Randy Scruggs

Randy Scruggs
Scruggs performing in 2009
Background information
Birth nameRandy Lynn Scruggs
Born(1953-08-03)August 3, 1953
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedApril 17, 2018(2018-04-17) (aged 64)
GenresCountry
Occupation(s)Music producer, songwriter, musician
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1970–2018

Randy Lynn Scruggs (August 3, 1953 – April 17, 2018) was an American music producer, songwriter and guitarist. He had his first recording at the age of 13. He won four Grammy Awards and was named Musician of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards three times. He was the middle son of Earl Scruggs and Louise Scruggs.

Career

As a songwriter, Scruggs's credits include "We Danced Anyway", "Love Don't Care (Whose Heart It Breaks)", "Love Has No Right", "Don't Make It Easy for Me", "Chance of Lovin' You", and "Angel in Disguise".

Scruggs worked with many artists, including Michael Card, The Talbot Brothers, Waylon Jennings, Earl Thomas Conley, George Strait and Emmylou Harris. His career began in 1970 with the release of All the Way Home, a collaboration with his older brother Gary. Scruggs recorded his debut solo LP Crown of Jewels in 1998. He played the electric bass on John Hartford's 1971 album Aereo-Plain.

In 1972, Scruggs released another album recorded with Gary: The Scruggs Brothers. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said: "Significant that two musicians so close to the Flatt-picking roots—though it ought to be remembered that their father is an entertainer, not a mountaineer—have put together such a doleful-sounding country-rock band in the face of the good-time sippin'-that-wine stuff the more famous guys are selling."[1]

In 1994, Scruggs teamed with Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Scruggs died after a short illness on April 17, 2018, at the age of 64.[2][3]

Scruggs Sound Studio

In 1980, Scruggs established Scruggs Sound Studio, a recording studio located in Berry Hill, Tennessee.[4] The studio was the location where the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two (1989) and its followup in 2002, as well as Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album (1994). Other artists recording at the studio included Toby Keith, Donna Ulisse, John Michael Montgomery, and others. In 2018, Scruggs sold the studio to Johnny Reid, who renovated and reopened it as Soultrain Sound Studios in 2020.[5][6]

Awards and honors

2002 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Earl Scruggs, Gary Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Steve Martin, Leon Russell, Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, Glen Duncan, Albert Lee, Paul Shaffer and Marty Stuart – "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"

Discography

Albums

Title Album details
All The Way Home (Original title: Second Generation Scruggs)
The Scruggs Brothers
  • Artist: Gary and Randy Scruggs
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Vanguard Records
Crown of Jewels

Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
US Country
[7]
1998 "It's Only Love" (with Mary Chapin Carpenter) 67 Crown of Jewels

References

  1. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  2. ^ Oermann, Robert (2018). "Award Winning Randy Scruggs Passes". MusicRow. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  3. ^ Betts, Stephen L. (April 18, 2018). "Randy Scruggs, Award-Winning Musician and Songwriter, Dead at 64". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  4. ^ Kirby, Kip (September 19, 1981). "Scruggs' Facility State-Of-Art". Billboard. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Lawless, John (April 6, 2020). "Randy Scruggs' Scruggs Sound Studios reopens in Nashville". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  6. ^ Nicholson, Jessica (April 6, 2020). "Johnny Reid To Relaunch Scruggs Sound Studios As Soultrain Sound Studios". Music Row. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Hot Country Songs 1944–2012. Record Research, Inc. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-89820-203-8.
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