Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & The Foggy Mountain Boys - Foggy Mountain Breakdown: The Collection 1948-62 (2021)

Guitarist and mandolinist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs were among the leading exponents of bluegrass music in the post-war era. Scruggs is famous for developing the three-finger style of banjo picking, elevating its status from being a background accompanying instrument to a featured solo role. Both Flatt and Scruggs had been members of Bill Monroe’s ground-breaking band during the 1940s’ resigning from that outfit in 1948 due to its punishing touring schedule, and forming their own band The Foggy Mountain Boys, themselves becoming one of the best known and longest-established bluegrass bands of all time. This great-value 56-track 2-CD set comprises selected A and B sides of their singles on the Mercury and Columbia labels during what is generally regarded as one of their classic eras of recording. It features their eight US pop and country hits during these years, including the country No. 1 “The Ballad Of Jed Clampett”, and the Top 10 country hits “Tis Sweet To Be Remembered”, “Cabin In The Hills” and “Go Home”. Among the noted band members featured here are mandolin player Curly Seckler and fiddle player Paul Warren. Including vocal and instrumental performances, and with original songs alongside compositions by other writers, and examples of the classic bluegrass “breakdown” style, it’s a feast of top-class and archetypal bluegrass music by two of its most illustrious representatives.