Earl Scruggs & Joan Baez 1972 - Musical Magic That Will Give You The Shivers

Earl Scruggs & Joan Baez 1972 - Musical Magic That Will Give You The Shivers...
It was a beautiful afternoon in Portola Valley, California, at the home of Joan Baez. Bluegrass County Music Legend Earl Scruggs and his two sons Randy Scruggs and Gary Sir Scruggs, were traveling the country seeking out musicians who they admired. Earl had a vision that bluegrass and banjo and mountain and country music could all come together with his incredible banjo style. He reached out to musicians like Joan Baez, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and others, for get-togethers where they could make music and see what would come from it.

This scene with Joan Baez and Earl and Randy Scruggs with Gary in the background is just fantastic and I felt so fortunate to be there to record it. Although I was the director and the cameraman & I set up the camera & the soundman set up a single Neumann microphone. We said we were ready and we started rolling.

Remember that this was a time when Joan's husband David was in prison for protesting the draft during the Vietnam War. They just birthed a son who is seen in this scene. To answer some commentators, it was not alcohol that she gave him in that glass but water.

As you can imagine, being that I am an 82-year-old documentary filmmaker with so many films to my credit, I have recorded a lot of musicians in my day. Country. Bluegrass. Mountain music. Old Time music,. Classical. Folk. Opera. Rock 'n roll.

This moment between Earl and Joan Baez backed up by Earl's brilliant guitar picking son Randy is in a class by itself. At this time, Earl was a search for what to do next. He was tired of playing tunes like what he and Lester Flat did for Beverly Hillbillies (the TV series)...