The Composer of "Dueling Banjos"

Duelling Banjos, the theme tune from the film Deliverance, proved to be one of the unlikeliest hits of the '70s when it reached No 2 on the US pop charts in early 1973.  The banjo and guitar which traded licks so memorably were played by session players Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell respectively, and these two gents taught the actors to mime the parts on film.

The so-called film soundtrack album which was released was, in fact, an old LP entitled "New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass" by Weissberg and Marshall Brickman.  The guitarist on much of that album was future Byrd Clarence White.  The hit single was the only tune on the album on which Steve Mandell played.

The earlier album had included a tune entitled "End Of The Dream", which was very similar indeed to "Dueling Banjos", which was presumed to be a traditional tune, and was credited as such.  Things got even more difficult when Arthur Smith, who had had a 1945 million seller with the famous "Guitar Boogie", pointed out that he had in fact written and recorded an almost identical tune, which he called "Feuding Banjos", in 1955.  Normally the authorship of a bluegrass banjo tune wouldn't create much fuss, but Dueling Banjos sold in excess of a million copies.