# Flatt and Scruggs Do Dylan

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flatt-and-scruggs-do-dylan/611795>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 4, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flatt-and-scruggs-do-dylan/611795 "2012-02-04T21:46:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flatt-and-scruggs-do-dylan/611795/1 "2012-02-04T21:46:46Z")

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I love Flatt and Scruggs playing bluegrass, and I love Bob Dylan playing rock. But Flatt and Scruggs playing Bob Dylan? I’m not sure quite what to make of this. I know Earl Scruggs was always progressive, but Lester Flatt not so much. Flatt doesn’t sound particularly thrilled on either [Like a Rolling Stone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QBqx-oM11o) or [Rainy Day Women](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUDHoge87DU).

In the late 1970s I read in _Banjo Newsletter_ where Earl Scruggs told Sonny Osborne in 1965 that he hadn’t been interested in playing the banjo in 10 years, a fact that Sonny confirmed in response to an email I sent. So at the height of the best bluegrass years of F&S, before they moved into a more folky style, Earl wasn’t interested in his signature instrument. Perhaps his desire to record these songs, which as I have read Flatt didn’t want to do, is evidence of this. But the most perplexing question I have, as a fan of both F&S and Dylan for more than thirty years, is _how did I miss hearing these recordings for so long!_

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**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flatt-and-scruggs-do-dylan/611795/2 "2012-02-05T02:41:58Z")

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Lester did not approve, really. This was the beginning of the end for F&S. They just went in different musical directions. I hadn’t heard that Earl had lost the fire for playing. With regard to why you hadn’t heard this until recently…ummm…dunno.

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**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flatt-and-scruggs-do-dylan/611795/3 "2012-02-05T03:34:22Z")

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Ever heard [these guys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ZUM6jelLQ&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL1729DA4D8B400538)? Soul music done bluegrass style. :eek: Yeah, it sounds crazy but it works. The whole album is outstanding.