Smiley Bates prompted other recording ventures. When the Instrumental hit "Duelling Banjos" from the film "Deliverance" was popular, Smiley, on Flat-Top Guitar, was teamed with Eddie Poirier on 5-String Banjo. Though he had not seen the film, it only took a couple of tries to arrive at an arrangement, which, while not representative of Smiley's recording output, was nevertheless a commercial success. A further album was issued with Eddie and Smiley, and based upon its success, the two teamed up with Rose (Eddie's wife) to record another big-selling Bluegrass album, titled "The Best of Bluegrass". To illustrate how successful Smiley's recordings were,
Duelling pistol opponents, extreme accuracy was not required. Duelling pistols had long barrels - typically around and fired large, heavy bullets. Pistols with calibers of , , or even were common. The bullets loaded in them could weigh in .52 caliber, or more in larger calibers. Bullets were fired with a muzzle velocity of approximately , which made a .52 caliber bullet about as lethal as a current .45 ACP round - and therefore capable of inflicting very severe wounds. These injuries, coupled with the primitive state of emergency medicine at the time when duels were commonplace, meant that pistol duels frequently