Dueling Banjos
| "Dueling Banjos" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| SinglebyEric Weissberg | ||||
| from the albumDueling Banjos | ||||
| B-side | "End of a Dream" | |||
| Released | December 1972 | |||
| Recorded | 1972 | |||
| Genre | Bluegrass[1] | |||
| Length | 2:10 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith,Don Reno,arranged byEric Weissberg,Steve Mandell | |||
| Producer(s) | Joe Boyd | |||
| Eric Weissbergsingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Dueling Banjos"is abluegrasscomposition byArthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith.The song was composed in 1954[2]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 playerDon Reno.The composition's first wide-scale airing was on a 1963 television episode ofThe Andy Griffith Showcalled "Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee", in which it is played by visiting musical family the Darlings (portrayed byThe Dillards,a bluegrass group), along with Griffith himself.
The song was made famous by the 1972 filmDeliverance,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 byEric WeissbergandSteve Mandell,but only credited to Weissberg on a single subsequently issued in December 1972. It went to second place for four weeks on theBillboardHot 100in 1973, behindRoberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song";it topped theadult contemporary chartfor two weeks.[3]It reached No. 1 for one week on both theCashboxandRecord Worldcharts. It reached No. 5 on Hot Country Singles. It was nominated for the30th Golden Globe AwardsasBest Original Song.[4]The success of the single led toan album of the same namereleased in January 1973.
This instrumental quotes the first 12 notes of "Yankee Doodle".
Use inDeliverance
[edit]InDeliverance,a scene depictsBilly Reddenplaying it oppositeRonny Cox,who joins him on guitar and ends up having a guitar vs.banjoduel. Redden plays Lonnie, amentally challenged,inbredbut extremely giftedbanjo 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 from the recording made by Weissberg and Mandell and was not played by the actors.[5]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.[6]
"Dueling Banjos" was arranged and performed for the film byEric WeissbergandSteve Mandelland was included on its soundtrack.[7][8]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.[9]
The song was used in the theatrical trailer ofWhat About Bob?and briefly used in a TV commercial for the 2003Saturn Vue.[10]
Chart performance
[edit]| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| CanadianRPMTop Singles | 2 |
| CanadianRPMAdult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| CanadianRPMCountry Tracks | 9 |
| South Africa (Springbok)[11] | 15 |
| U.S.BillboardHot 100 | 2 |
| U.S.BillboardEasy Listening | 1 |
| U.S.BillboardHot Country Singles[12] | 5 |
Certifications
[edit]| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[13] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
|
^Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Parodies and cover versions
[edit]ComedianMartin Mullspoofed the song with an instrumental "Dueling Tubas" on his 1973 comedy albumMartin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture In Your Living Room.[14]
TheRandy Stonehillsong "Big Ideas (In a Shrinking World)," from the albumEquator,contains a brief joke about "Dueling Bagpipes."
British punk bandToy Dollsadapted the song as "Drooling Banjos" on their 1993 albumAbsurd-Ditties.
In "Dueling Pizzas", a production video from Season 7, Episode 19 ofAmerica's Funniest Home Videos,which first aired in 1996, two people pretend to play the song on cheese pulls from pizza slices. The video won the second place prize, $3,000.[15]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg".AllMusic.Retrieved29 November2015.
- ^Arthur Smith,video where the composer tells the story of the song's genesis, which he states is 1954 (posted to YouTube 21 August 2011)
- ^Joel Whitburn(1996). Weissberg stole the song and failed to credit Arthur Smith, who sued and won to receive credit and royalties for the music that he had written in 1954 and recorded in 1955.The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits,6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
- ^"Dueling Banjos".Golden Globe Award.Hollywood Foreign Press Association.Archived fromthe originalon 12 August 2016.Retrieved16 June2016.
- ^Heldenfels, Rich (5 November 2009)."Body double plays banjo".Akron Beacon Journal.Retrieved6 November2009.
- ^James Dickey,Gordon Van Ness(2005).The One Voice of James Dickey,University of Missouri Press.
- ^Alan Feiler, Editor-in-Chief (15 March 2018)."Steve Mandell of 'Dueling Banjos' Fame Dies".JMore Baltimore Jewish Living.Retrieved19 March2018.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^"Don Reno biography".Archived from the original on 22 August 2008.Retrieved9 December2008.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)- Don Reno website (archived 2008) - ^DePriest, Joe (3 April 2014)."Charlotte's Arthur Smith, who wrote 'Dueling Banjos,' died Thursday at 93".The Charlotte Observer.The McClatchy Company.Retrieved16 June2016.
- ^"2003 Saturn Vue Camping Trip Commercial".YouTube.You Tube.Archivedfrom the original on 19 December 2021.Retrieved9 January2020.
- ^"SA Charts 1965–March 1989".Retrieved2 September2018.
- ^Whitburn, Joel(2004).The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition.Record Research. p. 375.
- ^"American single certifications – Eric Weissberg – Dueling Banjos".Recording Industry Association of America.Retrieved9 July2024.
- ^Alterman, Loraine (3 June 1973)."Martin Mull's Fabulous Furniture".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved24 September2023.
- ^Dueling Pizzas on America's Funniest Home Videos,retrieved15 March2024
