Dueling Banjos

{{short description|1954 musical composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Dueling Banjos

| cover = Duelling Banjos-single.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Eric Weissberg

| album = Dueling Banjos

| B-side = End of a Dream

| released = December 1972

| recorded = 1972

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Bluegrass{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/dueling-banjos-mw0000651271|title=Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=29 November 2015}}

| length = 2:10

| label = Warner Bros.

| writer = Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, Don Reno, arranged by Eric Weissberg, Steve Mandell

| producer = Joe Boyd

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist = Eric Weissberg

| type = singles

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| title = Dueling Banjos

| year = 1972

| next_title = Reuben's Train

| next_year = 1973

}}

"Dueling Banjos" is a bluegrass composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. The song was composed in 1954[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ7IYL0qzrM&t=10m34s 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) 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, 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 for two weeks.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) It reached No. 1 for one week on both the Cashbox and Record World charts. It reached No. 5 on Hot Country Singles. It peaked at No. 17 in the UK Singles chart and spent 7 weeks in the Top 40. It was nominated for the 30th Golden Globe Awards as Best Original Song.{{cite web|title=Dueling Banjos|url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/song/dueling-banjos|website=Golden Globe Award|publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association|access-date=16 June 2016|archive-date=12 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812012352/http://www.goldenglobes.com/song/dueling-banjos|url-status=dead}} The success of the single led to an album of the same name released in January 1973.

At the 16th Annual Grammy Awards in 1974, the song won the Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance for Steve Mandell & Eric Weissberg.https://www.grammy.com/awards/16th-annual-grammy-awards

This instrumental quotes the first 12 notes of "Yankee Doodle".

Use in ''Deliverance''

In Deliverance, a scene depicts Billy Redden playing it opposite Ronny Cox, who joins him on guitar and ends up having a guitar vs. banjo duel. Redden plays Lonnie, a mentally challenged, 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 from the recording made by Weissberg and Mandell and was not played by the actors.{{cite news|url=http://www.ohio.com/entertainment/mailbag/69264542.html|title=Body double plays banjo|first=Rich|last=Heldenfels|work=Akron Beacon Journal |df=dmy-all|date=2009-11-05|access-date=2009-11-06}} 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.James Dickey, Gordon Van Ness (2005). The One Voice of James Dickey, University of Missouri Press.

"Dueling Banjos" was arranged and performed for the film by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell and was included on its soundtrack.{{cite web|url=https://www.jmoreliving.com/2018/03/15/steve-mandell-of-dueling-banjos-fame-dies/|title=Steve Mandell of 'Dueling Banjos' Fame Dies|author=Alan Feiler|publisher=JMore Baltimore Jewish Living |df=dmy-all|date=2018-03-15|access-date=2018-03-19}}{{cite web |url=http://www.donreno.com/bio.htm |title=Don Reno biography |df=dmy-all |access-date=2008-12-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822231520/http://www.donreno.com/bio.htm |archive-date=22 August 2008}} - Don Reno website (archived 2008) 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.{{cite web|last1=DePriest|first1=Joe|title=Charlotte's Arthur Smith, who wrote 'Dueling Banjos,' died Thursday at 93|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/article9109847.html|website=The Charlotte Observer|publisher=The McClatchy Company|access-date=16 June 2016|date=3 April 2014}}

The song was used in the theatrical trailer of What About Bob? and briefly used in a TV commercial for the 2003 Saturn Vue.{{cite web |title=2003 Saturn Vue Camping Trip Commercial |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW9RoguqK8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/jTW9RoguqK8 |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live |website=YouTube |publisher=You Tube |access-date=9 January 2020}}{{cbignore}}

Chart performance

class="wikitable sortable"

!Chart (1973)

!Peak
position

Canadian RPM Top Singles

|align="center"|2

Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks

|align="center"|1

Canadian RPM Country Tracks

|align="center"|9

South Africa (Springbok){{cite web|title=SA Charts 1965–March 1989|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(D).html|access-date=2 September 2018}}

|align="center"|15

UK Singles (Official Charts Company){{Cite web |date=2017-11-02 |title=Official Singles Chart on 25/3/1973 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19730325/7501/ |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}

|align="center"|17

U.S. Billboard Hot 100

|align="center"|2

U.S. Billboard Easy Listening

|align="center"|1

U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=375}}

|align="center"|5

Certifications

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Eric Weissberg|title=Dueling Banjos|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=1972|certyear=1973|accessdate=July 9, 2024}}

Parodies and cover versions

Comedian Martin Mull spoofed the song with an instrumental "Dueling Tubas" on his 1973 comedy album Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture In Your Living Room.{{Cite news |last=Alterman |first=Loraine |date=1973-06-03 |title=Martin Mull's Fabulous Furniture |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/03/archives/martin-mulls-fabulous-furniture.html |access-date=2023-09-24 |issn=0362-4331}}

The Randy Stonehill song "Big Ideas (In a Shrinking World)," from the album Equator, contains a brief joke about "Dueling Bagpipes."

British punk band Toy Dolls adapted the song as "Drooling Banjos" on their 1993 album Absurd-Ditties.

In "Dueling Pizzas", a production video from Season 7, Episode 19 of America'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.{{Citation |title=Dueling Pizzas on America's Funniest Home Videos |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa1j2k6tfE8 |access-date=2024-03-15 |language=en}}

The TV show Family Guy parodied the song in a scene where Michael Moore and Peter Griffin end up in a farting contest after taking neighboring bathroom stalls.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}