EARL SCRUGGS’ GIBSON RB-GRANADA MASTERTONE BANJO
TO BECOME PART OF THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME ®
AND MUSEUM’S “PRECIOUS JEWELS” DISPLAY
NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 27, 2013 – Legendary musician Earl Scruggs’
Gibson RB-Granada Mastertone banjo will become part of the Country Music
Hall of Fame® and Museum’s “Precious Jewels” display, museum
officials announced today. This banjo, which was Scruggs’ primary
instrument and has never before been exhibited, will go on display July
12.
The “Precious Jewels” display, which is located on the third floor within the museum’s core exhibition, Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music,
spotlights a handful of seminal instruments upon which much of the
foundation of American music was created. Other instruments on display
as “Precious Jewels” include Mother Maybelle Carter’s Gibson L-5 guitar,
Lester Flatt’s Martin D-28 guitar, Bill Monroe’s Gibson F-5 mandolin,
Jimmie Rodgers’ Martin 00-18 guitar and Hank Williams’ Martin D-28
guitar.
spotlights a handful of seminal instruments upon which much of the
foundation of American music was created. Other instruments on display
as “Precious Jewels” include Mother Maybelle Carter’s Gibson L-5 guitar,
Lester Flatt’s Martin D-28 guitar, Bill Monroe’s Gibson F-5 mandolin,
Jimmie Rodgers’ Martin 00-18 guitar and Hank Williams’ Martin D-28
guitar.
The Granada was acquired by Scruggs in a trade with Don Reno in the
late 1940s, and he used it on the 1949 recording of his composition
“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & the Foggy
Mountain Boys. The song was a showcase for Scruggs’ astonishing speed
and clarity on the instrument. He continued to use the Granada on the
road and in the studio with Flatt & Scruggs and the Earl Scruggs
Revue, and he played it for the rest of his life. Over the years,
modifications and repairs to Scruggs’ favorite banjo included refitting
it with nickel-plated hardware, replacing a warped neck, and adding
cam-style “Scruggs tuners” to the peghead that were subsequently
replaced by mechanical D-tuners. In 1988, Gibson restored the Granada’s
resonator to its original sunburst finish and installed a curly maple
neck in the style of the original.
Another significant banjo in the life of Earl Scruggs was the one upon
which he learned to play. This instrument, an open-back 5-string banjo
manufactured circa 1900 that belonged to Scruggs’ father, will be on
display in the Earl Scruggs Center, which is scheduled to open in
Shelby, North Carolina, in late 2013.
Few figures loom larger in the history of American music than Earl Scruggs. His
revolutionary approach to the five-string banjo transformed an almost
forgotten instrument into an immediately recognizable element of a new
genre, which later became known as bluegrass. Ultimately, Scruggs
demonstrated the banjo’s utility as a lead instrument in many musical
styles, and he became synonymous with virtuosity, creativity and an
untrammeled willingness to experiment and innovate within and beyond a
traditional framework. A Grammy-winning member of the Country Music
Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of
Fame, a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts and a Hollywood
Walk of Fame honoree, Earl Scruggs is remembered as a true American
original.
revolutionary approach to the five-string banjo transformed an almost
forgotten instrument into an immediately recognizable element of a new
genre, which later became known as bluegrass. Ultimately, Scruggs
demonstrated the banjo’s utility as a lead instrument in many musical
styles, and he became synonymous with virtuosity, creativity and an
untrammeled willingness to experiment and innovate within and beyond a
traditional framework. A Grammy-winning member of the Country Music
Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of
Fame, a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts and a Hollywood
Walk of Fame honoree, Earl Scruggs is remembered as a true American
original.
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame®
and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state
of Tennessee in 1964. The museum’s mission is the preservation of the
history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern
culture. With the same educational mission, the foundation also
operates CMF Records, the museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press,
Historic RCA Studio B and Hatch Show Print®.
and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state
of Tennessee in 1964. The museum’s mission is the preservation of the
history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern
culture. With the same educational mission, the foundation also
operates CMF Records, the museum’s Frist Library and Archive, CMF Press,
Historic RCA Studio B and Hatch Show Print®.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org