It's been a pleasure to see folks ordering the newly released downloadable version of Masters of the Five String Banjo. On the page for the book on DrBanjo.com (find it under Books), we're also offering a special treat for fans of Earl Scruggs -- and aren't we all?

The book's extensive and detailed chapter about Earl can be had on request ... for no charge. 

When Tony and I started work on the project, we divvied up the players, and as the guy working full-time in a straight bluegrass band named after the "special ingredient" in the flour brand of Flatt & Scruggs's sponsor, I got the "Scruggs" assignment. 

I was already well acquainted with Earl, going back to his having told a friend of mine that he'd heard Hot Rize on the Opry and liked us! John Hartford gave me his phone number, and I started visiting him and Louise pretty regularly at their home in Madison, spending many hours discussing all sorts of things. At that time he was not performing at all due to a painful back problem that kept him from traveling. I asked Earl if I could interview him for the book and he declined -- but agreed readily to letting me write the chapter which he would then review for accuracy. As I told him, there's no way Tony and I could create this book without a major Earl Scruggs chapter. He had no problem with that.

I understood his reluctance to be interviewed, figuring it had to do with his lack of confidence in talking about what his mind and his fingers could combine to do, which I still consider something of a miracle. I know that when he'd been asked to write a book, his response was "it can't be written down"(!) -- because he didn't process it with words... he just *did* it. It took Bill Keith to actually transcribe all the notes, a major gift to banjo players.... though Earl does not slide to the 4th fret on the 3rd string, as it says in all the tabs!

Having taught myself to play primarily from listening to Earl's records, I wanted to do the best possible work -- all about his style, technique, and overall approach to musicianship. Fortunately, FRETS magazine was printing columns at the time, supposedly written by Earl but actually the result of Roger Siminoff working with him to get his thoughts down. FRETS hasn't been around for over 35 years now, but those columns and Earl's book, and what I learned in conversation with him added up to a lengthy description and analysis of all aspects of his playing.

It's interesting to me that so many banjo players who got the bug from hearing Earl, and worked long hours learning his style, don't really take after him as closely as one might think. No banjo player I've heard has been as fastidious as Earl about "playing the words" -- right down to altering his rolls to exactly match the notes and phrasing of a singer. His very intentional restraint against playing too much shows clearly on many records where his playing is often fully inaudible in backup. That's very different from Crowe and all the Jimmy Martin banjo players who were under orders to virtually always roll, and *always* be heard on backup. Not Earl.... But that sets up  a whopping surprise when his breaks explode out of nowhere, sometimes with no pickup notes, like his last break on "Shuckin' the Corn". Thrilling!

The more I studied, the more I learned, and as a major devotee, I felt a sense of mission: This would be the largest published exploration of Earl's musicianship to date (and still is, to my knowledge). I spoke with people he played with and heard some great stories about "Earl's way" including his ingenious DIY experiments that led to "Scruggs pegs" as well as the 5th string "spikes" he introduced for playing in keys like B (which earlier banjo players never had to do). We talked about string gauges, and how he eagerly switched from skin heads to plastic ones as soon as they became available, and such goodies as who he considered the laziest musician he'd ever worked with!

Once the chapter was written I gave it to Earl to review, and said I'd make any changes he requested. He only wanted two. (Want to guess?)

First, I had a quote from Don Reno about when he and Earl had traded banjos in 1948. Don had said, "Earl had the hots for my banjo." Earl wanted to make it clear: "I did NOT have 'the hots' for his banjer!" So I took that out.

Then he said with some emotion that he wanted the chapter to include the importance of Louise in enabling his career. I knew what a relief it had been to him when she took over booking Flatt & Scruggs in the early 50s, and it's well known what a determined and successful agent she was, leading to a series of opportunities for worldwide exposure that meant so much to a guy raised on a humble farm, whose father died when Earl was just four. So he and Louise were a team... he was the genius but modest musician, and she was the aggressive promoter and enabler, including raising three musical sons with her husband gone most of the time, keeping the band busy while other bands were suffering from the "Elvis" phenomenon that put even major Nashville stars out of work.

I've published a lot of verbiage in my life, but my chance to glorify and analyze the music of my hero, who changed my life with his music -- was a high point in my life as a writer. I told myself "This chapter will be around for a long time, and I want it to be up to the standard he set."

So... over a decade since his passing, I couldn't be prouder to see that chapter back in circulation. I like how it can be had *at no charge* -- just find the book on DrBanjo.com and you can order the Earl chapter free. It won't be available that way indefinitely, though the full book will be for the foreseeable future. The price will go up April 1, though it will still be far less than used copies go for, or what its previous prices would be in today's dollars. 

It's now over 100 years since Earl was born, and I feel confident that his magical music will be revered as long as there are ears to hear.

Edited by - Pete Wernick on 03/26/2026 20:32:51

Edited by - Pick-A-Lick on 03/28/2026 02:36:02

Edited by - Pick-A-Lick on 03/28/2026 02:45:44

Edited by - Pete Wernick on 03/28/2026 12:12:43