Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown
eBook - ePub

Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown

The Making of an American Classic

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown

The Making of an American Classic

About this book

Recorded in 1949, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" changed the face of American music. Earl Scruggs's instrumental essentially transformed the folk culture that came before it while helping to energize bluegrass's entry into the mainstream in the 1960s. The song has become a gateway to bluegrass for musicians and fans alike as well as a happily inescapable track in film and television. Thomas Goldsmith explores the origins and influence of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" against the backdrop of Scruggs's legendary career. Interviews with Scruggs, his wife Louise, disciple Bela Fleck, and sidemen like Curly Seckler, Mac Wiseman, and Jerry Douglas shed light on topics like Scruggs's musical evolution and his working relationship with Bill Monroe. As Goldsmith shows, the captivating sound of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" helped bring back the banjo from obscurity and distinguished the low-key Scruggs as a principal figure in American acoustic music.Passionate and long overdue, Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown takes readers on an ear-opening journey into two minutes and forty-three seconds of heaven.

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Yes, you can access Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Thomas Goldsmith in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Music Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. 1. Out to Follow Scruggs's Path
  7. 2. “I grew up Around a Banjo”
  8. 3. The Piedmont's Rich Musical Soil
  9. 4. Early Professional Days
  10. 5. Joining Bill Monroe
  11. 6. Working as a Blue Grass Boy
  12. 7. Flatt and Scruggs Build a Career
  13. 8. Recording “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”
  14. 9. “Like a Jackhammer”—How the Tune Works
  15. 10. The Number-One Banjo Player
  16. 11. The Beverly Hillbillies Welcomes the Banjo
  17. 12. Riding with Bonnie and Clyde
  18. 13. Scruggs without Flatt: A Period of Transition
  19. 14. Scruggs's Banjo Gains a Cult Following
  20. 15. Reaping the Harvest
  21. Notes
  22. Index
  23. About the Author