The history of the instrumental bluegrass song “Dueling Banjos” has a tempestuous story thanks to the fact that the original songwriter is often not gifted credit for the song’s birth. That being said, the original songwriter is bluegrass musician Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, who wrote the piece in 1954 with its original title being “Feudin’ Banjos.”
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The song was released in 1955 as merely a banjo piece, played by Smith and fellow banjo player, Don Reno. “Feudin’ Banjos” made its second most well-known public debut on the Andy Griffith Show in 1963, which was played by The Darlings alongside Andy Griffith.
Despite this appearance on the renewed television program, the song had yet to catch fire until its appearance on the Oscar-nominated and cult classic 1972 film Deliverance. The song is credited for arguably making the most famous scene in the movie, that scene being when Ronny Cox plays his guitar alongside Billy Redden, who depicts a mentally challenged inbred with a knack for the banjo.
The song in the film is seemingly used to eerily depict and introduce the world the cast of characters are about to enter on their trepidatious float trip down this rural river in Appalachian America. Ironically, the use of the song is also an introduction to a trepidatious journey outside the film, as Smith sued the song’s film composer, Eric Weissberg, and Warner Brothers for using the song without his blessing.
Warner Brothers offered Smith a $15,000 settlement, though Smith declined it, leading to an extensive legal battle and or duel of sorts. The dispute went on for two years and cost Smith $125,000. However, Smith did receive compensation. The exact amount of the settlement remains undisclosed, though Smith would often point to a picture of a yacht that hung on his office wall and say that Warner Brothers bought it for him.
Regardless, the song still received numerous accolades as it scored a Grammy Award, Golden Globe nomination, and the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1973. The scene where the song is featured has been regarded as the most notable moment in the iconic psychological thriller.
(Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns)
