The Essential Flatt & Scruggs: 'Tis Sweet To Be Remembered [Box]

Performer: Flatt & Scruggs
Producer: Bob Irwin; Bob Irwin (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Recorded between 1950 and 1967. Includes liner notes by Patrick Carr. All tracks on disc one are mono. All tracks on disc 2 are in stereo, except tracks 1-3, 14-15 which are mono. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Liner Note Author: Patrick Carr. Recording information: 11/21/1950-10/20/1967. Photographer: Michael Ochs. Arranger: Doc Watson. Excepting a few years with Mercury at the beginning of their career, Flatt & Scruggs made all of their studio recordings for Columbia. This double-disc set is the most useful survey of their work for the label, spanning 1950 to 1969, and throwing in three unreleased tracks along the way. In addition to the expected sterling bluegrass, it has their occasional commercial breakthroughs ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett," "Petticoat Junction," and the version of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" that was used as the theme to Bonnie and Clyde). Curiosity seekers will also be impressed by their cover of Bob Dylan's "Down in the Flood," recorded in late 1967, and unreleased by Dylan himself until The Basement Tapes. ~ Richie Unterberger

Down Beat (6/97, p.63) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...this 34-song collection documents their casual virtuosity and unstudied ebullience..."

Guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's band in the mid-'40s, and helped create Monroe's signature sound, emphasizing a blend of down-home roots and breathtaking technical facility. Such was the pair's virtuosity that each had a banjo or guitar technique named after them. Flatt & Scruggs left Monroe's band in 1948 and started their own group, which proved to be a huge success, and did as much as Monroe's group to put bluegrass on the map outside the traditional country audience. The pair went their separate ways in 1969, after having spawned a whole new generation of disciples via the '60s folk boom. Flatt died in 1979, but Scruggs continued performing to much acclaim into the 21st century.

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