Foggy Mountain Boys

The Foggy Mountain Boys was an American bluegrass band. The band was founded by guitarist Lester Flattand banjo player Earl Scruggs and is viewed by music historians as one of the premier bluegrass groups in the history of the genre.[1] The band was originally formed in 1948 by Flatt, who had been a member of Bill Monroe's bluegrass band. Flatt brought Scruggs with him shortly after leaving Monroe.[2]
Flatt and Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys (in various forms and line-ups) recorded and performed together up until 1969.[1] The Foggy Mountain Boys are seen as one of the landmark bands in bluegrass music. Although it featured various casts, during the years of The Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs Grand Ole Opry Show, notably sponsored by grain and flour producer Martha White, the band showcased fiddle player Paul Warren, a master player in both the Old-Time and Bluegrass fiddling styles, whose technique reflected all qualitative aspects of 'the bluegrass breakdown' and fast bowing style; dobro player Uncle Josh Graves, an innovator of the advanced playing style of the instrument now used in the genre, stand-up bass player Cousin Jake Tullock, and mandolinist Curly Seckler.[1] Scruggs is widely considered the most influential player of the bluegrass banjo who ever lived. Playing since the age of four, Scruggs gained his initial spotlight when he played briefly with Bill Monroe, considered by many as the father of bluegrass music. His lightning-fast syncopation and virtuosity wove themselves into an innovative three finger picking style that became the standard for mastering the instrument.
==Biography==
Lester Flatt worked for Monroe at the time Earl Scruggs was considered for Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys, in 1945. The two left that band early in 1948, and within a few months had formed the Foggy Mountain Boys. Scruggs' banjo style and Flatt's rhythm guitar style as well as his vocals, gave them a distinctive sound that won them many fans. In 1955, they became members of the Grand Ole Opry.[2] Many of the songs on their albums are credited to "Certain and Stacey". These songs were in fact written by Flatt, Scruggs, and various other members of the Foggy Mountain Boys. Certain and Stacey are the maiden names of the wives of Flatt and Scruggs (Louise Certain, wife of Earl Scruggs, and Gladys Stacey, wife of Lester Flatt).
Scruggs, who had always shown progressive tendencies, experimented on duets with saxophonist King Curtis and added songs by the likes of Bob Dylan to the group's repertoire. Flatt, a traditionalist, did not like these changes, and the group broke up in 1969.[2] Following the breakup, Lester Flatt founded theNashville Grass and Scruggs led the Earl Scruggs Revue. Flatt died in 1979, at the age of 64. Flatt and Scruggs were elected to the Country Music Hall of Famein 1985.
In 2003, they ranked No. 24 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music, one of only four non-solo artists to make the list (The Eagles, Alabama, and Brooks & Dunn are the others).
In the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the band formed by the heroes is called the "Soggy Bottom Boys" as a tribute to the band.
Scruggs died from natural causes on March 28, 2012, in a Nashville hospital.[3][4]
==Members==
*Lester Flatt (guitar)
*Earl Scruggs (banjo, guitar)
*Paul Warren (fiddle)
*John Ray "Curly" Seckler (mandolin, guitar)
*Josh Graves (Dobro, bass)
*English P. “Cousin Jake” Tullock (bass)
*Chubby Wise (fiddle)
*Jim Shumate (fiddle)
*Benny Martin (fiddle)
*Benny Sims (fiddle)
*Howdy Forrester (fiddle)
*Art Wooten (fiddle)
*Howard Watts aka "Cedric Rainwater" (bass)
*Charles Johnson aka "Little Jody Rainwater" (bass)
*Frank "Hylo" Brown (bass, guitar)
*Charles “Little Darlin’” Elza (bass)
*Joe Stuart (bass)
*Ernie Newton (bass)
*Bob Moore (bass)
*Everett Lilly (mandolin)
*Jim Eanes (guitar)
*Mac Wiseman (guitar)
*Billy E. Powers (guitar)
*Johnny Johnson (guitar)
*Earl Taylor (mandolin and harmonica)
*Billy Constable (banjo)[5]
==Notable songs==
*"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" - an instrumental originally released in 1949 and used in many rural car chase movie sequences, notably in Bonnie and Clyde. It has won two Grammy awards. Parts of the song can be heard in the Monty Python's Flying Circus "Killer Sheep" sketch in the episode titled "The Attila The Hun Show."
*"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" (listen) - used as the theme for the Beverly Hillbillies television series. The song reached No. 42 on the record charts during the series' debut season of 1962. The song hit No. 1 on the country charts in January 1963, and was the only number one hit song of their career. The song is one of only two TV theme songs to ever reach No. 1 on the country charts, the other was Waylon Jennings' "The Good Ol' Boys," the theme from The Dukes of Hazzard.
*Martha White jingle (still used in advertising today).
==Discography==
	
Further information: Flatt and Scruggs discography
===Albums===
Year	Album 	Chart Positions	Chart Positions	Label
Year	Album 	US Country 	US 	Label
1957	Foggy Mountain Jamboree 	 	 	Columbia
1958	Country Music 	 	 	Mercury
1959	Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs 	 	 	Mercury
1960	Songs of Glory 	 	 	Columbia
1961	Foggy Mountain Banjo 	 	 	Columbia
1961	Songs of the Famous Carter Family 	 	 	Columbia
1962	Folk Songs of Our Land 	 	 	Columbia
1963	Hard Travelin' (The Ballad of Jed Clampett) 	 	115 	Columbia
1963	The Original Sound 	 	 	Mercury
1963	Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall 	7 	134 	Columbia
1964	Recorded Live at Vanderbilt University 	10 	 	Columbia
1964	The Fabulous Sound of Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs	2 	 	Columbia
1965	The Versatile Flatt & Scruggs 	 	 	Columbia
1965	Great Original Recordings 	 	 	Columbia
1966	Town and Country 	15 	 	Columbia
1966	When the Saints Go Marching In 	 	 	Columbia
1966	Flatt & Scruggs' Greatest Hits 	34 	 	Columbia
1966	Sacred Songs 	 	 	Columbia
1967	Strictly Instrumental(w/ Doc Watson) 	 	 	Columbia
1967	Hear the Whistles Blow 	37 	 	Columbia
1968	Changin' Times featuring Foggy Mountain Breakdown	7 	 	Columbia
1968	Songs to Cherish 	 	 	Columbia
1968	Original Theme From Bonnie & Clyde 	26 	 	Columbia
1968	The Story of Bonnie & Clyde 	23 	187 	Columbia
1968	Nashville Airplane 	35 	 	Columbia
1970	Final Fling 	45 	 	Columbia
1970	Breaking Out 	35 	 	Columbia
===Singles===
Year	Single 	Peak chart positions	Peak chart positions	Peak chart positions	Peak chart positions	Album
Year	Single 	US Country 	US 	CAN Country 	CAN 	Album
1949	"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" 	9 	 	 	 	singles only
1952	"'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered" 	9 	 	 	 	singles only
1959	"Cabin in the Hills" 	9 	 	 	 	singles only
1960	"Crying My Heart Out Over You" 	21 	 	 	 	singles only
1961	"Polka on a Banjo" 	12 	 	 	 	singles only
1961	"Go Home" 	10 	 	 	 	singles only
1962	"Just Ain't" 	16 	 	 	 	singles only
1962	"The Legend of the Johnson Boys"	27 	 	 	 	Folk Songs of Our Land
1962	"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" 	1 	44 	 	 	Hard Travelin' (The Ballad of Jed Clampett)
1963	"Pearl Pearl Pearl" 	8 	113 	 	 	singles only
1963	"New York Town" 	26 	 	 	 	singles only
1964	"You Are My Flower" 	12 	 	 	 	Recorded Live at Vanderbilt University
1964	"My Sara Jane" 	40 	 	 	 	singles only
1964	"Petticoat Junction" 	14 	 	 	 	singles only
1964	"Workin' It Out" 	21 	 	 	 	singles only
1965	"I Still Miss Someone" 	43 	 	 	 	The Versatile Flatt & Scruggs
1967	"Nashville Cats" 	54 	 	 	 	singles only
1967	"California Up Tight Band" 	20 	 	 	 	singles only
1968	"Down in the Flood" 	45 	 	15 	 	Changing Times featuring
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
1968	"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" 	58 	55 	 	90 	Changing Times featuring
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
1968	"Like a Rolling Stone" 	58 	125 	 	 	Nashville Airplane
Category:Bands