"Dueling Banjos" is a bluegrass composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. The song was composed in 1954 by Smith as a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos"; it contained riffs from Smith, recorded in 1955 playing a four-string plectrum banjo and accompanied by five-string bluegrass banjo player Don Reno. The composition's first wide-scale airing was on a 1963 television episode of '' The Andy Griffith Show'' called "Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee", in which it is played by visiting musical family the Darlings (portrayed by The Dillards, a bluegrass group), along with Griffith himself. The song was made famous by the 1972 film '' Deliverance,'' which also led to a successful lawsuit by the song's composer, as it was used in the film without Smith's permission. The film version was arranged and recorded by Eric Weissberg and

Steve Mandell Stephen Arnold "Steve" Mandell ( – March 14, 2018) was an American bluegrass guitarist and banjoist. Most notably, he is known for the 1973 instrumental hit "Dueling Banjos," recorded in duo with Eric Weissberg and was awarded a Grammy. Life and ...

, but only credited to Weissberg on a single subsequently issued in December 1972. It went to second place for four weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1973, behind Roberta Flack's " Killing Me Softly with His Song"; it topped the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

for two weeks. It reached No. 1 for one week on both the '' Cashbox'' and ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' charts. It reached No. 5 on Hot Country Singles. It was nominated for the

30th Golden Globe Awards The 30th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1972, were held on 28 January 1973. Winners and nominees Film Television Best Series - Drama ''Columbo'' *''America'' *''Mannix'' *'' Medical Center'' *''The Walton ...

as Best Original Song. The success of the single led to an album of the same name released in January 1973.

Use in ''Deliverance''

In '' Deliverance'', a scene depicts Billy Redden playing it opposite Ronny Cox, who joins him on guitar and end up having a guitar vs.

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

duel. Redden plays Lonnie, a

mentally challenged Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signific ...

, inbred but extremely gifted banjo player. Redden could not play the banjo and the director thought his hand movements looked unconvincing. A local musician, Mike Addis, was brought in to depict the movement of the boy's left hand. Addis hid behind Redden, with his left arm in Redden's shirt sleeve. Careful camera angles kept Addis out of frame and completed the illusion. The music itself was dubbed in from the recording made by Weissberg and Mandell and was not played by the actors themselves. Two young musicians, Ron Brentano and Mike Russo, had originally been signed to play their adaptation for the film, but instead it was performed by Weissberg and Mandell. "Dueling Banjos" was arranged and performed for the film by Eric Weissberg and

and was included on its soundtrack. When Arthur "Boogie" Smith was not acknowledged as the composer by the filmmakers, he sued and eventually won, receiving songwriting credit as well as royalties. The song was briefly used in a TV commercial for the 2003 Saturn Vue.

Chart performance

References

{{authority control Songs about musical instruments 1955 songs 1972 singles Eric Weissberg songs Warner Records singles Instrumental duets 1950s instrumentals Cashbox number-one singles

Use in ''Deliverance''

Chart performance

See also

References