Earl Scruggs and the Mercury Sessions (1948–50) Part 1

from: Earl Scruggs: A Player's Guide with Bill Evans

This lesson is part of the course Earl Scruggs: A Player's Guide with Bill Evans.

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Earl Scruggs: A Player’s Guide picks up where Earl’s renowned instruction book Earl Scruggs and the Five-String Banjo leaves off, teaching tunes and techniques that will help each student become a more complete Scruggs-style player.

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SESSION 7: Special Guest Thomas Goldsmith, Earl’s fiddle tune backup, and “Across the Blue Ridge Mountains”

After his interview with Thomas Goldsmith, Bill turns to Earl’s banjo-and-fiddle duet accompaniment style, analyzing “Grey Eagle” from a 1950s radio broadcast with fiddler Benny Martin and “Fiddle and Banjo (Stoney Point)” with fiddler Paul Warren, from Flatt and Scruggs’s December 1962 Carnegie Hall concert. Bill also takes a look at “Across the Blue Ridge Mountains” (also known as “My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains”) from Flatt and Scruggs’s 1963 Vanderbilt University concert in Nashville, discussing Earl’s solo and analyzing the different backup approaches Earl uses throughout the song.

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Analysis and instruction for many classic Earl Scruggs tunes
Complete tunes as well as lessons on licks for lead and backup
High-quality video recordings of each session
Transcriptions of songs in tablature for each session

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SESSION 2: Earl Scruggs and the Mercury Sessions (1948–50) Part 1

Earl Scruggs and the Mercury Sessions (1948–50) Part 1

Session 2 Q&A

Earl Scruggs and the Mercury Sessions (1948–50) Part 1

Bill talks about Flatt and Scruggs’s groundbreaking Mercury Sessions, in particular Earl’s playing on the songs “Down the Road,” “No Mother or Dad,” “Why Don’t You Tell Me So,” and the iconic banjo instrumental “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” In addition to showing you Earl’s solos on these songs, he also shows you some of Earl’s backup.

Recommended Reading

Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Making of an American Icon, by Thomas Goldsmith. Chapters 7 and 8

Earl Scruggs and the Five-String Banjo, by Earl Scruggs, 2005 edition, Hal Leonard Corporation. Take a look at tab to “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.”

Recommended Listening

Flatt and Scruggs and The Stanley Brothers Live on WCYB, Bristol, VA/TN 1948-49

“Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”

“Rainbow of My Dreams”

The Stanley Brothers “Little Glass of Wine”

Flatt and Scruggs “The Mercury Sessions” (28 cuts) Listen to all cuts if you can, but for this class, listen especially to:

“Down the Road”

“No Mother or Dad”

“Why Don’t You Tell Me So”