Flatt & Scruggs
The Best of Flatt & Scruggs
Mercury
Bill Monroe is the king of bluegrass, which I guess makes Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs the crown princes of bluegrass. They developed a sound that is still echoing in the songs of Alison Krauss, The Blacks, and Freakwater. Their songs and their sound continue to reverberate in a culture that has nearly forgotten their names, but can still recall “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” which was showcased in the film Bonnie And Clyde and is still being copied as classic “getaway” music. The Best of Flatt & Scruggs should be subtitled “The Early Years.” While it contains some of their best known songs, including “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” it only contains tracks from their early days at Mercury Records, which only encompasses three years of their nearly twenty year recording career.
