CMAS JOE TALBOT AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY PRESENTED TO INDUSTRY LEADER LOUISE SCRUGGS
By Wendy Pearl
Photo: Amanda Eckard / CMA
© 2006 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.
Fifty years ago, Louise Certain Scruggs, wife of famous banjo innovator Earl Scruggs, took on the role of manager and booking agent for the now legendary bluegrass outfit Flatt and Scruggs, making her the first female manager and booking agent in Country Music history. On May 8, this extraordinary woman was posthumously honored by CMA with the presentation of the Joe Talbot Award during a reception at CMA. Earl Scruggs and sons Gary Scruggs and Randy Scruggs accepted the award on her behalf.
With her driving business ethics and ability to see outside the box, Louise significantly helped to progress Country and bluegrass music on a global scale, said CMA COO Tammy Genovese. “She worked tirelessly throughout her life to promote Earl and the music she loved and we are proud to honor her.
Brian Mansfield, Country Music Editor for USA Today, was on hand to make the presentation to attending members of the Scruggs family.
Louise was every bit as important to bluegrass as the men who held the instruments, Mansfield said.
Thanking CMA for the Award on behalf of his his family, Randy said of his mother, She believed in the dignity and the respect of the artists.
The Joe Talbot Award is voted on by the CMA Board of Directors, and awarded to a person (living or deceased) in recognition of outstanding leadership and contributions to the preservation and advancement of Country Music’s values and traditions. The Award was created in 2001 and bestowed posthumously on its namesake, Joe Talbot, a beloved lifetime member of the CMA Board who passed away in 2000. In 2004, Janette Carter received the Award.
As a female executive, I wish I had been able to present this Award to Louise for all she represented to this industry as a female role model, Genovese said. Fortunately, Louise knew before she died that she was the recipient of the Joe Talbot Award, but her failing health prevented us from presenting it to her while she was with us, but her legacy and inspiration will certainly remain.
For years, Louise Scruggs ran Scruggs Talent Agency Inc. out of the couples Madison, Tenn., home. In 1959, she booked Earl to play at the first Newport Folk Festival. The performance was well received and Bluegrass entered the popular folk world. This significant breakthrough led to broader national gigs for Flatt and Scruggs and a call to record the theme song for the popular television show The Beverly Hillbillies.
Flatt and Scruggs went their separate ways in 1969 and Earl and sons Gary, Randy and Steve formed the Earl Scruggs Revue. Booked and managed by Louise, the band performed everywhere from the countrys most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall and the Fillmore Auditorium to national and international music festivals.
Louise continued working to further the music of Earl up to the time of her passing on Feb. 2, 2006. She was 78. During her life, she was at Earl’s side as he received countless awards and accolades including being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1985 with Lester Flatt), winning multiple GRAMMY Awards, receiving the National Medal of the Arts and becoming a Hollywood Walk of Fame honoree.
LOUISE SCRUGGS: THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BANJO MAN
By John Hood
© 2006 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.
Louise Scruggs; Photo: courtesy of the Scruggs Family
Earl and Louise Scruggs had a business relationship that lasted a half century and - more importantly - a love affair that lasted a lifetime. It's a partnership that blossomed into one of the most creative, fruitful artist/manager relationships the music industry has ever seen.
In fact, Louise played such a pivotal role in her husband's career that the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum made her an integral part of its "Banjo Man: The Musical Journey of Earl Scruggs" exhibit, which opened in March 2005 and continued through June 2006.
As the exhibit traced Earl's musical journey, it also chronicled Louise's impact on his career, which began when she took over booking for the legendary Flatt & Scruggs in 1955.
"He was getting ready to leave one day," said Louise of her almost accidental entry into the music business. "He was in a hurry. He had a name on a notepad and said 'Here's a guy in Virginia. Could you give him a call and see if you can set this date up?' So I took the name and called the guy and booked the date. When he came back home that night, I said, 'I got that date for you. Do you have any more calls you want me to make?' He said, 'Yeah, I have.'"
So began a historic partnership and a perfect match: Earl was a musical visionary, and Louise was a visionary in marketing her husband's music.
"She's the best manager I've ever witnessed," Earl said. "She's not hard to get along with, but she likes to see things taken care of. That's what it's all about with her - taking care of business."
Louise did more than take care of business; she created new opportunities for her husband. She helped develop and nurture the Martha White sponsorship that gave Scruggs and partner Lester Flatt a national audience, and recognized the late 1950s folk movement as an opportunity to take her husband's music to a completely new demographic.
"She was promoting Flatt & Scruggs way beyond the bluegrass and traditional Country audience," said Mick Buck, Curator of Collections for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. "When the folk music boom of the late '50s and early '60s hit, a lot of the college kids really responded to Flatt & Scruggs music, especially Earl's banjo playing. They heard his banjo playing as a connection to older, more traditional forms of music. Louise was aware of that, and was instrumental in booking Earl as solo act at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival."
Louise also had keen instincts. For instance, she overcame her initial hesitation when Flatt & Scruggs were approached to do the theme music for the 1960s "The Beverly Hillbillies" TV series.
"I turned them down when they first approached me about doing the theme music because of the word hillbilly," she said. "I'd seen movies where they portrayed Southerners as illiterate, with a thick accent that I hated. Mr. (Paul) Henning, who wrote and directed the show, said that if I was that concerned, he'd send the pilot out and let me see it. So he did. We saw it and thought that it looked pretty good."
The duo's musical contribution to the show worked out so well that Louise saw a natural next step. "I thought it just might make a killer record," she said. "I called Don Law, their producer, and he thought it was a good idea too." The result was a Country smash, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett."
D.J. McLachlan, who has helped Louise guide Earl's career for almost 30 years, said he believes the Scruggs have been so successful because they are cut from the same cloth.
"He's an ultimate creator and so is she," said McLachlan. "He creates and explores, and she finds and shares new ideas of where his music can go. She always thought that he was an international star, and that his music would cross lines and borders. When other bluegrass bands were worrying about which high school auditorium they were going to play next, Louise was planning on getting her husband into Carnegie Hall."
The partnership forged by the Scruggs has not only kept his career relevant for more than 50 years, it's also been remarkably free from conflict.
"He's not difficult to work with," said Louise with a grin. "Seeing Earl accepted by the public has been the most rewarding thing about my career. Everybody loves him. His fans appreciate him so much. He enjoys it too. That's great to see."
"We've had a love affair that's lasted and grown into more than it was when we first married," added Earl.
On the Web: www.earlscruggs.com
