billy redden was the kid in dueling banjos deliverance.
billy redden was the kid in dueling banjos deliverance.
who is the kid in dueling banjos deliverance?
billy redden
in "deliverance," a scene depicts billy redden playing it opposite ronny cox, who joins him on guitar. redden plays "lonnie," a mentally challenged and inbred, but extremely gifted, banjo player. redden could not actually play the banjo and the director thought his hand movements looked unconvincing. a local musician, mike addis, was brought in to depict the movement of the boy's left hand. addis hid behind redden, with his left arm in redden's shirt sleeve. careful camera angles kept addis out of frame and completed the illusion, though anyone familiar with bluegrass banjo playing can see that the left-hand movements do not match up with the music produced, and that the banjo being used (an open-back instrument) could never produce the music one hears (clearly from a resonator banjo). the music itself was dubbed in from the recording made by weissberg and mandell and was not played by the actors themselves.
dueling banjos
in 1972, mandell recorded "dueling banjos" with another session musician, eric weissberg. in 1973, the single peaked at no. 2 on the "billboard" hot 100, no. 5 on the "billboard" hot country singles, and no. 1 on adult contemporary chart, and the tune was the theme of the 1972 film "deliverance".









































the song was also nominated for the 1972 golden globe awards in the best original song category. "dueling banjos" won the 1974 grammy award for best country instrumental performance.









































in 1973, the album "dueling banjos" by eric weissberg and steve mandell peaked at no.1 on the billboard 200.
steve mandell