Remembering Earl Scruggs

by Katherine Cole

Earl Scruggs, whose distinctive style of bluegrass banjo picking influenced countless players and helped to shape the sound of modern country music, died in a Nashville hospital Wednesday, March 28.  He was 88 years old.

Before Earl Scruggs, most banjo players used a two- fingered picking style. But all that changed after the 21-year-old North Carolina native joined Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys in 1945, and brought his three- fingered rolls to Nashville.

“I used to play with just the finger and thumb, which they call two-fingered style.  Then I started playing a tune when I was about 10 or 11 and this third finger started working, which filled in some spaces. And that excited me because I could play some other tunes that I couldn’t play with the two finger style. So I just kept working with what I had.”

Before Earl Scruggs, the banjo was often considered a novelty item in a band. It was usually played by a comic character, not a serious musician.  As fellow banjo player Bela Fleck explains, Earl Scruggs changed all that.

“I think it was a combination of an incredible rhythmic approach with a very simple and beautiful harmonic language," he said. "He plays the banjo and it grabs you just like the lead vocal would. An amazing technique.  They called him ‘the Paganini of the banjo’ in the New York Times when he played at Carnegie Hall.  And I think he was just a beautiful, beautiful player. I think the lessons that you learn from someone like that transcend bluegrass and are just about music.”

In 1948, Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt shocked the country music community by quitting Bill Monroe’s band and setting out on their own. In retrospect, it was a brilliant move, as Flatt and Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys soon became just as famous as their ex-boss. Their first hit, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” arguably became the most famous banjo instrumental in the world. The song was a favorite of a then- teenaged bluegrass fan named Warren Beatty, who later used it as the theme to his movie “Bonnie and Clyde.” 

By the time Warren Beatty used their music in “Bonnie and Clyde,” Flatt and Scruggs had outgrown the smallish world of bluegrass and had entered the mainstream. They played everywhere:  New York’s famed Carnegie Hall, college campuses, and even headlined the famous Newport Folk Festival in 1962. The next year, Earl Scruggs’ banjo was heard on the number one country song in the U.S., “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” known to fans around the world as the theme to the “Beverly Hillbillies” television program. 

Throughout the 1960s Earl Scruggs’ sound continued to evolve. He discovered new songs through his sons Randy and Gary, along with musicians like Bob Dylan and Ravi Shankar, who came to Nashville and wanted to meet and pick tunes with the legendary banjo master. In turn, Earl wanted to incorporate songs by Bob Dylan and other folk rockers into the Flatt and Scruggs sound, a move that didn’t please Lester Flatt. Nor did he agree with Scruggs’ liberal politics. These differences led to the breakup of Flatt & Scruggs in 1969.

The end of that legendary pairing was not, however, the end of Earl Scruggs. He teamed with his sons Steve, Gary and Randy to form the Earl Scruggs Revue, a mainly acoustic rock band that went on to record several albums and influence many groups. Among them was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who credited Earl and his sons for inspiring the groundbreaking project “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”

Earl Scruggs continued to record and perform with the Revue through the 1970s and 1980s.  Son Steve’s death in 1992 deeply affected him. The loss, along with a serious heart attack four years later, forced him into an early retirement.

The new century, however, brought more music: Fans the world over were thrilled when he released “Earl Scruggs And Friends.” The Grammy-winning album featured collaborations with his sons along with Sting, Dwight Yoakam and others.

A member of just about every musical Hall of Fame and a recipient of numerous honors, Earl Scruggs continued to tour until soon before his death. He played in theatres, clubs and major festivals such as Bonnaroo, Stagecoach and last October’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

Few musicians have changed the way an instrument is played and heard the way Earl Scruggs has. Today, most everyone who picks a banjo does it “Scruggs style.”  As the country singer Porter Wagoner said at Scruggs’ 80th birthday party, “Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball.”

Bluegrass Legend Earl Scruggs Dead at 88

American bluegrass musician Earl Scruggs, whose unique banjo-playing style helped shape modern country music, has died.

The 88-year-old Scruggs died Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee — known as the country music capital of the world. His son, Gary, said he died of natural causes.

Friends and fans paid tribute to Scruggs Thursday and flowers were to be placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A four-time Grammy Award winner, Scruggs originated the three-finger style of picking the five-string banjo, an American instrument. His “Scruggs style” helped popularize the instrument beyond bluegrass and country music.

The host of Voice of America's music program Roots and Branches, Katherine Cole, says it is “impossible to overstate how important Earl Scruggs was to American music.” She says that few musicians have changed the way an instrument is played and heard the way Scruggs did.

In 1945, he joined bandleader Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys — which established the genre — and wowed listeners on the Grand Ole Opry radio program broadcast from Nashville.

The marketing director for the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Kentucky, Danny Clark, says Earl Scruggs transformed bluegrass.

“Bluegrass music, it was completely different before Earl Scruggs came on board. I mean, if you look back in the history books, in December of 1945, when Bill Monroe hired Earl Scruggs to play in his band, the Blue Grass Boys, that addition of Earl Scruggs to what is now referred to as the 'classic' band, it just completely revolutionized bluegrass music, the way it's heard. That sound, that three-finger style that he helped pioneer and broadcast to the masses had never been heard before, and that addition to Bill Monroe's band just completely changed that form of American music.”

Later, Scruggs partnered with Blue Grass Boys guitarist and lead vocalist Lester Flatt to form their own band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Flatt and Scruggs rose to fame with the theme song for the 1960s television series The Beverly Hillbillies, known as “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.” The 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde also featured their work, with their song “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” used in the movie's chase scenes.

Photo: 2005 picture of USA banjo player Earl Scruggs by Rivers Langley.

Former Somali President Yusuf Dies at 77

Gabe Joselow
Nairobi

The former president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government has died at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 77 following a long battle with liver disease. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former warlord, was elected president in 2004, but had few friends left in Somalia by the time he resigned four years later.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed spent a lifetime fighting.  He famously led an attempt to overthrow Somali President Mohammed Siad Barre in 1978, but failed, fled to Kenya and then to Ethiopia.  There, he formed a rebel force to fight against the Barre regime.

But the Ethiopians turned against him and he was imprisoned in the mid-1980s until 1991, when Siad Barre was finally forced from power.

The Somalia he went home to was chaotic and violent.  Warlords were fighting throughout the country for control of territory and resources.

In his homeland, in the northeast, Yusuf put together his own forces and became one of the founders of the autonomous region of Puntland, where his legacy is best remembered.

On the news of his death, the current Minister of State Planning for Puntland, Abdulkadir Hashi, wrote on Twitter that he was "saddened by his passing" and called the late president a "great patriot & friend."

Politically, Yusuf was a hardliner, inflexible and forever a military man who was quick to sideline anybody who stood in his way.  His political career was boosted by warlords and others who believed the country needed a leader willing to fight.

He became president of Somalia's first Transitional Federal Government (TFG) after beating out 27 other candidates, one of them being Mohamed Mohamoud, a self-described peace activist who is also from Puntland.

"Abdullahi Yusuf was sidelining anybody who is not strictly on the military side," said Mohamoud.  "He was not comfortable with the people who are politically enlightened, politically independent, politically courageous, who is against military rule."

Although he won the election with the backing of the country's warlords, they quickly turned against him when he tried to set up a government in Mogadishu, fearing a federal government would encroach on their territory.

Under pressure from the warlords, he moved the government to Baidoa in central Somalia.  Then, growing more concerned about the rising power of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), he was instrumental in convincing Ethiopia to send troops into Somalia in 2006 to help prop up the TFG.

The move was unpopular with many Somalis. Former presidential candidate Mohamoud said he supported Yusuf's military strategy, but said more thought should have been given to reforming the political system.

"We were not even opposing him, even me I was not opposing him, just because I believe it was appropriate to take Somalia by force first," said Mohamoud.  "But after someone takes by force, well, there should be an immediate change of the system to a rule of law."

The Ethiopian incursion backfired for Yusuf.  The troops' presence only helped to bolster support for the militant wing of the ICU, which later evolved into the militant al-Shabab.

Sheikh Abdisamad Abdiwahab, a Somalia analyst with Southlink consultants in Nairobi, says Yusuf had also lost the support of the United States, which had supported his stance against the Islamists.

"Initially they were having very high hope, he's going to restore stability and security of Mogadishu, but he failed to do so, contrary to the expectations of the Americans," said Abdisamad.  "So they tell him publicly, if you fail to restore the security and law and order, kindly resign."

His fellow politicians accused him of favoring his own Darod clan, which had no clout in Mogadishu or Baidoa. And the international community called him an obstacle to peace for blocking peace deals with the Islamists.

Yusuf resigned in 2008, making way for the current TFG president, former cleric Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

Egypt’s Coptic Spiritual Leader Dies

Egyptians are mourning the death of Coptic Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian community.

Shenouda died on Saturday in Cairo at age 88 after suffering from what the official MENA news agency says was liver and lung disease.

Mourners gathered in the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo to pray and try to get a look at the pope's body. Many wept openly.

Historians say the Coptic church is one of the oldest in the world. It traces its founding to St. Mark, who is said to have introduced Christianity to Egypt in the 1st century. Egypt's Copts make up about 10 percent of the country's population of 80 million

Shenouda was born Nazeer Gayed, entering the priesthood and later a monastery as a young man. He was elected Coptic pope in 1971.

The late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat exiled Shenouda to a desert monastery in 1981 after he accused the government of failing to take action against Muslim extremists. Former President Hosni Mubarak ended his exile in 1985.

Shenouda led Copts through periods of tension with Egypt's Muslim majority. Islamic hardliners have carried out attacks against Christian churches, including bombing a Coptic church in Alexandria in 2011, killing 23 people.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday he is saddened by Shenouda's death, calling him an “advocate for tolerance and religious dialogue.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States sends its deepest condolences to the Egyptian people.

Many Copts are concerned that violence and persecution may continue after conservative Islamists won a large a majority of seats in recent parliamentary elections.

Convicted Nazi Death Camp Guard John Demjanjuk Dead at 91

Former Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk, convicted in Germany last year of helping kill some 28,000 prisoners, died Saturday at the age of 91.

Police in the southern German state of Bavaria say the ailing Demjanjuk died in a nursing home in the town of Bad Feilnbach. He had been sentenced last May to five years in prison, but was freed pending an appeal.

The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk denied any role in the Holocaust and claimed that he was a victim of the Nazis himself. He told the court he was drafted into the Soviet army in 1941, held as a German prisoner of war and recruited as a prison camp guard.

After World War II Demjanjuk became a U.S. citizen and spent decades working as a mechanic before he was extradited to face trial in Germany in 2009. His conviction set a legal precedent in Germany, marking the first time someone was convicted solely on the grounds of serving as a camp guard, with no evidence of being involved in a specific crime.

In 1988, Demjanjuk was convicted in Israel of being the notorious guard known as “Ivan the Terrible.” Israel's Supreme Court later overturned the conviction as a case of mistaken identity.

US Representative Donald Payne Dead at 77

Representative Donald Payne, the U.S. state of New Jersey's first black congressman, and a dedicated advocate for democracy in Africa, has died after a battle with colon cancer.

Sources close to the 77-year-old Payne say he died Tuesday at a New Jersey hospital. Payne announced last month that he was undergoing cancer treatment.

The Democratic lawmaker had held his congressional seat since 1988 and was elected to a twelfth term in 2010.

Payne was well-known for his work on African issues, serving as ranking member of the House subcommittee on Africa and previously, chairman.

Payne visited the African continent many times for foreign affairs matters. During a visit to Somalia in April 2009, insurgents fired mortar shells toward the Mogadishu airport as he was departing the capital city by plane.

Payne left the airport safely, but there were civilian injuries from the mortar fire.

Payne had been in Somalia to meet with the president and prime minister on piracy, security and cooperation.

About a month later, he led a fast for Sudan's Darfur region, calling on Congress and the Obama administration to increase opposition to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whom he accused of “unspeakable atrocities.”

In 2004, Payne helped win passage of a resolution declaring the killing in Darfur genocide, and he also authored the Sudan Peace Act, facilitating famine relief efforts.

Payne also was a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and headed the group's nonprofit foundation.

Remembering Davy Jones

by Katherine Cole

Davy Jones, lead singer of the made-for-TV band The Monkees and first crush of millions of girls worldwide, died of a heart attack in Florida Wednesday. He was 66 years old.

Most of his fans first heard of Davy Jones in 1966, when the Monkees television program invaded living rooms worldwide. In reality, the then 21-year-old actor and singer from Manchester in the United Kingdom was a show business veteran. He got his start as a teen actor on British television, and later performed in the West End and Broadway casts of the musical “Oliver.”

While appearing in that show, Davy Jones found himself on The “Ed Sullivan Show” in the U.S. the same night that millions of people tuned in to see the Beatles’ American TV debut.  In later years, Jones often told the story of hearing hundreds of teenagers screaming as the Beatles played, and deciding then and there that he wanted to be a pop star.

Within two years, he was. And, almost 50 years later, the theme song to the television program that made Davy Jones a household name is still burned into the brains of baby boomers around the world.

The Monkees television show was developed to cash in on the success of the Beatles film “A Hard Day’s Night.” Running for only two years, it made stars of Jones and his bandmates Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz. Jones played the part of “the cute one.” A quick look at Twitter and Facebook messages that have popped up since his passing confirm that Davy is remembered decades later as a first crush and teen heartthrob.

The continued success and beloved status of the Monkees is something that Davy Jones didn’t take lightly, or for granted. In a recent interview, Jones talked appreciatively about his longtime fans.

“I love the reaction of the audience," he said.  "I’m looking out there, and people are actually singing along.  I think that makes it for me.  I mean, the fact that the songs are recognizable, we do them the way we did them.”

While the Monkees were often derided for not being a “real band,” just four actors and singers thrown together for a television program, no one can discount their success. They sold millions of records and helped further the careers of their songwriters. The Monkees had number one hits with John Stewart’s "Daydream Believer," Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer," and Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart's "Last Train to Clarksville." Davy Jones sang lead on several of the Monkees’ bigger hits, including another now classic Neil Diamond song, “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You.”

Looking back, it’s easy to say that the Monkees’ songs would be successful. After all, they had a weekly television program and millions of devoted fans. In reality, the Monkees sold millions of records because they released good songs by great writers and recorded them with some of Los Angeles' top studio musicians. Within a year of their debut single, the Monkees released four albums, all of which hit number one and continue to sell well today.

Though the Monkees broke up soon after their television show ended, the ensuing years brought a number of reunions. Last year, Davy, Micky, and Peter briefly toured the U.S. and Britain before mysteriously canceling their remaining dates.

In his post-Monkee life, Davy Jones was an actor and avid horseman. He also continued to tour, with his final New York City performance occurring 11 days before his death of an apparent heart attack at his home in Florida. Davy Jones was 66 years old when he died. Thanks to television and hit singles, however, fans will forever remember him as a cute 21-year-old pop star.