Eric Weissberg

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Eric Weissberg (born 18 August 1939) is an American banjo player, best known for the theme from Deliverance.

[edit] Biography

Eric Weissberg went to 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. At first Weissberg was taken on as a string-bass player but the group soon made use of his multi-instrumental talents as banjo player, guitarist, mandolin player and singer. At this time he was still a student at Juilliard. His first album with The Tarriers, Tell The World About This (1960) has a much rougher feel than the smoothly-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 disbanded soon after. Judy Collins was sufficiently impressed to use him as a session musician on Fifth Album (1965) and several later albums.

Commercially, interest in acoustic folk groups was waning, so Weissberg began his successful career as a session musician, 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 chiefly remembered 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 called Dueling Banjos: From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Deliverance' in 1973, but the album was not all it seemed to be. Back in 1963, Weissberg had recorded an album called New Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass with Marshall Brickman (a writer who later received an Oscar for Annie Hall). The 1963 album was dragged out of the archives, and two tracks were removed. In their place was 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.

Weissberg still plays in folk festivals, and is almost as well known for his dobro guitar as for his bluegrass banjo playing. He has 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.

[edit] Discography

Single: Dueling Banjos / Reuben's Train (Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell, 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)