‘Dueling Banjos’ — Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell

In the early months of 1973, Top 10 recording artists included such hipsters as Carly Simon, Elton John, War, Steely Dan and Roberta Flack. In their midst, though, appeared the unlikely duo of Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell, a powerhouse instrumental duo behind the millionseller “Dueling Banjos,” which for four straight weeks locked in the No. 2 position on the Billboard singles chart.

Weissberg and Mandell supported themselves as session musicians, working with such leading lights as Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and John Denver — until a request arrived one day for the pair to record a track for the upcoming Burt Reynolds movie “Deliverance,” a horrific tale of four Atlanta businessmen who canoe down an isolated Georgia river (that’s about to become dammed and made into a lake), with dangerous, churning rapids and mayhem and murder awaiting downstream.

Five minutes into the film, at a dilapidated backwoods gas station, we experience a spontaneous jam session between city slicker Drew (former stage actor Ronny Cox) and a provincial lad — apparently mute — named Lonnie (local high-schooler Billy Redden).

“Dueling Banjos” unfolds between the pair as a musical conversation. Lonnie, initially reticent, slowly picks up the tune, tosses in a bit of “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” then, much to Drew’s delight, shifts into high gear. The musical pace builds to a high-octane finish as a grinning local man dances an ad-libbed jig.

Cox was a good guitarist but Redden couldn’t play a note. During the filming, Redden had to wear a customized shirt that allowed a local musician named Mike Addis to play the banjo while hiding his own arms in Redden’s sleeves.

Weissberg and Mandell didn’t write “Dueling Banjos.” That honor went to ace instrumentalist Arthur Smith in 1954 when he composed “Feudin’ Banjos,” which he recorded later with fellow banjoist Don Reno. Smith’s original work — a forerunner of the rapid-fire rock ‘n’ roll instrumental — was appropriately named because the track seemed to be just that: an argument of sorts between two banjos. (The 1973 hit single, though, featured not two banjos but a banjo and a guitar.)

“Dueling Banjos” on Warner Records rose next to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 5 on the country charts. Its placement in the latter might have been the impetus that helped Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell garner a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance the following year.

But not everybody appreciated the success of “Dueling Banjos.” Arthur Smith had not given permission for the usage of his creation nor the credit for writing the hit. (Eric Weissberg was listed as the sole creator.) Smith filed a lawsuit, which was settled two years later in his favor when he received the abundant royalties that were due him. (Just how abundant? The first thing Smith purchased was a 42-foot yacht.)

Smith’s creation was parodied when comedian Martin Mull released his own instrumental argument called “Dueling Tubas.” The silly single sold enough copies to send it soaring to No. 92 on the Hot 100 chart. SL

Space program, IRL Coalition work to keep Lagoon pristine

To the Moon WITH the Lagoon. What does that mean?

Yes, I get that we are fortunate here in Brevard at the center of America’s amazing effort to return to the Moon and even Mars. It’s also wonderful that we have booming commercial space development.

So “To the Moon from the Lagoon” makes sense, but “WITH”?

Yes! The two biggest things Brevard is known for are space and the Indian River Lagoon. The concerning thing is that if we’re not careful, the one (space) may cause further damage or even kill the other (Lagoon).

That’s right. We all know the Lagoon is struggling. One reason for this is the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) construction done back in the 1960s during the Apollo, and Shuttle programs. The waters of the Banana River were cut off from the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) by the Crawlerway, and mosquito control impoundments disrupted the saltmarshes. Also, acres and acres of land were paved, dumping millions of gallons of fresh water into

Lagoon Straight Talk From the Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition

the estuary.

Unfortunately, some of the same inadequate planning is taking place today with Space Florida, SpaceX, Blue Origin and other commercial groups rapidly developing plots for their rockets and a failure by the responsible organization to monitor and control the cumulative impacts of this development.

So, “To the Moon WITH the Lagoon,” is the call by IRL Roundtable (irlroundtable.com/), a group of longterm environment citizens who are working to ensure we build a balance between our two blessings.

Indeed, the Roundtable attended the Brevard County Legislative Delegation Meeting on Jan. 11 and presented a suggestion about how we might be able to jump start this cooperation.

They pointed out that while KSC has released its IRL Health Initiative Plan, the remediation projects it proposes are unfunded. So, they suggested that the Brevard Delegation work to direct some of the massive federal funds in the recent American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act to finance some of these projects.

Yes, if we work together, we can go “To the Moon WITH the Lagoon.” SL

For more about Our Piece of Paradise — the Lagoon, visit HelpTheLagoon.org, facebook. com/BIRLC/ and twitter.com/ HelpTheLagoon.