Earl Scruggs, the legendary master of the bluegrass banjo, is dead at 88.  It was just a few days ago that I was writing about the music that I grew up with, and rest assured, Flatt & Scruggs were welcome in the Smith household. There’s honestly not a lot I can say that I feel is worthy of the man’s genius – not on short notice, anyway – so I’ll keep it simple and let the music do the talking. Let’s start with the song that he was most famous for.

Earl and Lester guested on the show, too, and I always loved it when Granny would make them sing for their supper.

Here’s Earl teeing it up with another North Carolina legend, Doc Watson.

If you never heard The Three Pickers – Scruggs, Watson and Ricky Scaggs – you owe it to yourself. Here they are doing “Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms.”

One more, and this one illustrates a point. If you wanted to hang with Earl, you damned well better be able to play.

Good night, Earl, and thanks for the memories. We’ll miss you.