A very good friend and a fellow blogger (Who by the way hasn't sent me notice of a blog posting in months!) read my blog entry concerning Earl Scruggs which quoted a long and sincere letter to all of us Banjo nuts, from Kristen Scott Benson, about how she experienced Earl and her feelings. I thought her letter to be well written and all-encompassing, however, my friend wanted to hear my thoughts on Earl. Soooo, here goes. Get ready, this could be a long ride.
First I must tell you that I only met Earl Scruggs on three occasions and on two of them he was simply sitting at a table autographing whatever we had to offer. The first time was on my second trip to Nashville to attend the 18th annual SPBGMA weekend. I was walking around the exhibit hall when I heard and felt a commotion going on. "What in the world," I thought and then I saw him. There's Earl Scruggs and a hush fell over the room as he was guided through the crowd to an anteroom toward the back. We found out through very fast word of mouth that he was there to sign autographs. I had nothing for him to sign and was feeling more than a little frustrated. A long line quickly formed and it was then that I saw folks coming out of the room carrying the large Gibson advertising poster with a huge picture of Earl on it. And he was autographing them. I got in line right away. This was gonna be cool. The line stretched all the way the length of the exhibit hall and then zig-zagged back and forth in the room where Earl was. . . . . . . Now, let me back up in time just a bit. I created a t-shirt in 1984 that reads "No! I'm Not Earl Scruggs." I'll tell you later why I created it, but for now let me tell you that Little Roy Lewis is a Scruggs man through and through and the first time he saw me wearing that shirt he just about busted a seam laughing. It sort of opened a dialogue between Little Roy and me as it has with many strangers. Little Roy laughed and laughed and asked where I got such an idea. I told him the story and he loved it. Anyway, he told Earl about my shirt and he told me about it the next time I saw him. Little Roy said all Earl could say was, "Why would he do a thing like that." Real dry like. Little Roy told me Earl didn't have a great sense of humor and he just didn't get it. . . . . . . So, I'm standing in line waiting and I'm about ten people back in line from getting to Earl and they ran out of the Gibson posters. Dang! Of all the rotten luck! All i had on me was a advertisement from one of the display tables, so I got Earl to sign that. Today, I have no idea where that autograph is. To say I was really disappointed is an understatement. I guess that's why I don't know what I've done with his autograph. But, there's more to this meeting. While I was getting his autograph I proceeded to ask if he remembered Little Roy telling him about a guy in Virginia that made up a T-shirt that said, "No! I'm Not Earl Scruggs." He said he remembered and asked me the same question he asked Little Roy, "Why would you do that?" I tried to explain, but Earl was just too serious and rooted in the real world to see that even for humor it didn't make sense. I had to leave it at that, at least for the moment.
The second time I met Earl Scruggs was probably the best one, except I sorta froze because it was sudden and totally unexpected. This time I was attending my third IBMA ""World of Bluegrass" event in Louisville, KY. It was mid-week, if I recall correctly and I was walking in a nearly empty hallway toward the exhibit hall and as I rounded the corner, really not paying much attention to what I was going I nearly ran right into him as he was walking toward me. I was flabbergasted and not being prepared, all I could think to do was say hello and offer my hand. We did shake hands and he said something like, "Nice to see you." or something like that. Then he kept walking and so did I. So, there goes my real chance to perhaps talk one on one with the great one and I say, "hello." Just a star struck fool, I guess.
The third and last time I was able to speak and shake hands with Earl was long anticipated. Sigrid Williams, the president of the Virginia Folk Music Association, hired Earl to appear at the VFMA Jumpin' Bluegrass Festival. I knew months in advance and I came up with idea to make a shirt that said "No! I'm Not Gary Robertson" and present it to Earl. Pretty funny, I thought. Ha Ha! So, I made up the shirt, just like I do mine, with a black magic marker. After listening to him perform, and quite well I might say, he sat at a table and a line formed for autographs. I asked him sign the cover of the VFMA program booklet and then gave him the shirt. He stood up and held the shirt up in front of him and I stood next to him in my shirt. He almost instantly threw the shirt on the ground, but not before someone got a picture of us together. It's been a while, but if memory serves me right, it was Randy Grigg who took the picture. Randy, if it was you, I never got a copy of the picture. Hint, hint! Another funny thing about that day was that Earl's wife, Louise, was with him. She saw my shirt and she really eyed me carefully. I had heard most of my life that Louise was a shrewd business woman and had everything with Earl's likeness or name on it copyrighted. I was sure she was gonna ask me for money, but she didn't, after all. Also, Marty Stuart was there that day helping Earl out and he saw and liked my shirt. He got out his 35MM camera and took a couple of pictures of me and with me. I have heard from some friends that Marty has several videos on the market and that one of them shows me in the shirt. Sure would like to see that some day. BTW: There were a bunch of middle aged women there shouting at Marty, wanting his autograph. I told Marty, "Those women want your autograph." He looked their way and back at me and said, "Forget 'em, this is Earl's day."
These were the three time I actually met Earl and shook his hand and spoke with him. Other that these, I have seen him perform on several occasions. The first time was a very long time ago when he and The Earl Scruggs Revue appeared as part of a package show touring the country after the great success of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" album. Larry Stephenson was there at the tender age of 16, performing with his dad in the very first Larry Stephenson Band. I've spoken and emailed several times with Larry about that show. He even sent me a copy of the show schedule for that day.
I've enlarged this as big as I can and I am hoping you will be able to read it. Also, I got a picture of Earl signing autographs that day. 
I think the most poignant of the times I saw Earl Scruggs was at the IBMA Awards in 2010. Earl was old and he looked the part. He was stooped and could barely walk, but he made his way to the chair there waiting for him, center stage. His son, Randy, draped the guitar strap over his shoulder as he handed Earl his guitar. Moments later, Earl began playing his wonderful song, "You Are My Flower," and it melted the years away and I felt moved to tears hearing this great man play that beautiful melody with all the strength and vitality of his youth. What a special moment in my life that was.
{I don't understand all of the intricacies of how computers work. I cannot make this picture appear as part of the article, but if you click inside the box it should appear on a separate page. Sorry for the problem. - Gary}
When this performance was over, Earl was helped from the stage and his guitar was left and all of the lights went down except for a soft spotlight on the guitar.
"NUFF SAID!"
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