"Earl Scruggs and Friends," released in August 2001 on MCA Nashville, is a crossover collaboration produced by Scruggs's son Randy, pairing the three-finger banjo pioneer with an extraordinary cast of pop, rock, and country artists. Guests across the album's tracks include Elton John, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Bob Thornton, Melissa Etheridge, Sting, Don Henley, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty, and Vince Gill. The centerpiece — an all-star "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" featuring Steve Martin, Marty Stuart, Jerry Douglas, and Albert Lee — won Scruggs his second Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance, 40 years after his first for the same song with Lester Flatt. The album stands as a late-career testament to how thoroughly the Scruggs three-finger style had permeated American music well beyond bluegrass.
Tracklist
- 1 Country Comfort 4:53
- 2 Borrowed Love 2:58
- 3 Ring of Fire alt version 2:12
- 4 True Love Never Dies 3:46
- 5 The Angels 4:54
- 6 Fill Her Up 5:45
- 7 Foggy Mountain Breakdown alt version 2:20
- 8 Somethin' Just Ain't Right 3:52
- 9 I Found Love 3:10
- 10 Blue Ridge Mountain Blues Source Recording 3:21
- 11 Passin' Thru 5:38
- 12 Foggy Mountain Rock/Foggy Mountain Special - Medley 2:26