The time was 1971. I was making a 90 minute documentary with Earl Scruggs, the great banjo picker and his band made up of his two sons, Randy Scruggs and Gary Scruggs. Earl had the idea to go in search for other great musicians and musical genres that could possibly be combined with the banjo and his Scruggs style to create something beautiful. Country music. Rock 'n' roll. Even a Moog synthesizer, and of course bluegrass and mountain music. I think he would have performed with a classical orchestra if he had had the chance.
He sought out The Byrds and Roger McGuinn, quite famous at that time especially for their combination of country and rock 'n' roll and especially for Rogers’ version of the great Dylan song, You Ain't Going Nowhere which many of us called “Down In The Easy Chair."
We set up at a farm somewhere in western North Carolina. We brought the best recording equipment at the time and there was just one cameraman - me - and I was in the middle of it all. That's why the camerawork isn't perfect. Two cameras would've helped. But the feeling of the song and the two bands just hanging out and picking and singing together was as I say in the title, magnificent.
At this time, Gram Parsons wasn't with the band but the great Clarence White was there and was just fantastic to us as filmmakers.
While I do love concert documentaries, I also love the moments that I recorded which were done "in the field" without rehearsal or practice, just great musicians singing and picking music together.
The 90 minute documentary that this is a part of is called Earl Scruggs: His Family & Friends. It presents scenes with Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Earl's sons Randy and Gary, The Morris Brothers, Bob Dylan, & Joan Baez among many others in informal scenes playing & singing together. Said Bruce Elder of The All Music Guide: " The music here is glorious. Here is the link: • Earl Scruggs Made This...
David Hoffman Filmmaker