DESCRIPTION:
Of course this is the famous banjo picker Earl Scruggs playing with his friend and buddy Doc Watson at Doc's home in Deep Gap, North Carolina. Also picking his 16-year-old son (at the time) the great picker in his own right, Randy Scruggs, and sitting in the back and just learning, Stevie Scruggs. To the left, Doc's son Merle who was later killed in a tractor accident. Randy Scruggs has now passed on as has Stevie Scruggs and Earl and Doc. This was an amazing moment. I set up a single microphone on a pole. Sat in a seat with my 16mm camera ready to roll and just said to Earl" okay let's go". And that's what happened. The scene is part of a 90 minute film that I made called Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends that was a PBS special way back in 1972. To be around Earl as he sought out various kinds of musicians to play with was like being in the presence of something greater then just an ordinary human. Everything that came from him, the music, the picking, the family relationships, his treatment of me, indicated that he was an extraordinary man. He called what he did bluegrass on occasion, sometimes mountain music, sometimes old-timey music, sometimes rock 'n' roll, sometimes he called what he was doing - just picking. I love the banjo and I love the guitar and I love these men and thank them for sharing a bit of their talent with me. Pure pleasure to watch today.

The 90 minute film presents Earl Scruggs with Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, The Morris Brothers, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez among many others. Said reviewer Bruce Elder: " The music here is glorious."