Eric Weissberg

Eric Weissberg (born 18 August 1939) is an American banjo player, best known for the theme from Deliverance. 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.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. 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 more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.