Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell's DUELING BANJOS

DUELING BANJOS was not always haunting.

Initially composed in 1954 by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith as a banjo instrumental, he called it FEUDIN’ BANJOS. The song features interpolations of Dr. Richard Shuckburgh’s 1755 composition YANKEE DOODLE. 

It had its first broad release nine years later on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, where it was played by The Dillards (portraying a visiting musical family, the Darlings), along with Griffith himself. It was still not very creepy.

It's not until almost a decade later, when used in John Boorman’s Southern thriller Deliverance, that it starts to twist into something like a slow-rolling mist rising off the bayou.

As the story goes (about 15 minutes into Deliverance), our bored city slickers stop to refuel their caravan. Their snark causes some unease with the locals, and Drew Ballinger (Ronny Cox) steps in to strum his guitar and possibly defuse the tension.

Lonnie (Billy Redden), a developmentally disabled backwoods boy, clicks off a sublime response on his banjo.

+ Well, except that Redden couldn't play the banjo and Boorman thought his hand movements looked unconvincing. So, local musician Mike Addis was brought in to depict the movement of the boy's left hand. Mike hid behind Billy, with his left arm in Redden's shirt sleeve. Careful camera angles kept Addis out of frame and completed the illusion.

Leading to a memorable scene depicting how modernism's smug homogeneity clashes with local, isolated pre-War culture. Which, in itself, is a kind of Hallowe’en idea.

DEULING BANJOS was arranged and performed for the film by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell and appeared on the Deliverance soundtrack album. When Arthur Smith heard it, he sued and eventually won, earning songwriting credit as well as royalties.