Foggy Mountain Boys

Flatt and Scruggs

Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys were an influential bluegrass band performing and recording in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Flatt and Scruggs met as members of Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys in 1946, leaving that band early in 1948, and soon forming their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys.

Scruggs' pioneering three-finger banjo picking style and Flatt's crooning bluegrass vocals gave the group a distinctive sound that won them many fans. In 1955 they became members of the Grand Ole Opry and were a popular touring and recording act. In the 1960s they brought the bluegrass sound to a wide national audience "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," the theme song to the hit television comedy The Beverly Hilbillies. This led to their playing large northern venues like Carnegie Hall and international tours, as well as increased record sales.

Later, Scruggs, who had always shown progressive tendencies, experimented on instrumental duets with saxophonist King Curtis and added songs by the likes of Bob Dylan to the group's repertoire. Flatt, who was more of a traditionalist, did not like these changes, and the group broke up in 1969. Following the breakup, Lester Flatt founded the Nashville Grass and Scruggs lead the Earl Scruggs Revue. Flatt died in 1979, while Scruggs still performs occasionally as health permits. Flatt and Scruggs were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985. In 2003, they ranked number 24 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men In Country Music, one of only four non-solo artists to make the list (The Eagles, Alabama, and Brooks & Dunn are the others.).

History

Bill Monroe's 1945-1948 bluegrass band—featuring Monroe on mandolin and tenor vocals, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Lester Flatt on guitar and lead/baritone vocals, and the blues-influenced country fiddling stylings of Chubby Wise, —created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration of bluegrass music. Scruggs's revolutionary, lightening-speed three-finger picking style was a huge attraction, while Flatt's baritone blended well with Monroe's "high, lonesome" tenor voice.

Flatt and Scruggs had little trouble finding audiences once they broke with Monroe and formed their own group in 1948, taking the name "Foggy Mountain Boys" from a popular Carter Family song, “Foggy Mountain Top.”

The band began playing on radio stations WDVA in Danville, Virginia, and WHKY, Hickory, North Carolina. After adding the talented Mac Wiseman as a vocalist the landed a job with the powerful WCYB in Bristol. In April, 1948, Scruggs married Louise Certain, a bookkeeper who later became the group's business manager. By the fall of the same year, the group had begun recording for Mercury Records, a relationship which lasted three years and produced some of their best recordings, including “My Cabin in Caroline” “Cora is Gone,” and “I’m Going to Make Heaven My Home.” Art Wooten and Benny Sims were the groups fiddle players during this period, with Sims featured on such songs as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” “Old Salty Dog Blues,” “Doin’ My Time,” and “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms.”

In March 1949, the group moved its radio base to WROL in Knoxville. Bass player Howard Watts ("Cedric Rainwater") left the band in late 1949 to join Hank Williams' band, the Drifting Cowboys. He was replaced by Charles Johnson, who was billed as “Little Jody Rainwater.”

Earl Scruggs 2005

In November 1950, Flatt and Scruggs made their first Columbia recordings. Around this time, Benny Sims was replaced by Chubby Wise, Bill Monroe's former fiddler, while Everett Lilly played mandolinm replacing Curly Seckler. In June 1951, the group recorded “Jimmy Brown, the Newsboy” for Columbia, featuring Scruggs on guitar instead of banjo. During this period they made several changes of radio stations. In 1954 Seckler re-joined on mandolin and the Benny Martin became the group's fiddler adding his virtuoso solos to match Scruggs' still unequaled banjo accomplishments. Martin's fiddle may be heard on several Columbia cuts from this time, notably “Dear Old Dixie,” “Why Did You Wander,” “If I Should Wander Back Tonight,” and “Flint Hill Special.” The latter also featured Scruggs’ recently invented D-tuners on both middle strings.

In June 1953, the Martha White flour company began to sponsor Flatt and Scruggs on daily, morning radio broadcast for the powerful WSM. Later, the Pet Milk Company became a co-sponsor and the group was featured on some 40 television stations, while also appearing in Nashville, Chattanooga and Jackson, Tennessee. Flatt and Scruggs were not the biggest name in bluegrass.

In September 1954, group appeared with Old Dominion Barn Dance on the Broadway show “Hayride,” at the 48th Street Theater in New York for two weeks. Paul Warren replaced Benny Martin as fiddler in 1954, remaining with the group until 1977.

Gradually, Flatt and Scruggs brought about changes in the group's instrumentation that gave them a sound more distinct from Monroe's band. They temporarily eliminated the mandolin in the mid 1950s, substituting "Uncle" Josh Graves on dobro. They also began to emphasize Flatt's baritone capability, instead of pitching him as a tenor as had been the case when he sang with Monroe.

Up to this point, WSM would not allow Flatt and Scruggs to join its flagship Grand Ole Opry, possibly out of loyalty to Bill Monroe. Pressure from public demand and Martha White cause them to relent in January 1955.

Earl Scruggs performing at The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 12th, 2005

Members

• Lester Flatt (guitar)
• Earl Scruggs (banjo, lead guitar)
• Paul Warren (fiddle)
• John Ray "Curly" Seckler (mandolin)
• Burkett "Uncle Josh" Graves (Dobro, bass)
• English P. “Cousin Jake” Tullock (bass)
• Robert "Chubby" Wise (fiddle)
• Jim Shumate (fiddle)
• Benny Martin (fiddle)
• Benny Sims (fiddle)
• Howdy Forrester (fiddle)
• Art Wooten (fiddle)
• Howard Watts aka "Cedric Rainwater" (bass)
• Charles Johnson aka "Little Jody Rainwater" (bass)
• Frank "Hylo" Brown (bass, guitar)
• Charles “Little Darlin’” Elza (bass, comedy)
• Joe Stuart (bass)
• Everette Lilly (mandolin)
• Curly Lambert (mandolin)
• Jim Eanes (guitar)
• Mac Wiseman (guitar)
• Billy E. Powers (guitar)
• Johnny Johnson (guitar)
• Earl Taylor (mandolin and harmonica)

File:Flatt&ScruggsLP2.jpg

The cover of the first Foggy Mountain Boys album.

Notable songs

• Foggy Mountain Breakdown - an instrumental originally released in 1949 and used in many rural car chase movie sequences, notably in Bonnie and Clyde. It has won two Grammy awards. Parts of the song can be heard in the Monty Python's Flying Circus "Killer Sheep" sketch in the episode entitled "The Attila The Hun Show."
• "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (listen) - used as the theme for the Beverly Hillbillies television series. The song reached #42 on the record charts during the series' debut season of 1962. It was #1 on the country charts in January 1963, their only one of their career, and one of only two TV theme songs to ever do that on the country charts (Waylon Jennings' "The Good Ol' Boys" (theme from The Dukes of Hazzard in the late 1970s was the other.).
• Martha White jingle (still used in advertising today).

Discography

• Foggy Mountain Jamboree (Columbia, 1957)
• Country Music (Mercury, 1958)
• Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (Mercury, 1959)
• Songs of Glory (Columbia, 1960)
• Flatt and Scruggs with the Foggy Mountain Boys (Harmony, 1960)
• Foggy Mountain Banjo (Columbia, 1961)
• Songs of the Famous Carter Family (Columbia, 1961)
• Folk Songs of Our Land (Columbia, 1962)
• The Original Sound of Flatt and Scruggs (Mercury, 1963)
• The Ballad of Jed Clampett (Columbia, 1963)
• Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall (Columbia, 1963)
• Recorded Live at Vanderbilt University (Columbia, 1964)
• The Fabulous Sound of Flatt and Scruggs (Columbia, 1964)
• The Versatile Flatt and Scruggs (Columbia, 1965)
• Great Original Recordings (Harmony, 1965)
• Stars of the Grand Ol' Opry (Starday, 1966)
• Town and Country (Columbia, 1966)
• When the Saints Go Marching In (Columbia, 1966)
• Flatt and Scruggs' Greatest Hits (Columbia, 1966)
• Strictly Instrumental (Columbia, 1967)
• Hear the Whistle Blow (Columbia, 1967)
• Sacred Songs (Harmony, 1967)
• Changing Times (Columbia, 1968)
• The Story of Bonnie and Clyde (Columbia, 1968)
• Nashville Airplane (Columbia, 1968)
• Original Theme From Bonnie and Clyde (Mercury, 1968)
• The Original Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Mercury, 1968)
• Songs To Cherish (Harmony, 1968)
• Detroit City (Columbia, 1969)
• Final Fling (Columbia, 1970)
• Flatt and Scruggs (Columbia, 1970)
• Breaking Out (Columbia, 1970)

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Foggy Mountain Boys  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Foggy Mountain Boys"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Discography

• Where Lillies Bloom
• Nashville Rock
• Foggy Mountain Jamboree (Sony, 1957)
• Changin' Times (1969)
• Nashville Airplane (1970)
• I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends (Sony, 1972)
• Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends (1972)
• Live at Kansas State (1972)
• Rockin' 'Cross the Country (1973)
• Dueling Banjos (CBS, 1973)
• The Earl Scruggs Revue (1973)
• Anniversary Special (1975)
• The Earl Scruggs Revue 2 (1976)
• Family Portrait (1976)
• Live from Austin City Limits (1977)
• Strike Anywhere (1977)
• Bold & New (1978)
• Today & Forever (1979)
• The Story Teller & the Banjo Man (CBS, 1982)
• Flatt & Scruggs (1982)
• Top of the World (1983)
• Superjammin' (1984)
• Artist's Choice: The Best Tracks (1970-1980) (Edsel - (UK), 1998)
• Earl Scruggs and Friends (MCA Nashville, 2001)
• Classic Bluegrass Live: 1959-1966 (Vanguard, 2002)
• Three Pickers (Rounder Records, 2003)
• The Essential Earl Scruggs (Legacy Recordings, 2004)

External links

• Official Website
• at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• on MCA Nashville
• on Rounder Records

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Foggy Mountain Boys  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Foggy Mountain Boys"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Lester Raymond Flatt (June 19, 1914 - May 11, 1979) was one of the pioneers of bluegrass music. A singer and guitarist, he first came to prominence as a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s. In 1948 he started a band with fellow Monroe alumnus Earl Scruggs, and for the next twenty years Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys were one of the most successful bands in bluegrass. When they parted ways in 1969, Flatt formed a new group, the Nashville Grass, hiring most of the Foggy Mountain Boys. His role as lead singer and rhythm guitar player in each of these seminal ensembles helped define the sound of traditional bluegrass music. He created a role in the Bluegrass Boys later filled by the likes of Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, Peter Rowan and Del McCoury. His rich lead voice is unmistakable in hundreds of bluegrass standards. He is also always remembered for his library of compositions. The Flatt songbook looms titanic for any student of American acoustic music. He continued to record and perform with that group until his death in 1979. Flatt was posthumously made an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. His hometown of Sparta, Tennessee held a bluegrass festival in his honor for a number of years, before being discontinued a few years prior to the death of the traditional host, resident Everette Paul England.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Foggy Mountain Boys  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Foggy Mountain Boys"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.