"Dueling Banjos" is a bluegrass composition by

Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith Arthur Smith (April 1, 1921 – April 3, 2014) was an American musician, composer, and record producer, as well as a radio and TV host. He produced radio and TV shows; ''The Arthur Smith Show'' was the first nationally syndicated country music ...

. 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 Donald Wesley Reno (February 21, 1926Trischka, Tony, "Don Reno", ''Banjo Song Book'', Oak Publications, 1977, – October 16, 1984) was an American bluegrass and country musician, best known as a pioneering banjo and guitar player who pa ...

. The composition's first wide-scale airing was on a 1963 television episode of ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

'' called "Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee", in which it is played by visiting musical family the Darlings (portrayed by

The Dillards The Dillards are an American bluegrass music, bluegrass and country rock band from Salem, Missouri. They are notable for being among the first bluegrass groups to have electrified their instruments, and they are considered to be pioneers of cou ...

, a bluegrass group), along with Griffith himself. The song was made famous by the 1972 film ''

Deliverance ''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...

'', 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 Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, 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 in moder ...

and

Steve Mandell Stephen Arnold 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 16th Annual Grammy Award ...

, 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 Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

's "

Killing Me Softly with His Song "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a song composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. The lyrics were written in collaboration with Lori Lieberman after she was inspired by a Don McLean performance in late 1971. Denied writing cre ...

"; 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 stati ...

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

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' 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 The 30th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1972, were held on 28 January 1973. Winners and nominees Film The following films received multiple nominations: The following films received multiple wins: Televis ...

as Best Original Song. 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

. This instrumental quotes the first 12 notes of "

Yankee Doodle "Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state song of the U.S. ...

Use in ''Deliverance''

In ''

'', a scene depicts

Billy Redden William Redden (born October 13, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as a backwoods mountain boy in the 1972 film ''Deliverance,'' where he played Lonnie, a banjo-playing teenager in north Georgia, who played the noted " Dueli ...

playing it opposite

Ronny Cox Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in numerous films and television series since his acting debut in ''Deliverance'' (1972). He is best known for his roles in ''RoboCop'' (1987) and '' Total ...

, who joins him on guitar and ends 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 in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

duel. Redden plays Lonnie, a

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

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

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. 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

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 used in the theatrical trailer of ''

What About Bob? ''What About Bob?'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Frank Oz and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. Murray plays Bob Wiley, a mentally unstable patient who follows his egotistical psychotherapist, Dr. Leo Marvin (Dreyfuss), ...

'' and briefly used in a TV commercial for the 2003

Saturn Vue The Saturn Vue is a compact SUV that was built and marketed by Saturn, and it was Saturn's best-selling model. It was the first vehicle to use the GM Theta platform when it was introduced in 2001 for the 2002 model year. The Vue was facelifte ...

Chart performance

Certifications

Parodies and cover versions

Comedian

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (, August 18, 1943 – June 27, 2024) was an American actor, musician, and painter. He became known on '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' its spin-off '' Fernwood 2 Night,'' and '' America 2 Night.'' Other notable roles included ...

spoofed the song with an instrumental "Dueling Tubas" on his 1973 comedy album ''Martin Mull & His Fabulous Furniture In Your Living Room''. The

Randy Stonehill Randall Evan Stonehill (born March 12, 1952) is an American singer and songwriter from Stockton, California, best known as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. His music is primarily folk rock in the style of James Taylor, but ...

song "Big Ideas (In a Shrinking World)," from the album ''

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

'', contains a brief joke about "Dueling Bagpipes." British punk band

Toy Dolls The Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. They are best known for their sole UK hit, a punk-rock cover of " Nellie the Elephant". The Toy Dolls' songs expressed a sense of fun, such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfr ...

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 ''America's Funniest Home Videos'', also called ''America's Funniest Videos'' (abbreviated as ''AFV''), is an American video clip television series on ABC, based on a recurring segment on the Japanese variety show '' Fun TV with Kato-chan and ...

'', 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. The TV show

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

parodied the song in a scene where

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

and Peter Griffin end up in a farting contest after taking neighboring bathroom stalls.

References

External links