Charles Johnson is better known to bluegrass fans as Little Jody Rainwater, bass player with bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs during the early 1950s.

Today is Jody’s 89th birthday, and the radio station that he called home after departing from the band, WSVS, is celebrating.

Beginning at 2:45 PM this afternoon, WSVS, AM 800, in Crewe, Virginia, will be airing a special birthday broadcast in Jody’s honor. The show will run till 4 PM.

I spoke with Chris Gowin, the station manager at WSVS, and he told me they will be recording the program and will re-air it sometime in the next few weeks, immediately after their internet stream becomes active.

Here’s some background information on Jody’s association with the station, from the WSVS website.

In the early 1950s Charles Johnson, otherwise known as Little Jody Rainwater, was the promoter and bassist in the bluegrass group Flatt and Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys. When Jody (as he was known to all) decided to leave the Foggy Mountain Boys and settle down, he chose WSVS and Crewe as his home. Jody’s programming became extremely popular with the listeners and Jody’s ongoing support of the bluegrass movement endeared listeners to him.

In early 1954, Flatt and Scruggs, then sponsored by Martha White Mills, decided to change location. They moved from Nashville, TN where they performed on WSM’s daily, early-morning broadcast, to WSVS in Crewe. Starting daily in May of 1954 until January of 1955, the Foggy Mountain Boys played a daily show on WSVS from the studios on Melody Lane.

The next editions in the series of DVDs featuring recordings from Best of The Flatt & Scruggs TV shows, Volume 5 and Volume 6 are scheduled for released on April 1.

This series contains the best musical performances from a long lost TV show taped in the 1950s and 1960s. Never available before, this footage features Flatt and Scruggs in their prime with their group the Foggy Mountain Boys playing many of their most famous songs as well as many other bluegrass classics.

The series is available from the independent record and video company Shanachie Entertainment of New Jersey, in cooperation with The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

A complete track listing can be seen in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum online store, where pre-orders are available.

“Awww… thank you T. Tommy.” How do you type that out of the corner of your mouth so it sounds like Lester Flatt?

I finally had a chance recently to watch the new Flatt & Scruggs DVDs released by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and Shanachie Entertainment. Like the two previous DVDs in this series, these two new DVDs (Volumes 3 and 4), feature video recordings of Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys from their live Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry TV shows aired in the early 1960s. Each DVD contains two roughly 30 minute programs, complete with Martha White advertisements.

These two new releases are a crucial addition to any bluegrass lover’s - or student’s - library. They are truly timeless, and capture brilliantly the easy charm that made Flatt & Scruggs into popular television personalities - not to mention the power and precision of the musical performances.

They showcase one of the most influential editions of The Foggy Mountain Boys: Curly Seckler on mandolin and tenor vocals, Josh Graves on resonator guitar, Paul Warren on fiddle and Jake Tullock on bass - and comic relief. As a special treat, Vol. 3 also includes several cuts that feature an 8 year old Randy Scruggs, and Vol. 4 has 7 year old Ricky Skaggs on two songs.

On one hand, the viewer is struck by how much has changed in bluegrass music over the ensuing 45 years since these shows were recorded. Yet at the same time, much of the formula that made Lester and Earl into stars is still central to what keeps modern bluegrass fresh, and continuing to appeal to audiences of all ages.

They mix banjo and fiddle instrumentals, Gospel and spiritual numbers, familiar and newly-composed bluegrass songs and sounds from the current pop music of the day (hillbilly country, folk and early rock and roll).

It’s also fun to watch the band deal with the then still emerging medium of live television. Lester comes across like a seasoned pro, and Earl’s quiet persona serves as the perfect counterpart. The other members of the band each add their own personality as well, with Seckler’s stone-faced seriousness balanced by Tullock’s clowning, and Graves and Warren smiling broadly at the folks out in TV land while they lay down their seminal instrumental solos.

Four more volumes in this critically valuable series will be released in 2008.

Oddly enough, the new DVDs are not yet available for sale on the Shanachie site, but can be found on the Country Music Hall of Fame site, and from most popular online sellers of bluegrass music and videos.

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs were honored last night as they were inducted into Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Hall Of Fame at their 38th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony.

Marty Stuart inducted Flatt & Scruggs, recalling how he joined Lester Flatt & The Nashville Grass when he was 13 years old. The Del McCoury Band performed a number of Flatt & Scruggs compositions (If I Should Wander Back Tonight, Earl’s Breakdown, Little Cabin Home on the Hill, Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’ and The Martha White Theme) and were then joined by Stuart for Scruggs’ classic Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

From the NSAI press release:

Joining Scruggs to accept the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Manny Award (short for manuscript) were Flatt’s widow, Gladys Flatt, and granddaughter Tammy Brumfield. “It’s been a wonderful ride,” Scruggs said. “Thank you all very much.”

Also inducted last night were Bob DiPiero, Mac McAnally, Dottie Rambo and Hank Williams, Jr.

Our British correspondent, Richard Thompson, has an overview of a CD collection that was released back in August ‘07.

Time Life has released a further collection of bluegrass recordings. Classic Bluegrass Collection is a compilation featuring three CDs of well-known bluegrass recordings across a variety of record labels. The boxed set includes music by Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, Jim & Jesse, Reno & Smiley, the Osborne Brothers, Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Del McCoury, Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless and selections from the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

In addition to the above-mentioned famous names of the bluegrass genre, there are recordings by some lesser-known, but nonetheless important names also. Among these are Buzz Busby, Jim Eanes, Charlie Moore and Bill Napier, The Stonemans, Carl Story, Red Allen, Kentucky Colonels, Lilly Brothers, The Bluegrass Cardinals, Country Gentlemen and Joe Val. Additionally, Time Life has made available a selection of signature songs from a wide range of present-day working bands.

This is a good collection that brings together music from the time of the birth of bluegrass through to the 21st century. It is a good start point for those who are beginning to explore the genre. Whether the experts would agree on the selections is another matter.

Classic Bluegrass Collection reflects Time Life’s ongoing commitment to bringing top quality bluegrass music to a wider audience. In just the past year, the company has released a set by The Stanley Brothers, an anthology, Gloryland: 30 Bluegrass Gospel Classics, from leading bluegrass label Rebel Records and has issued their first bluegrass documentary film, Bluegrass Country Soul.

A detailed track listing follows …. (more…)

Our industrious British correspondent, Richard F. Thompson, is back with an expanded overview of a story Brance posted last month.

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs will be among this year’s five new inductees into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. announced on Monday. Flatt and Scruggs first met as part of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1945. During his time with Monroe, Lester Flatt assisted with the growth of his leader’s song writing and is credited as co-writing Will You Be Loving Another Man and When You Are Lonely. Flatt sang lead on and thus helped to popularize many of the songs that they did. Of course, Scruggs’s banjo playing at this time was wholly ear-catching and new to the vast majority of those who saw and heard the innovative Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys.

In 1948 they left Monroe and started their own act, forming the Foggy Mountain Boys and the duo, recognizing that original material would help to create an individual identity and repertoire, began to write their own songs. Their catalogue is vast and a partial list alone features many songs readily recognizable as ’standards’ ….. God Loves His Children, I’m Going To Make Heaven My Home, We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart, My Cabin In Caroline, Down The Road, So Happy I’ll Be, Don’t Get Above Your Raising, Your Life Is Like A Flower [with assistance from Bea Lilly] and Blue Ridge Cabin Home, [credited to Louise Certain (Scruggs) and Gladys Stacey (Flatt)].

Additionally, Lester Flatt penned many that are credited in his name - or his wife’s name, Gladys Stacey (Flatt) - alone. These include Why Don’t You Tell Me So, I’ll Never Shed Another Tear, Is It Too Late Now?, My Little Girl In Tennessee, I’ll Never Love Another, I’m Head Over Heals In Love, The Old Home Town, I’ll Stay Around, Get In Line Brothers, Brother, I’m Getting Ready To Go, Be Ready For Tomorrow May Never Come and You Can Feel It In Your Soul.

Earl Scruggs wrote and arranged a considerable number of instrumental pieces, including Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Earl’s Breakdown, Flint Hill Special, Dear Old Dixie, Foggy Mountain Chimes and Randy Lynn Rag, along with Shucking The Corn and all the traditional tunes that are featured on one of the band’s most successful albums, the all-instrumental Foggy Mountain Banjo. (more…)

The Nashville Songwriters Association International has announced its 2007 nominees for induction into its Hall of Fame.

The list is divided into two categories, songwriter and songwriter/artist. The songwriter category is for persons who do not have a career as an artist, but have achieved a measure of commercial success or recognition at least 20 years ago. The songwriter/artist category is for those persons who do have a career as an artist and have also achieved success as songwriters.

This year’s list includes the names of bluegrass legends Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs. Of course, they are in the songwriter/artist category along with four other nominees. One of the five nominees in this category will be chosen for induction into the Hall of Fame at a dinner scheduled for October 14, 2007.

The group of nominees was recommended to the board by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation (NaSHOF) Nominating Committee, which is comprised of Hall of Fame members and Music Row historians. Votes are cast by Hall of Fame members, Professional Songwriter members of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and the boards of the NaSHOF and NSAI.

In addition to Flatt & Scruggs, Paul Craft and L.E. White are both nominated in the songwriter category. Both of these writers have had ties to the bluegrass community over the years.

The complete list of nominees, along with biographical information on each one, is available here.

The Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum in Nashville has announced that the next two volumes of the Best Of Flatt & Scruggs TV Show will be released on DVD October 9, 2007. Like the first two volumes which came out this past March, each of these new DVDs will features a pair of Flatt & Scruggs TV shows, originally aired in 1961 and ‘62.

From the August 2 press release:

Until the late 1980s, it was believed that no copies of this groundbreaking series had survived. In 1989, however, advertising executive Bill Graham discovered and donated to the Museum 24 intact shows. Soon after, 12 more were acquired from another source. The shows were innovative on several levels: Each show’s mix of uptempo tunes, comedy bits, spotlight instrumentals and occasional guest performances was a template that subsequent country variety shows would follow. Additionally, the Martha White in-show advertising and accompanying cooking demonstrations were precursors to modern product placement.

Titled Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry, the show ran from 1955 until 1969, when the pair ended their partnership to take separate musical paths. These shows illustrate the band’s greatness as a well-oiled performing unit. “Those were good years,” Scruggs said of the era captured on these programs. “Basically, we had a good time with each other…There’s nothing like that on the air now, I don’t reckon.”

Volume 3 promises two guest performances by Ricky Skaggs at seven years old, trading licks with Scruggs on Foggy Mountain Special, and singing his version of The Osborne Brothers hit Ruby. Volume 4 has the television debut of Randy Scruggs, performing on autoharp.

Of course, both DVDs are bursting at the seams with classic Flatt & Scruggs performances. A detailed description of each volume can be found on the CMHOF site.

They will be released jointly by Shanachie Entertainment and the Country Music Hall Of Fame, who have also announced that the four final sets of shows will be available in 2008.

The first two volumes have been warmly received by bluegrass lovers all over the world, and these next ones are not likely to disappoint.

Yesterday (4/26), Earl Scruggs was a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered, where he discussed the recently released set of DVDs from the Flatt & Scruggs television shows in the the late 1950s and early ’60s.

He talks with Melissa Block about the old days, and shared a few stories about doing TV in that era. A few bits of audio from the DVDs are also featured.

You can hear the five minute segment with Earl on the NPR web site.

Here’s a fun video clip which has made the rounds on the Internet a number of times. It features a seven year old Ricky Skaggs performing with Flatt & Scruggs on their television program. He sings Ruby and plays his mandolin on Earl Scruggs’ normally instrumental version of the song, Reuben.

This clip appears to be taken from a “bootleg” copy of the footage, as the time code appears throughout. Perhaps a subsequent edition of the Flatt & Scruggs DVD collections recently released by Shanachie will include this classic bit of bluegrass history.

You can watch the Skaggs clip on YouTube.

http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/flatt-scruggs-tv-shows-on-dvd

Earl Scruggs will be celebrating the release of volumes 1 & 2 of the Flatt & Scruggs TV show DVDs we told you about here, by signing copies in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum store on March 23, 2007 at 4 PM.

The signing will be limited to the first 150 guests. The line forms beginning at 3:30 PM. Earl will only sign items purchased in the museum, and there is a two item per person limit. Scruggs will not be posing for photos with fans during this event.

Photo by Gretchen Snyder and Steve Stolzenburg, originally posted here.

Yesterday I posted about about the controversy that Steve Jobs stirred up with his open letter to the music industry concerning digital downloads and DRM. Today two things caught my attention while doing some reading online.

The first is a rumor that EMI is considering licensing it’s entire catalog to online retailers as unrestricted mp3s. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required to read full story) recently reported on this rumor.

In a move that could signal a shift in the music industry’s antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC has been holding talks with several online retailers about the possibility of selling its entire digital music catalog in the unprotected MP3 format, which can be freely copied and played on virtually any device…

My understanding is that EMI at first sought upfront cash payments from the retailers in an effort to insure against what the label deemed “potential losses.” The retailers didn’t entirely like the idea and are now offering counter-proposals as negotiations continue. My take on this is that EMI still thinks that selling their music online, unprotected by DRM, will result in piracy and a loss of sales. If Steve Jobs is right and EMI is wrong, this could provide an opportunity for online retailers who have the available capitol to take advantage of the labels fear by negotiating an initial payment followed by lower per track payments on the backend. I don’t know the details of the offered deal though, and it seems likely that EMI is trying to position itself to gain from either scenario.

Other major labels are taking the defensive against Jobs’ challenge. It should be interesting to watch where this goes in the next year or so.

The second matter is only slightly releated, but an article on the CMT.com website is drawing parallels between Jobs’ attitude toward the industry and that of the early Flatt & Scruggs. The author of the piece traces the condition of the industry in relation to anemic sales of country music CDs and talks about Jobs’ idea of selling unprotected mp3s. He then goes on to talk about the soon to be released Flatt & Scruggs DVDs and the band’s attitude toward being on TV. At the end of the article he compares their attitude to that of Jobs.

Flatt & Scruggs never met Steve Jobs, obviously. But if they had met, they would have recognized themselves as brothers-in-arms. For they had a common goal: to dominate their market and leave a mark. And they both did so.

Starting on Tuesday October 25, The Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum will offer a special programming schedule to coincide with IBMA week in Nashville.

Located at 222 Fifth Ave. S., the Hall Of Fame and Museum is only a short distance from the site of the IBMA convention, and admission to most museum events is free with an IBMA badge. Special events include film screenings of classic Flatt & Scruggs shows, interviews, live performances from 3 Fox Drive and Heather Berry, and a book signing with Stephanie Ledgin. See a complete list of events on the Hall Of Fame web site.