R.I.P. Eric Weissberg of “Dueling Banjos” fame

You may not know his name, but you know his banjo: Eric Weissberg, the man behind the classic “Dueling Banjos,” has died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at age 80.

Before we go another sentence farther, we must mention that, although the soundtrack to Deliverance is unquestionably the project for which Weissberg is best known to the casual listener, it’s not like “Dueling Banjos” the only song Weissberg had a hand in recording.

Weissberg’s career stretches back to the 1950s, but it was in 1960 when he joined the folk ground The Tarriers and began to make a major name for himself among his fellow musicians. Over the years, he contributed to recordings by Judy Collins, Frankie Valli, Talking Heads, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Jim Croce, John Denver, Loudon Wainwright III, Bette Midler, and many, many more.

We’ve put together a playlist which includes the two albums Weissberg recorded for Warner Brothers, the album he did with The Tarriers (TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THIS), and a whole bunch of songs from the Rhino catalog on which he can be heard. Of course, we hope that you listen to it, but at the very least, please just take a look and see what’s on there, so you can see just how diverse Weissberg’s back catalog could be.