Customer Reviews

Dueling Banjos From The Original Soundtrack: Deliverance

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wonderful, exhilarating, breathtaking music, both in speed and execution. Banjoist Eric Weissberg has spent most of his career in relative obscurity as a studio musician, which is a shame as he is one of the finest banjo players to ever pick up the instrument. City born and musically educated at the University of Wisconsin and Juilliard, Weissberg was a seminal banjo picker who combined the power and taste of Earl Scruggs along with the progressive melodic banjo stylings of the 1960s.

Obviously, the album features the definitive version of "Dueling Banjos" that Weissberg recorded with Steve Mandel. The rest of the tracks come from an incredible album called "New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass," released by Elektra in 1963. Most of the tracks feature brilliant dual arrangments between Weissberg and Marshall Brickman, a banjoist who left the music world behind to write movies for Hollywood (The Bad News Bears, co-writer for Annie Hall). They are backed by guitar legend, Clarence White, who creates beautiful backup runs on songs like "Pony Express" and fine solos throughout. I think the fiddler was Gordon Terry, whose atmospheric style on "Reuben's Train" will make your hair stand on end.

The album is loaded with famous and oft-copied banjo licks, including the descending single-string work on Little Maggie, the "bumblebee break" on an insane version of "Shucking the Corn," the C-F-E-C chord sequence on "Riding the Waves," and some of the fastest (and cleanest) banjo work you'll ever hear anywhere on songs like Rawhide and Hard, 'Aint it Hard.

If you do not already own this CD, BUY IT. And if anyone in the music business is listening, you need to scrape up some money and produce a dozen more acoustic albums by Weissberg and Brickman. These guys deserve more of a legacy than a single album!

Anybody who likes Flatt and Scruggs, will love this CD. It is filled with rippin' banjo bluegrass instrumentals that simply defy you to not get up and dance.
Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel might not be original good old boys, but they are obviously well versed in the ways of Flatt and Scruggs and do a very admirable job creating exciting arrangements. A major plus is that this CD is about twice as long as most of Flatt and Scruggs offerings making the the CD to pop in when you want more bang for you buck.
Also as a fan of Metallica, I have to rank some of the tracks on this CD right up there with 'Master of Puppets' as one of the most intense pieces of music in my collection.

What can I say about this album that does its quality justice? I first heard it growing up in the early 1970's, and recently rediscovered it. That it's an outstanding exhibition of bluegrass banjo is self-evident. Within a collection that is ripe with great performances, "Pony Express" and "Reuben's Train" are particularly outstanding - at once both energizing and melodically compelling. Beyond the banjo, though, the guitar and fiddle accompaniment are also adept and entertaining. In short, this CD belongs in the collections of not only those with experienced tastes for bluegrass and the banjo, but also those who are new to the genre and interested in hearing this musical style at its best. Both the beginner and the seasoned enthusiast alike will delight in Weissberg and Brickman's infectious, churning performances.

This is my 2nd favorite banjo CD behind Earl's 'Foggy Mountain Banjo'. This cd is part of the reason bluegrass saw a huge increase in popularity during the 1970's, and Weissberg's music is just as inspiring today as it was then. All songs are performed 3 finger Style and there are no lyrics on this CD. As a banjo player, this CD introduced me to some banjo classics and inspired me to learn "Pony Express", "Eight More Miles To Louisville" and "Buffalo Gals" among others. If you play or just love banjo, you owe this one to yourself.

I also grew up listening to this album with my brother Dan who played bango. I have worn my cassette out and now I am going to purchase it on CD. If you have a love for bango music, this is A must! Eric Weissburg is truely the Master. This is the benchmark for all bango music.

I still remember as a little kid bouncing on my mom and dad's double bed listening to the record (yes record...) of this screaming, "Banjo! Banjo! Banjo!...." as I bounced as hard as I could. There are still pictures of me with my hair flying at all angles out of my pigtales and my face as red as a beet. The point to this jog down memory lane is that this is one of the best examples of instumental music I have ever heard. I love music and if you want to feel like you've been charged up like the Energizer Bunny give this a serious listen. You won't be disappointed with it... and your kids may even like it too.

A little Guitar, a little Fiddle, and a whole lot of MEAN BANJO. I havn't heard Good Ole' Boy Banjo picking in a very long time. Highly recommended. All instrumental. Nothing but pickin' for the entire CD. I dare you to try and keep your foot still!

There is no better album to have if planning a trip down the rapids of your local river. Of course most people buying it are doing so for one track alone but that by no means is the only good song on here. That song of course is from the scene at the start of the film with Drew and the hillbilly boy who initially is just mirroring Drews' guitar playing on his banjo but then to Drew's utter amazement and awe, the duel is on. I don't know how many times I've played that song over and over again, it's that good!

The soundtrack of this album is an excellent backdrop to have playing either on the river (if you've got some way to play it without the player getting wet) or just to have on the drive out there. Or to have on any roadtrip to have playing once you enter a a wilderness area for that matter (I also recommend getting Lindsey Buckingham's song Holiday Road available as a bonus track on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Soundtrack for the journey while your still on the highway. But nothing beats the song Dueling Banjos to get the excitement in your group going and End of a Dream (track 9) a similar sounding although faster version of Dueling Banjos does the job quite nicely as well. The other songs are pretty good too all performed with banjos, creating that extremely unique sound. Dueling Banjos is also the best banjo playing album I have ever heard.

By the way if you can play yourself you might want to get the music score Duelling Banjos: Sheet Music from "Deliverance" as well.

I had this album when it was first released by Weissberg and Brickman. Years later they changed the first cut and re-released it as "Deliverance." The greatness of it didn't diminish, just wish they'd kept that other track (and those liner notes were great, too, for someone just learning about bluegrass).

I grew up listening to this record album when it first came out. That was when I became interested in learning the banjo. I still have most of the songs in my head, and it's been about 15 years since I heard it. Now that I know it's on CD, I'm gonna order one and wear it out!