Earl Scruggs: 1924-2012

I originally started listening to country music, cos I was a fan of Johnny Cash's lyrical writing and I wanted to be able to write as good lyrics for the punk rock band I was singing with. For a few years, Cash and some com pilations I had gotten from a pal, as well as the great Swedish country band Jimbob Convoy, was all the country music I was listening to.

Then I started to, as I grew increasingly tired of punk (punk is still my first love, I just don't listen as much to it theese days), I started buying more country music records and I had always been a fan of Cajun music, so I decided to check out the other genrés within American folk and I discovered bluegrass.

It was thanks to a salesman at the brilliant Folk Å Rock record store in Malmö that I s´discovered Dock Boggs, Earl Scruggs and the other banjo legends. Persistent readers of this blog must have noticed that I have written more on banjo pickers than on any other genré the last months. I simply cannot get enough of banjo music.

Though I really like Boggs as well, mostly cos of his brilliant lyricism, I think Scruggs was the greatest banjo picker of the last century. He changed the sound of bluegrass and American folk forever with his inventive style of picking his banjo. It's like ska music, you simply cannot avoid feeling happy from listening to it.

Therefore, it is with great sorrow that I learn that mr Scruggs passed away yesterday.

I learned of his death from Dwight Yoakam on Facebook, who paid a nice tribute to him and I do believe the whole country and bluegrass communities will pay a massive tribute, a fitting tribute to a genious with the banjo that will never be outdone.

Scruggs was the greatest. Rest in peace, Earl, you'll be missed.

Earl Scruggs, "Classic bluegrass live 1959-1966"

I like this record. I like it a lot, I can't stop listening to it no matter what it does to my image as a former skinhead with tattoos and stuff.

Still, I think I like bluegrass for the same reason I like ska music, it makes you happy listening to it.

As someone raised in the oi! scene, lyrics mean a lot to me, but strangely, I don't care if the lyrics to this album are a bit naive. Take, as for an example, the lyrics to Jimmy Brown the newsboy, not something Kris Kristofferson or even Zac Brown would have penned, but who cares? This music is made for dancing, not for changing the world.

This album is, as the title gives away, a live album, collecting appearances by Earl Scruggs from three folk festivals in Newport, 1959, 1960 and 1966. Scruggs had then become a legend, not just among the traditional bluegrass punters, a scene he had changed with his groundbreaking way of picking his banjo, but also among the trendy middle class students who had discovered American folk music, a scene spearheaded by Bob Dylan.

There's a lot of stuff coming out from the 60's and most of it hasn't aged well. This album, however, has aged surprisingly well. Scruggs music is timeless.

Another thing which strikes you is how well it sounds live. Today, you get a lot of artists recording as their first priority and using computers to enhance their music and though it might sound the business on disc, they come out sounding poor live. You don't get that with Earl Scruggs, listening to him, you listen to someone who simply loves playing live.

I am going to look for more records by him, definitely!

A near perfect record get a near perfect level of satisfaction, 96,1%