Lester Flatt

(guitar - 3/1945-2/1948)
Opry performance circa 1947. Click for full version.

Born: 6/19/1914    Died: 5/11/1979

As a Blue Grass Boy: Lester Flatt was the guitarist and lead singer of the version of the Blue Grass Boys often referred to as the "classic" band (along with Earl Scruggs, Chubby Wise, and Howard "Cedric Rainwater" Watts). This group was only together for two years, but the sound it established set the pattern for all the bands to come. Bill Monroe once said of Flatt, "He was a powerful man in bluegrass music."

Recording Sessions: 9/16/1946, 9/17/1946, 10/27/1947, 10/28/1947

Before and After: His long partnership with Earl Scruggs was one of the most successful bluegrass bands ever. He and Scruggs were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, and in 1991 they, along with Bill Monroe, were the first inductees into the IBMA Hall of Honor. After they split in 1969, Flatt formed the Nashville Grass, which he led until his death in 1979.

Honors: Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Hall of Fame (1984); Country Music Hall of Fame (1985); SPBGMA Preservation Hall of Greats (1985); IBMA Hall of Honor (1989)

Further Reading: A 1982 biography by Jake Lambert with Curly Sechler, The Good Things Outweigh The Bad, is currently out of print.

Links: Flatt and Scruggs Preservation Society
Country Music Hall of Fame profile