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,
The Man (1972 film) he's going to run for the Presidential nomination in the next election. Dilman replies that he is going to "fight like hell" to win the nomination. To the tune of "Hail to the Chief," he is introduced to the party's National Convention. Film critic Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote in his review: ""The Man", which opened yesterday at the Cinema I Theater, is the triumphantly short (93-minute) film version of Irving Wallace's almost endless (actually, 768-page) novel about the first black President of the United States. [...] At one time or another most of us have seen