Bluegrass pioneer Lester Flatt, who died in 1979, is best known for having been a lead singer and guitarist with Bill Monroe back in the 1940s and for the two decades he spent with banjoist and fellow Bluegrass Boys alum Earl Scruggs as Flatt and Scruggs – a partnership that produced such bluegrass classics as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” The U.S. House of Representatives, on Jan. 26, agreed to a sense resolution recognizing Flatt’s invaluable contribution to American art and the indelible legacy he left on bluegrass music. The full text of the resolution follows.
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Lester Flatt has made an invaluable contribution to American art as both a songwriter and a performer, leaving an indelible legacy in bluegrass music.
Whereas Lester Flatt was born on June 19, 1914, in the region of Sparta,Tennessee;
Whereas Lester Flatt began playing guitar and singing in local churches at a young age;
Whereas Lester Flatt got his first break playing with Charlie Monroe and the Kentucky Pardners in North Carolina in the early 1940s;
Whereas in 1945, Lester Flatt was invited by Bill Monroe to play rhythm guitar and sing with Monroe’s band on the Grand Ole Opry;
Whereas Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise, Howard Watts, and Bill Monroe are widely credited with the creation of bluegrass music through their band, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys;
Whereas Lester Flatt later joined with Earl Scruggs to create the band Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, which remains one of the most influential bands in bluegrass music;
Whereas in 1969, Lester Flatt parted with Scruggs to form the band Nashville Grass, with whom he performed until shortly before his death on May 11, 1979;
Whereas in 1991, Lester Flatt, along with Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, became an inaugural member of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame; and
Whereas Lester Flatt is widely regarded as one of the greatest bluegrass musicians and singers of all time, writing dozens of songs that are considered bluegrass classics: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Lester Flatt has made an invaluable contribution to American art as both a songwriter and a performer, leaving an indelible legacy in bluegrass music.
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