CurtissWhite - Posted - 03/28/2012:  21:50:06

He "challenged" me! He gave me the first "focus" I ever had! And he patted me on the back! All before I was ten years old. And he did the same for many thousands of others.

rferg - Posted - 03/28/2012:  21:52:33

What a sad day for the bluegrass world and especially the 5-string banjo pickers. Earl was the reason many of us loved the banjo. He forever influenced the music. Let's not let him be forgotten any time soon and make sure his music is carried on through our playing. God Bless you Earl, I'll bet you've already picked a few in Heaven.

Hedge Hog - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:02:56

May god bless Earl Scruggs.

2many5s - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:06:52

People sometimes ask me why I left an Army career when I was halfway through it.

I tell them there wasn't any one reason, rather there were lots of smaller ones.

Hearing a Columbia recording of Earl's voice at the Vietnam War Moratorium in Washington, DC was one of them.

He never talked that much, preferring to let his famous Granada speak for him, but his comments about the futility of the War, delivered in the accent of his rural North Carolina, touched me deeply.

This man was one of the reasons.

Godspeed to the last member of that signature Bill Monroe band. Musical pioneers who gave birth to the form.

RIP Earl.

FatManMary - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:17:30

I think this is how the disciples felt after the crucifixion.

banjonez - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:21:46

There aren't words...

CAPT Steve - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:22:22

Earl Scruggs--what a gift he had and how generously he shared it with us.

mike_cabinet - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:22:23

I am so sad he's gone and so grateful he was here. He's the pinnacle we all look up to.



Good bye Earl.

Edited by - mike_cabinet on 03/28/2012 22:25:09

Adk Rebel - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:42:52

I'm deeply saddened by the news.



I don't think I can find a better tribute. First song (with Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs)



youtube.com/watch?v=7PeE8djhLo...re=relmfu



Rest in Peace Earl.

Edited by - Adk Rebel on 03/28/2012 22:44:38

woodster - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:47:14

R.I.P Earl, you were a true inspiration.

christy65 - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:51:46

earl scruggs is to banjo is the same as what armstrong was the first man on the moon
god bless him and his family

JollyRogers - Posted - 03/28/2012:  22:59:57

How many countless hours so many of us have spent around the world trying to make our banjo sound like yours!!! Thank you so much Mr. Scruggs for the music and inspiration over your years spent with us. RIP.

The Pope - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:11:25

As bhrp75 said: "I only got to meet him once and I got enough nerve to tell him, "I've listened to you pick so much I feel like I know you." That got a little chuckle out of him."

That sounds exactly like Earl. RIP...

chuckles50 - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:16:23

Earl had a wonderful gift, he gave his gift freely, he became a gift to us all. His spirit lives on every time each one of us plays a forward roll. Thanx Earl for sharing your life of music with us. RIP

larry p - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:25:58

Thanks so much for the emails and the kind, inspiring words you're sharing here, Friends....I apologize for the poor grammar in the original post: As you might imagine, when I first heard the news I was flooded over with every emotion a person can have, as I'm sure many of you are experiencing as well..

We used to enjoy showing Earl some of our threads and post here, and can tell you for a certainty that he was truly grateful and genuinely humbled by the many ways you all expressed your appreciation for the music he played and the innumerable, wonderful ways he's touched so many lives..

bc99 - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:26:22

Thank you Earl, for everything.

Lou Bourbon - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:28:46

See you round sometime Earl...We'll all be traveling through the same door someday. I know Bill and Lester, others and many loved ones including your wife, will be so happy to see you again. Say hello for all us.

youtube.com/watch?v=dG990SG4gyU

(Where We'll Never Grow Old...The Carter Family)

Lou Bourbon Jr.

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:37:05

I’ll fly away to heave and I won’t fall

When the angels carry me home

I want to see Jesus most of all

When the angels carry me home

No more sorrow and no more pain

When the angels carry me home

I ride that heavenly glorious train

When the angels carry me home

I walk Thy highway leading to heaven

When the angels carry me home

I see Jesus waiting for me in heaven

When the angels carry me home

When the angels carry me home

When the angels carry me home

I want to see Jesus first of all

When the angels carry me home

dmiller - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:42:08

quote:

---

Originally posted by larry p

Thanks so much for the emails and the kind, inspiring words you're sharing here, Friends....I apologize for the poor grammar in the original post: As you might imagine, when I first heard the news I was flooded over with every emotion a person can have, as I'm sure many of you are experiencing as well..

We used to enjoy showing Earl some of our threads and post here, and can tell you for a certainty that he was truly grateful and genuinely humbled by the many ways you all expressed your appreciation for the music he played and the innumerable, wonderful ways he's touched so many lives..

 

---

Don't worry about da grammer or nuthin Larry, eh?  Here's hoping you're doing OK?

It's a treat to know Earl's seen some of these threads, and got a chuckle or two.

He was one of a kind.  There'll be no other.  A legend has passed over the Great Divide.

jack64 - Posted - 03/28/2012:  23:56:05

RIP, dear Earl.
Now you're forever close to the ones you loved.

Roll Player - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:05:47

This is very sad news. I can't imagine where the banjo would be today without him.

grambo65 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:14:57

R.I.P Earl...The man that the word inspiration was invented for !

Have you ever heard a song from so long ago with so many memories tied to it that it made you cry? And with that you could go back to a time when everything seemed so much simpler and carefree? Those are songs that are the soundtrack of our lives... the ones that bring back memories, best friends, first love, first heartbreak... the memories.

lazyarcher - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:18:08

I, like many, have based much of my musical life on the music of Earl Scruggs. Its difficult to put his passing into words.

I'll say a prayer for his family and friends.

banjobeat63 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:24:47

Torben Pedersen - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:32:24

Thanks Earl, for what you have given

bjango53 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:54:57

RB-1 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  00:59:21

Imagine a tiny country on the east side of the Atlantic where hardly anyone knows what a banjo is supposed to sound.

But yet, even our Dutch national TV news had Earl's passing, both live and on line. This is their website.

Edited by - RB-1 on 03/29/2012 01:14:28

Mike Moss - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:02:36

Earl's playing is what got me started on the banjo -- we all owe him a debt of gratitude, as banjoists, for he has done more to promote the instrument in the musical mainstream than any other musician in the past century. His name and legacy will live on.

R.I.P., Earl

buckbybanjoboy - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:14:31

Yep, he started up my interest in bluegrass banjo too. Sad day.............................Peter V.

Dr Ralph - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:16:50

Very few people have been able to influence a style of music in the way that Earl & Lester did., It's good to know that Earl was able to see & experience what he had created.

I guess he's up there with Bill, Carter & Jimmy now playing in the angel band

My thoughts are with his close friends & family at this sad time

RIP Earl Scruggs 

Yellowhouseroad - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:17:24

I was really shocked when I heard the news about Earl Scrugg's passing. He was my first inspiration for the banjo and I honestly don't think I'd be standing on a stage today if it weren't for him. His music and creative genius changed my life as well as the world of music. Hard to think of playing this music without the master, but I know that I as well as many others will continue his legacy. Rest in peace Earl, God bless.

Ryan2120 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:28:03

A sad day for so many on this, the passing of The Greatest Of All Time. No words of mine could reduce the weight of the loss of Earl Scruggs, but I pray the family may find some relief in the knowledge that Earl's life and music brought happiness to so many--for some of us, it may have even helped save us.

That angel band is about to get an earful. RIP Mr. Scruggs.

Nielen - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:32:38

If I could have given him a couple of my years, I'd so. One thing's for sure: he left us plenty to remember him by!

country frank - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:34:22

Rest in Peace Earl.

Truly the greatest banjo player of all time.

Thank you for everything.

BANJO TONY - Posted - 03/29/2012:  01:55:52

we all knew this day was going to come,but sad anyway. Earl if your looking down at us just remember you are loved by everyone on the banjo hangout,we are all going to miss you.

Tam_Zeb - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:05:25

Epitaph on a Friend

An honest man here lies at rest,

The friend of man, the friend of truth,

The friend of age, and guide of youth:

Few hearts like his, with virtue warm'd,

Few heads with knowledge so inform'd;

If there's another world, he lives in bliss;

If there is none, he made the best of this.

Robert Burns

Earl Eugene Scruggs Jan 6, 1924 – Mar 28, 2012

May he rest in peace, his spirit and his music will live on in all of us.. 

Grum - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:17:07

bazron - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:19:31

RIP Earl. sad day indeed.

derwood400 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:30:46

My condolences to Earl's family, friends, and fans.  His passing will leave a hole in the music world, but is legacy will live forever.  Rest in Peace Earl.

SeldomRight - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:38:30

A classy man and a great banjo innovator. Our condolences to his family and to ourselves. Good bye Earl, we love you!

alfiedog - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:50:43

God Bless Earl. I am not ashamed to admit i have Tears in my Eyes at the moment. There will be Sweet Music in Heaven Today.

silvioferretti - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:52:56

Not a word on Italian newspapers, TV (I think, haven't got one...), etcetera, the media here care more about George Clooney's latest girlfriend, or millionaire soccer stars, than about music icons of humble origins who have changed the face of folk music, and the lives of millions of people. Myself included. I'm going to FMB myself into oblivion for a while. RIP Earl.

ragitty - Posted - 03/29/2012:  02:54:52

Very sad news, he was an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of banjo players world wide, god bless earl and his family.

picKen - Posted - 03/29/2012:  03:12:09

Just heard the sad news.  His legacy will live on through pickers he's inspired all over the world.

lrbsammyswannabe - Posted - 03/29/2012:  03:12:23

Earl , you STILL the man !!!  And thanks for this day ...... at  least one day of consistently good music on SIRIUS/XM  Bluegrass Junction .

slimpickin - Posted - 03/29/2012:  03:15:24

Since 1977 everybody has told me the KING is dead and I tell them no he is not , unfortunately now I have to say his. RIP EARL

plunka5 - Posted - 03/29/2012:  03:19:23

Earl Scruggs has passed on from Flint Hill, N.C. to eternity...whenever and wherever a five-string banjo is played a reference will be made to one great man.  R.I.P.  Mr. EARL SCRUGGS!

Prof - Posted - 03/29/2012:  03:35:06

Very sad, indeed. My condolences to Earl's family and friends.

gregsbanjo - Posted - 03/29/2012:  03:38:49

A sad day indeed. May Earl rest in peace. What a contribution to the world.

Greg