542: Deliverance introduces the “Dueling Banjos”
“Dueling Banjos” is a frenetic piece arranged and performed by 5-string banjo virtuoso Eric Weissberg for the 1972 action-thriller Deliverance. Starring Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight and Ned Beatty, “Banjos” was infamously used to set the tone of the main characters’ ill-advised macho vacation into the frightening redneck heart of America. The “Banjos” sequence, one of the film’s few semi-lighthearted scenes, depicts Billy Redden as “Lonny”, a severely mentally retarded, inbred but gifted banjo player, musically sparring with actor Ronny Cox on guitar. Originally composed by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith and Don Reno as “Feuding Banjos” in 1955, “Dueling Banjos” became an unlikely pop hit following the release of Deliverance and to this day is employed frequently as pop culture shorthand for the disturbing side of the rural U.S.
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