Earl Scruggs, great banjo player and musical spirit, has died at the age 88, the LA Times reports.
Apart from being a monster instrumentalist, he also was a guy who looked to play with all types of musicians, not just bluegrass folks. King Curtis, Elton John, etc. I remember being stunned as a kid at a guy who spoke with his deep Southern accent yet sought out hippies and black people with whom to play.
This was a rare thing, then.
For a few years there, he was almost a hippie, at least by bluegrass standards, with his hair down just about to his collar.
Here’s a video of Flatt & Scruggs on the Grand Ole Opry.
RIP Earl Scruggs.
