| Apart from Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, | | | | Beverly Hillbillies". They played and sang the show's |
| Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs are arguably the most | | | | theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", and were |
| famous and influential bluegrass musicians of all time. | | | | also seen in cameo appearances from time to time |
| They were able to popularize the genre even more | | | | for many years. Reruns of those shows are still |
| than Monroe himself, mainly due to their tremendous | | | | played around the world even today. Their recording |
| exposure from television and movies. | | | | of the theme song was the first bluegrass song to |
| Like so many other bluegrass legends, Flatt and | | | | reach the #1 position on the country music charts and |
| Scruggs got there start as members of Monroe's | | | | greatly helped to popularize bluegrass music across |
| band, the Bluegrass Boys. The addition of Flatt's soulful | | | | the nation. |
| vocals and Scruggs' superb talent on the 5-string banjo | | | | In 1967 the big hit movie, "Bonnie and Clyde" featured |
| resonated well with the audiences and soon Monroe's | | | | the Scruggs instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" |
| new band was a hit everywhere they played. Flatt | | | | making the song one of the most well known |
| and Scruggs were members of Monroe's band from | | | | bluegrass instrumentals ever recorded. Scrugg's newly |
| 1945 until 1948 when they left to form their own band | | | | popularized style of banjo playing would become the |
| called Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy | | | | standard in bluegrass. He virtually reinvented the banjo |
| Mountain Boys. | | | | with his three-fingered style of picking which has since |
| Television and movies rocketed Flatt and Scruggs to | | | | become known as "Scruggs style" picking. |
| stardom more than any other bluegrass band in the | | | | In 1969, Lester and Earl split up to pursue different |
| history of the genre. In the early 1960's they were | | | | musical directions. They were inducted into the Country |
| featured on the top-rated television show, "The | | | | Music Hall of Fame in 1985. |