EARL SCRUGGS (and LESTER FLATT)

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs

EARL SCRUGGS (born Jan 6, 1924, Flint Hill, NC)

LESTER FLATT (Jun 14, 1914, Duncan's Chapel, TN - May 11, 1979, Nashville, TN)

Any copyrighted material on these pages is used in "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).
Audio files are DELIBERATELY encoded "low-fi" to enable faster streaming and are intended as "illustrations" and "appetizers" only.
Official and "hi-fi" recordings can (and should) be purchased at your local record dealer or through a number of web-based companies, like CDNow.

To order available recordings right from this site:
CDnow's Country/Folk section!

After 1967, Bob Dylan and his Columbia stable-mate EARL SCRUGGS (with his long-time partner LESTER FLATT) shared a common producer, Bob Johnston, who urged substantial changes in the Flatt & Scruggs traditional bluegrass repertoire.

In Aug 1969, Flatt & Scruggs (following a final joint performance at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry on Feb 22, 1969) recorded together for the last time, fulfilling their contractual obligations to Columbia Records by recording the following 17 Bob Dylan compositions:

• Mama, You Been On My Mind
• Don't Think Twice It's All Right
• Blowin' In The Wind
• It Ain't Me Babe
• Down In The Flood
• Mr. Tambourine Man
• Like A Rolling Stone (1)
• I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (1)
• The Times They Are A-Changin' (1)
• Rainy Day Women No. 12 And 35 (1)
• Nashville Skyline Rag (2)
• Maggie's Farm (2)
• Wanted Man (2)
• One More Night (2)
• One Too Many Mornings (2)
• Girl From The North Country (2)
• Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance (2)

(1)=released on "Nashville Airplane", COLUMBIA CS 9741
(2)=released on "Final Fling", COLUMBIA LE 10105
All tracks released on 1964-1969, Bear Family Records 6-CD set (BCD 15879).

Employing mostly musicians also used for Dylan's Nashville albums, these recordings seem to be the first attempt by Bob Johnston to cash in on the popularity of Bob Dylan and other singer-songwriters by presenting their songs in a bluegrass environment. Even one of the "original" compositions on "Nashville Airplane" "Frieda Florentine" is basically just a rewrite of "Nashville Skyline Rag" (which was "conveniently" only included on "Final Fling").

Basically, Bob Johnston, with his emphasis on the new breed of singer-songwriters (as opposed to the staunch-traditional country and bluegrass songwriters) contributed to the break-up of Flatt & Scruggs. While Earl Scruggs expressed a growing boredom with traditional bluegrass ("I was playing the same thing over and over every night. I just couldn't stand it any longer."), Lester Flatt felt uneasy with Bob Johnston: "He also cuts Bob Dylan and we would record what he would come up with, regardless of whether I liked it or not. I can't sing Bob Dylan stuff, I mean. Columbia has got Bob Dylan, why did they want me?"

Neil V. Rosenberg, Liner notes for "Flatt & Scruggs", Time-Life Records TLCW-04, 1982

Earl Scruggs, in turn, continued to experiment with new styles and musical directions. On "Nashville's Rock" (again produced by Bob Johnston), he recorded instrumental versions of "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word" and "Nashville Skyline Rag" (also covering the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women" and The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" and "Something").

Some of the Bob Dylan songs covered by THE EARL SCRUGGS REVUE (a rather rock-oriented group comprising Earl Scruggs and his sons Earl, Gary and Randy) include:

• "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry"
• "Down In The Flood"
• "Tomorrow's A Long Time"
• "Watching The River Flow"

• "Song To Woody"

In Dec 1970, Dylan recorded two songs,

• "East Virginia Blues"
• and "Nashville Skyline Rag,"

Both songs were broadcast in an NBC Documentary in Jan 1971; "Nashville Skyline Rag" was subsequently officially released on the album "Earl Scruggs Performing With His Family And Friends" (COLUMBIA KC-30584, mid-1971).