross. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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29 Mar 12 - 02:54 AM (#3330480) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: alanabit Thanks for linking that Steve Martin article Becky. I have probably heard his influence every time I have heard banjo in a bluegrass band. Obviously there is a long life of achievement for his family, friends and many admirers to celebrate. |
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29 Mar 12 - 03:25 AM (#3330490) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,Mike Rogers Another Grand Old Man of Music done gone. Nobody did it better. |
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29 Mar 12 - 03:54 AM (#3330497) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,Roger Knowles A great loss to the world of American music. One of my first heroes. Sleep well, Earl, you'll be missed. |
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29 Mar 12 - 03:56 AM (#3330498) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: fat B****rd So sad, RIP Mr.Scruggs. |
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29 Mar 12 - 04:04 AM (#3330499) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Dave Hanson He's probably jammin with Vassar Clements, John Hartford and Lester by now. RIP Earl. Dave H |
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29 Mar 12 - 04:23 AM (#3330504) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,JohnnyBeezer Whew, what to say! RIP Banjoman. |
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29 Mar 12 - 07:12 AM (#3330547) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Bat Goddess Saw him along with Lester Flatt at a Schlitz summer free concert in Milwaukee in 1967. Here's the obit in the NY Times -- NY Times Scruggs Obit Linn |
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29 Mar 12 - 08:07 AM (#3330565) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Wesley S He was like the pebble that first hits the pond. The ripples go on and on and on..... |
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29 Mar 12 - 08:12 AM (#3330566) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Charley Noble So do they give out banjos at the Pearly Gates or do you need to bring your own? Somehow I just can't imagine Earl playing the harp. Charley Noble |
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29 Mar 12 - 08:22 AM (#3330571) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: voyager Lonesome EJ got it right....Earl Scruggs is a guiding light in the sky. Nashville Tennessean voyager |
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29 Mar 12 - 08:33 AM (#3330579) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Dave Hanson If Earl played the harp, he'd raise the standard it a few levels and in a few weeks they'd all be doing it. Dave H |
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29 Mar 12 - 08:44 AM (#3330582) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Beer He will be sadly missed in the Bluegrass circle. Lets hope that he is still playing and with his friends who have passed on as well. Sympathies to his family, fans and friends. Adrien |
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29 Mar 12 - 09:08 AM (#3330595) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Haruo I just posted an entry on him in the Esperanto Wikipedia (pretty much all translated from the English, but I added a couple of YouTube links): Earl Scruggs I keep promising to do an article there on Blugreso (Bluegrass) in general, maybe in April? |
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29 Mar 12 - 10:10 AM (#3330620) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Bee-dubya-ell Earl was unique in being not only the originator of a style, but the unquestioned master of it. Other instrumental styles have been created by single innovative players, but those styles have been taken to their highest levels by others. Earl's bandmate Josh Graves arguably invented modern bluegrass Dobro, but Jerry Douglas has taken it way beyond what Graves did. But nobody has ever played Scruggs style banjo better than Earl. |
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29 Mar 12 - 10:54 AM (#3330634) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: glueman Sad news but he wrote his name in music history. A remarkable talent. |
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29 Mar 12 - 11:03 AM (#3330639) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Amos That banjo is going to ring all over Hebben. A |
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29 Mar 12 - 11:06 AM (#3330641) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: pdq Here is a nice discussion of Earl Scruggs life with some fine videos: http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-entertainment-living/get-rhythm/32436-earl-scruggs-1924-2012 |
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29 Mar 12 - 12:39 PM (#3330675) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Cool Beans RIP, Earl Scruggs In bluegrass music heaven, where all good pickers go, On the sunny side of the mountain, by the banks of the Ohio, Somewhere up on Rocky Top, in the sweet, sweet by and by If my walking shoes still fit me, gonna go there when I die... |
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29 Mar 12 - 01:13 PM (#3330690) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Steve Parkes I'm glad he was among us for so many years. There will never be another. |
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29 Mar 12 - 01:21 PM (#3330696) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: topical tom The music world has lost a great innovator. Flatt and Scruggs have left a wondrous legacy of bluegrass music. Heavenly music can only improve by the addition of Earl to the heavenly choir. I ghrew up listening to the music of Flatt and Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys, hence my love of bluegrass today. RIP, Earl. You gave us all a musical legacy never to be forgotten. |
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29 Mar 12 - 01:28 PM (#3330704) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,Seamus Kennedy This just in: All the harps in heaven now have Scruggs tuners, and are to be played with thumb pick and fingerpicks. |
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29 Mar 12 - 01:48 PM (#3330718) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Desert Dancer No, Seamus, no! ~ Becky in Tucson, clawhammer player |
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29 Mar 12 - 02:21 PM (#3330727) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: gnu RIP andf thanks for the great tunes. |
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29 Mar 12 - 03:51 PM (#3330751) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Gurney A tongue-in-cheek note: An announcer on our local radio said "Scruggs took the music of Scotland and Ireland and made it an art-form." |
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29 Mar 12 - 04:16 PM (#3330763) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST RIP EARL |
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29 Mar 12 - 05:58 PM (#3330803) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Dave the Gnome My introduction to bluegrass - Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs - Theme from the Beverley Hillbillies - But that was an English kid in the 60's! Definitely a sad day. DtG |
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29 Mar 12 - 06:38 PM (#3330822) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Sandy Mc Lean RIP Earl! You will live forever in the legacy that you left behind! |
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29 Mar 12 - 08:15 PM (#3330863) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Janie One of my earliest memories of TV, and of music on TV was the 15 minute Flatt & Scruggs show, broadcast live every Thursday night at 6:00 pm from WSAZ, Huntington, WV. Daddy would not miss it, even if it meant supper got cold on the table. Having fantasies - of Daddy seeing Earl arrive in his heaven and thinking, "Dang, I didn't know it could get even better!" |
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29 Mar 12 - 10:04 PM (#3330909) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,Bob Coltman I cannot express what Earl's banjo music has meant to me, ever since the day in 1956 when a fellow picker played me some dubs of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and two or three other cuts, and a passion for 3-finger picking began insinuating itself into my life. There has never been anything like it! And I've loved exploring among the antecedents, Snuffy Jenkins and the others who inspired him, and tracing this way of playing back through the years into the traditional roots where it all came from in the first place. Thanks for so much fine music, Earl, and may heaven ring with your work. Bob |
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30 Mar 12 - 11:08 AM (#3331142) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Desert Dancer The New York Times has a nice video: Remembering Earl Scruggs. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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30 Mar 12 - 11:54 AM (#3331162) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST My Earl story: He was booked to play a spring festival at the university shortly after he broke up with Lester. The show was cancelled or rescheduled or something because it conflicted with the big spring training football game. No one told Earl, but no fuss, no superstar tantrum. Eventually five or six of us showed up for the show. We chatted with Earl and the band while they set up, and then sat around the edge of the bandstand while they played their entire show for us. - Phil |
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30 Mar 12 - 12:29 PM (#3331167) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Uncle Phil That last was me. #$^%* cookie! - Phil |
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30 Mar 12 - 01:10 PM (#3331189) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Desert Dancer Dave Holt posted this story on Facebook: Earl Scruggs was a quiet reserved man and when I was interviewing him for LEGACY I wanted him to tell the story about how much he helped Doc back in 1966. Doc was happy to tell the story but Earl just didn't want to blow his own horn and didn't want it told at that time. I talked to Doc this morning and he said, "Now is the time to tell it." ~ Becky in Tucson |
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30 Mar 12 - 01:19 PM (#3331196) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Rex Mark Gardner and I got to meet with Earl back in '06. He was still hot on the banjo and was playing his great classics like Pike County Breakdown. It seemed like he was playing even faster than on the old recordings. We were like five year old kids fawning over our hero and telling him how he inspired us to take up the banjo. Mark observed that he probably heard that a lot. Earl said, "well I might have heard that a time or two." There aren't many who have changed the direction of an instrument or a kind of music so clearly as he did. Thank you Earl for the great music and inspiration. Rex |
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30 Mar 12 - 03:46 PM (#3331270) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Desert Dancer Paul Brown has an item on NPR online: A Look Back At The Hidden Earl Scruggs Excerpted: In Scruggs' case, when you gently peel back the banjo layer of his musical persona, you find a guitar player as impressive as the banjo picker, as well as a gospel singer the equal of any in the finest Southern traditional quartet. More at the link, as well as audio of the song. Also, on NPR's Fresh Air today, they are re-airing this: "Earl Scruggs: The 2003 Fresh Air Interview ~ Becky in Tucson |
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31 Mar 12 - 09:27 AM (#3331538) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: banjoman I feel a bit of a fraud using the name banjoman and will gladly admit that Earl was and always will be the true BANJOMAN |
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31 Mar 12 - 06:01 PM (#3331748) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Joe_F When I was in high school (Putney, VT, 1950-54), Mr Scruggs's name was often mentioned, but I was imperfectly aware that it was that of a human being. Primarily, it meant three-finger banjo picking. As such, it will live a long time. |
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11 Jan 19 - 07:19 AM (#3971047) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: Mrrzy Google Doodle for today! |
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11 Jan 19 - 07:41 AM (#3971049) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,Terray "Google Doodle for today!" ? |
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11 Jan 19 - 07:59 AM (#3971060) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,Terray Got it. If ever anyone deserved a Doodle... |
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11 Jan 19 - 11:45 AM (#3971105) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (age 88) Mar. 28, 2012 From: GUEST,keberoxu The Ballad of Jed Clampett. |
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13 Jan 19 - 01:30 PM (#3971280) Subject: RE: Obit: Earl Scruggs (1924-2012) From: GUEST Hi Y'all I haven't posted for a while but glad to be in touch with fellow folkies. Guy Carawan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and I camped out on the lawn at WGN in 1953 to visit with Earl when he was doing his early radio show. He was so gracious and such a nice person even when that morning his wife was delivering his child. My memory of him is that he was as great a person as he was a banjo player. He will be remembered wherever and whenever bluegrass is played anywhere. Frank |