Born in Tennessee on This Day in 1914, One Half of the Legendary Bluegrass Duo Whose Influence Spanned Generations

If Bill Monroe was the Father of Bluegrass, Lester Flatt is surely one of its disciples. Born on this day (June 19) in 1914 in Overton County, Tennessee, Flatt teamed up with banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs to bring the genre into the mainstream. As Flatt and Scruggs, they released hit singles like “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett”, the timeless theme to the beloved sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.

On May 11, 1979, Lester Flatt died of heart failure in Nashville at the age of 64. Today, we’re celebrating his life and legacy on what would have marked Flatt’s 112th birthday.

Lester Flatt Met Earl Scruggs in Bill Monroe’s Band

Like his partner Earl Scruggs, Flatt grew up in a musical family, learning to play both banjo and guitar and singing in the church choir. He left school at age 12 to work in the textile mills, marrying wife Gladys at age 17.

In the late 1930s, Flatt worked in radio before joining The Kentucky Pardners, led by Bill Monroe’s older brother Charlie, in 1943. He played mandolin and sang tenor until leaving Charlie to join Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys as lead singer and guitarist in 1945.

Scruggs joined the Blue Grass Boys that same year, auditioning on the banjo for Flatt and Monroe.

Upon hearing his future duet partner perform for the first time,  “I was thrilled,” Flatt later recalled. “It was so different! I had never heard that kind of banjo picking.”

Going Off On Their Own

Thanks to Bill Monroe’s frenetic mandolin playing, Lester Flatt’s solid rhythm guitar, and Earl Scruggs treating the banjo as a lead instrument, the popularity of bluegrass spilled into the mainstream.

In 1948, the two men left Monroe to form Flatt and Scruggs, naming their backing band the Foggy Mountain Boys. Two years later, they signed with Columbia Records, where they would remain for the duration of their career.

Flatt and Scruggs single-handedly ruled bluegrass music for the next 20 years, releasing dozens of albums and hosting their own syndicated radio shows.

Musical differences caused a rift they couldn’t overcome, however—Flatt remained a staunch traditionalist, while Scruggs wanted to branch out from the fundamentals.

[RELATED: 3 Bluegrass Singles That Achieved the Impossible and Reached the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100]

The duo parted ways in 1969, with Flatt founding the Nashville Grass band.

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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