Foggy Mountain Breakdown

"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is a bluegrass instrumental, in the common "breakdown" format, written by Earl Scruggs and first recorded on December 11, 1949, by the bluegrass artists Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys.[1] It is a standard in the bluegrass repertoire. The 1949 recording features Scruggs playing a five-string banjo.

Earl Scruggs in 2005

It is used as background music in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, especially in the car chase scenes, and has been used in a similar manner in many other films and television programs, particularly when depicting a pursuit scene in a rural setting.[2] In 1968, both the 1949 Mercury Records version and a newly recorded Columbia Records version were listed at one position of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at no. 55.

"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" has been Grammy good for Earl Scruggs. In 1969 at the 11th Annual Grammy Awards, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs won a Grammy for Best Country Performance, Duo Or Group - Vocal Or Instrumental.[3] Earl won another Grammy for the song as written in the next paragraph at the 2002 44th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Country Instrumental Performance. In 1999, the 1950 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on Mercury Records credited to Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[4]

In 2002, Scruggs won a Grammy award for a 2001 performance which featured Steve Martin on second banjo, Albert Lee, Vince Gill, and Randy Scruggs on guitars, Marty Stuart on mandolin, Jerry Douglas on dobro, Leon Russell on organ, Gary Scruggs on harmonica, and Paul Shaffer on piano, among others.[5]

In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.[6]

Because of its ubiquity and its status as a favorite tune at bluegrass jams and concerts, guitar and mandolin players commonly learn solo breaks to this song that closely mirror the original banjo version. The instrumental is related to Bill Monroe's "Bluegrass Breakdown" which Scruggs helped write. It featured the same opening double hammer-on, but "Bluegrass Breakdown" goes to an F major chord whereas Foggy Mountain Breakdown goes to the G major chord's relative minor, an E minor chord.