Obituaries--Earl Scruggs

One of the greatest musicians of all time and certainly one of the most influential, Earl Scruggs, has died. He died early this morning at a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital at the age of 88.

He was perhaps the greatest of all banjo players, and his three-finger technique revolutionized banjo playing although he didn't invent it:

Before Scruggs came to popular attention in December 1945 when he joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys on the Grand Ole Opry, the banjo was as likely to be employed as a clattering comedy prop as it was a serious music-making tool.

Perhaps Scruggs did not "invent" the technique of striking the banjo strings with three right-hand fingers in a way that produced sounds of far greater intricacy than could be summoned through the then-popular "frailing" style of banjo playing. But while others in Scruggs' native North Carolina and in neighboring South Carolina practiced with three fingers, Scruggs perfected and popularized the style.

His wife and manager, Louise Certain Scruggs, died in 2006.





Another version, with Steve Martin and company. Can't get enough of this stuff:



And this:



It's hard to overestimate his influence.