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Post by Chesapeake on Nov 22, 2019 14:36:53 GMT -5
David Hoffman is a documentary filmmaker whose body of work includes bios of a number of musicians from varies genres, among them Earl Scruggs. The Complete Earl Scruggs Story centers around Scruggs's antiwar activism and forays into folk music during the late 60s-early '70s, and includes this clip, well known among Scruggs aficionados, of the boys jamming with Joan Baez at her house in California. In addition to Earl's banjo magic and Joan's ethereal singing, it includes some pretty fancy guitar work from Randy, who just died last year.
Hoffman tells the story behind the clip. The intro is informative, but a bit long-winded. The music starts around 3:00.
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,910 
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Post by Dub on Nov 22, 2019 15:21:12 GMT -5
Wonderful! I’d seen that clip before somewhere or maybe just pieces of it and always thought it was great.
Earl was indeed a kind and open gentleman. A good friend of mine here in Eastern Iowa became a close friend of Earl and his family. As a youngster he was working through Earl’s book on playing the 5-string banjo. He had some questions so he wrote to Earl asking if he would expand on some details. Earl wrote back with the requested detail so my friend started writing more letters asking more questions. Over time they developed a friendship and when my friend grew older and married, Earl and Louise would invite them down to their home to spend time. He’d take his latest banjo acquisition down to show Earl and Earl would show my friend his latest or most favored banjos. They all became quite close over the years.
I don’t know how many young people like that Earl befriended during his lifetime but he certainly enriched my friend’s life.
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Post by AlanC on Nov 22, 2019 16:43:40 GMT -5
I have the David Hoffman YT channel subscribed and have watched a lot of them. I remember one where Earl and his sons played with Steven Stills and some of his friends. Hoffman said that Steven was being a jerk towards him (Hoffman) and Earl (gentleman that he was) didn't like it. So they played one or two songs, packed up their gear and left. Hoffman speaks reverently of Earl as a person not just the banjo player. I'm shocked that Hoffman would cast aspersions on poor Steven and even hint that he was an asshole.  |
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Post by Village Idiot on Nov 22, 2019 18:39:51 GMT -5
Wonderful! I’d seen that clip before somewhere or maybe just pieces of it and always thought it was great. Earl was indeed a kind and open gentleman. A good friend of mine here in Eastern Iowa became a close friend of Earl and his family. As a youngster he was working through Earl’s book on playing the 5-string banjo. He had some questions so he wrote to Earl asking if he would expand on some details. Earl wrote back with the requested detail so my friend started writing more letters asking more questions. Over time they developed a friendship and when my friend grew older and married, Earl and Louise would invite them down to their home to spend time. He’d take his latest banjo acquisition down to show Earl and Earl would show my friend his latest or most favored banjos. They all became quite close over the years. I don’t know how many young people like that Earl befriended during his lifetime but he certainly enriched my friend’s life. As you know, Dub, by coincidence I've never met your friend but work quite closely with his wife. That is quite a story, especially in that the letter exchanges were hand-written, which means Earl spent time on them. Despite Earl's (and Randy's) passing, they still make a visit to the rest of the family every summer. Your friend's wife describes Louise as a brilliant woman. |
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Post by Chesapeake on Nov 22, 2019 18:52:31 GMT -5
Village Idiot wrote:
I gather Louise was as much ahead of her time as Earl. When she took over management of the band, some people who had business with them insisted on speaking to the man himself. They quickly figure out that they had to talk to Louise. Which came as quite a surprise at a time when men dominated the business side even more so than today. Also, she was an early fan of Bob Dylan, among other young folkies, and she was the one who started booking the band into college campuses.
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Post by TKennedy on Nov 22, 2019 19:45:03 GMT -5
One thing I loved about Earl was that when he got sick of driving to gigs he got a pilot's license. I think had a twin engine Piper as I recall from the picture in his book.
Big hero of mine ( and I wore out his book) as banjo was my main instrument until focal dystonia in my right hand put an end to it. My wife said it has become her favorite disease!
I'll be watching this!
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Post by Chesapeake on Nov 22, 2019 22:12:43 GMT -5
One thing I loved about Earl was that when he got sick of driving to gigs he got a pilot's license. I think had a twin engine Piper as I recall from the picture in his book. Big hero of mine ( and I wore out his book) as banjo was my main instrument until focal dystonia in my right hand put an end to it. My wife said it has become her favorite disease! I'll be watching this! He also flew volunteer missions for the Red Cross. Only crashed his plane once. |
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