1945 Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs join the Blue Grass Boys. 1946 With the addition of Scruggs and Flatt, the "classic" line-up of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys is fixed: Monroe on mandolin, Scruggson banjo, Flatt onguitar, Cubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts (aka Cedric Rainwater) on bass. In addition to his guitar picking, Flatt sings lead vocals, a duty Monroe would rarely again leave to anyone other than himself. Earl Scruggs' distinctive three-finger banjo picking, a style indigenous to his home in western North Carolina, becomes synonymous with what is later called "bluegrass" music. This group makes a number of now-legendary recordings, including "Blue Moon of Kentucky," a waltz Monroe wrote to exploit the success of his first hit song, "Kentucky Waltz." 1947 The Stanley Brothers (Ralph and Carter) record with their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, on an early independent record label, Rich-R-Tone. 1948 Rich-R-Tone releases the Stanleys' recording of a Monroe tune, "Molly and Tenbrooks." Monroe claims they are merely copying his style and is especially vexed by their recording of this song, which he often plays. Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and Cedric Rainwater leave Bill Monroe and start their own group -- Lester Flatt, Early Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys. They sign with Mercury Records, a deal that produces the classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." (Monroe refuses to speak to either Flatt or Scruggs until their band breaks up in 1969.) 1949 The Stanley Brothers sign with Columbia Records, for whom they record 22 songs, including "Man of Constant Sorrow." Bill Monroe, annoyed that Columbia would record the Stanleys, switches to Decca Records. Jimmy Martin joins Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys as lead singer and emcee. 1951 The Stanley Brothers break up, briefly. Carter sings and records with Bill Monroe, only to rejoin his brother, Ralph, the following year. Flatt & Scruggs move to Columbia Records. 1953 The Martha White Flour Company sponsors a weekly radio show featuring Flatt & Scruggs on WSM in Nashville, TN. 1954 Elvis Presley performs a rock 'n' roll rendition of Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the GRAND OLE OPRY. The popularity of rock 'n' roll, seemingly a threat to old-style country music, actually bolsters interest in what is coming to be known as bluegrass music, attracting fans of traditional music who are alienated by the country music industry's increasingly modern sound. 1955 Don Reno and Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith record "Feudin' Banjos," later known as "Duelin' Banjos." 1956 Flatt & Scruggs, now part of the GRAND OLE OPRY, add dobro player Josh Graves, who remains with the Foggy Mountain Boys until the group's break-up in 1969. The dobro, a resophonic slide guitar that grew out of the Hawaiian steel guitar tradition (generally played on the performer's lap, and fingered with a small piece of steel), is subsequently added to the traditional bluegrass instrumental lineup. 1957 The word "bluegrass" appears for the first time as a description of a musical style in Ralph Rinzler's liner notes to the Folkways record AMERICAN BANJO SCRUGGS STYLE. The Country Gentlemen, one of the first urban bands to play in the bluegrass style, is formed in Washington, D.C. 1958 The Osbourne Brothers -- Bobby, who had played with Jimmy Martin, and Sonny, who had played with Bill Monroe -- score a hit with "Once More." In New York City, the New Lost City Ramblers -- Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley -- revive old-time string band songs of the 1920s, '30s, and '40s. 1959 Mike Seeger's brochure notes to the Folkways record MOUNTAIN MUSIC BLUEGRASS STYLE represent the first detailed description of bluegrass music. The first Newport Folk Festival features the Stanley Brothers, Earl Scruggs, and the New Lost City Ramblers, signifying the boom of an urban folk revival. Photos: Lester Flatt (top right and bottom left), Les Leverett; Ryman Auditorium (top and center left), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS, TENN,19-NASH,20-24 and HABS, TENN,19-NASH,20-20.