Dueling Banjos - Music

Eric Weissberg August 16 1939 – March 22 2020 Was An American Singer Banjo Player And Multi-Instrumentalist Best Known For Playing Solo In "Dueling Banjos " Featured As The Theme Of The 1973 Film Deliverance And Released As A Single That Reached Number 2 In The United States And Canada In 1973. Weissberg Attended The University Of Wisconsin Then The Juilliard School Of Music. He Joined An Early Version Of The Greenbriar Boys 1958-59 But Left Before They Made Any Recordings. He Then Joined The Tarriers Replacing Eric Darling. The Tarriers Had Recently Had A Hit With "Banana Boat Song" Though Harry Belafonte Had The Bigger Hit Soon Afterwards. The Group Soon Made Use Of His Multi-Instrumental Talents As Banjo Player Guitarist Mandolin Player And Singer. At That Time He Was Still A Student At Juilliard. His First Album With The Tarriers Tell The World About This 1960 Has A Much More Rustic Feel Than The Smoother Produced Sound Of The Weavers Or The Kingston Trio. In 1964 He Had To Do One Year Of Duty With The National Guard But On Returning The Group Re-Formed. In 1965 The Group Accompanied Judy Collins On A Tour Of Poland And Russia But Split Up Soon After. Judy Collins Was Impressed To Use Him As A Session Musician On Fifth Album 1965 And Several Later Albums. Playing On Albums By Doc Watson Melanie Billy Joel Bob Dylan Loudon Wainwright III Talking Heads Tom Paxton Jim Croce Art Garfunkel John Denver And Others. He Is Most Famously Known For The Hit Single "Dueling Banjos" The Theme From The Film Deliverance Produced By Joe Boyd And Directed By John Boorman. There Was Also A Hit Album Named Dueling Banjos From The Original Movie Soundtrack 'Deliverance' In 1973 But The Album Was Not All It Seemed To Be. Back In 1963 Weissberg Had Recorded An Album Named New Dimensions In Banjo And Bluegrass With Marshall Brickman. The 1963 Album Was Hauled Out Of The Archives And Two Tracks Were Removed. They Where Replaced With The Hit Single And Thus A New Album Was Born. One Of The Original Tracks "Shuckin' The Corn" Was Later Sampled By The Beastie Boys. Continuing To Play Folk Festivals Weissberg Was Nearly As Well Known On That Circuit For His Dobro Guitar As For His Bluegrass Banjo Playing. He Also Recorded With Jazz Musicians Herbie Mann And Bob James. In 1998 He Joined Richard Thompson And Dozens Of Other Folk Musicians On Nanci Griffith's Album Other Voices Too. He Often Toured With Tom Paxton. They Frequently Played A Variant Of "Dueling Banjos" In The Set In Addition To Paxton's Material. Discography Single Dueling Banjos / Reuben's Train Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandel 1973 Tell The World About This The Tarriers 1960 A Live Performance Recorded At The Bitter End The Tarriers Folk Blues Styles 1963 New Dimensions In Banjo And Bluegrass Eric Weissberg Marshall Brickman And Company 1963 Rural Free Delivery Eric Weissberg And Delivery 1973 Dueling Banjos From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Deliverance' 1973 Reissue Of New Dimensions Banjo Jamboree Traditional Series 1996 Session Recordings Fifth Album Judy Collins 1965 Live At Newport 1959 - 1966 Judy Collins Ballads From Deep Gap Doc And Merle Watson 1967 The Good Book Melanie 1971 Portfolio Ritchie Havens 1973 True Stories And Other Dreams Judy Collins 1973 Piano Man Billy Joel 1973 Blood On The Tracks Bob Dylan 1974 Judith Judy Collins 1975 Final Exam Loudon Wainwright III 1978 Little Creatures Talking Heads 1985 Album III Loudon Wainwright III 1990 Heroes Tom Paxton 1992 Judy Sings Dylan ... Just Like A Woman Judy Collins 1993 Shameless Judy Collins 1994 Take The Fifth Compilation Bridget St John 1995 Other Voices Too Nanci Griffith 1998 Live For The Record Tom Paxton 1999 Times Like These Rick Danko 2000 Live At Wolf Trap Judy Collins 2002 read less