R.I.P. Bluegrass Pioneer Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs was one of the leading figures in bluegrass music, conceiving of the three-finger picking style that came to define the genre. That sound was unmistakable in such landmark scores as “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” the theme song to the 1962-1971 sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown, which was prominent in the 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde. Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt were mainstays of the Foggy Mountain Boys, longtime stars of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. As a duo, Flatt and Scruggs were regular figures on variety TV shows for years.