EARL SCRUGGS (born Jan 6, 1924, Flint Hill, NC - March 28, 2012)
LESTER FLATT (Jun 14, 1914, Duncan's Chapel, TN - May 11, 1979, Nashville, TN)
Beginning in 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.
"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 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:
In Dec 1970, Dylan recorded two songs,
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).