Earl Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown

You've heard this song before. It doesn't matter where you live, or what type of music you listen to, you'll recognize this song.

Bluegrass is very close to the ancient roots of Country Music, just a half-step away from the original Ur-Country that developed back before Country Music TV, before the Grand Ole Opry, even before the medicine shows and tent revivals of the 1920s.

Take a barn, a collection of musicians, give them each a chance to show their skill, each taking his own turn, and you have some high-energy neighborhood entertainment.

Earl Scruggs and his partner Lester Flatt were some of the early popularizers of Bluegrass. They won a Grammy in 1969 for Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

Take some of the greatest musicians of our day, put them on Davis Letterman, and let them show their skill, and you have high-energy awesome.



Scruggs won a Grammy for this in 2002; this may be the first time that a single artist has won a Grammy for the same song twice, in two different years.

This is an all-star cast. In order of solo, they are:

Earl Scruggs - banjo

Unknown - Fiddle

Unknown - Acoustic Guitar

Steve Martin - Banjo

Vince Gill - Electric Guitar

Marty Stuart - Mandolin

Unknown - Harmonica

Albert Lee - Electric Guitar

Paul Shaffer - Piano

Jerry Douglass - Dobro

Others appearing are Gen Duncan, Leon Russell, Gary Scruggs, and Randy Scruggs.

And as a special treat for old farts like me, here's another Earl Scruggs song that you've heard before.