A banjo player overcomes the PR disaster of the movie deliverance | Howard Goldthwaite | TEDxSMU

[@PlntPeace]

The "dueling banjos" scene is an iconic piece of film history... Love that scene and it gave rise to my appreciation of the banjo, so most of us can look past subjective opinions.

[@carlmally6292]

Hearing Earl Scruggs live inspired me to take up banjo. Deliverance inspired me to take up archery.

[@markjohnson9402]

Carl Mally Rotflmaololololololol ! Yes and it inspired me to wear a Chastity belt when camping ;-)

[@Tricky205]

Hilarious!!!

[@connorparker8341]

Carl Mal

[@jambalaya7647]

A HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[@harrybrooks8514]

🏹🪕🏹🪕🏹🪕🏹🪕🏹🪕

[@JAG312]

Seriously, I think Deliverance was good for banjo players in that the movie introduced the happy sound of banjo music to many people.

[@jeremythompson8303]

WD4ED weather report crystal silence

[@4TIMESAYEAR]

I certainly don't see what they mean by a "PR disaster" - I loved it.

[@everennui1]

PR means Public Relations. The Relationship that the banjo has with the Public is a disaster, because nearly everyone who hears a banjo thinks of the movie, "Deliverance." I play banjo myself, and I can tell you from my experience that this is true. The banjo player in the movie isn't as much of a role model, as say, Mozart for piano. There's a dark undertone to it.

[@ryankovacs1112]

You didn't watch the whole film did you?

[@stephena1196]

I saw the whole film, but that was many years ago now and about the only thing I remember about it was how much I liked the music.

[@jackiepaper6464]

I have been playing guitar all my life and then I decided to pick up the banjo. I thought no problem. Big problem but in time I got it. These people are very talented. It was the hardest thing in music I ever tried.

[@gearscout4105]

It was never "Deliverance" ... it was "Dueling Banjos" He's not a Banjo Player. Unskilled but sincere.

[@WMsandKFCisBackMOFOs]

Deliverance did for the Banjo what Deliverance did for camping in the woods.

[@algallego]

Something every true outdoorsman has been grateful to Deliverance for ever since-- much more peaceful forests now that every Tom, Dick, and Harry city slicker won't venture too far into them!

[@jlastre]

WMsandKFCisBackMOFOs And hog callin' contests.

[@mjr2470]

growing up in the seventies, when I hear banjos, I think of watching Hee Haw with my grandparents, followed by the waltons, followed by the late show with Johnny Carson. After the 1100 news of course. Now the news starts at 10? wth??

[@Pow3llMorgan]

Deliverance did for the banjo what Deliverance did for my ability to take anything Trey Gowdy says as serious as one should

[@ozzyscruggs1]

Interesting history. The Deliverance version wasn't the original. Don Reno and Arthur Smith take that honor. It's a great song, a true bluegrass classic despite the jokes.

[@theMSguide]

The definition of a gentleman? Someone who knows how to play the bagpipes but doesn't.

[@avananana]

Greatest TEDx talk ever. God I love this guy.

[@normanleemorris6002]

I met this man's son when I was participating in a 24-hour play fest. Lots of talent in that family!

[@Rood67]

As humorous and entertaining as this was; seeing the person in the wheelchair up on stage for the audience participation segment was awesome. This is what the banjo is for me; an all inclusive joy for everyone.

[@TheGreatSteve]

"A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the banjo but doesn't."

[@threynolds2]

I never though bad about the banjo after Deliverance. I grew up hearing banjo music from time to time. When I think of the banjo I think of Grandpa jones. Look him up.

[@richardpehtown2412]

The All Go Hungry Hash House. My favorite GJ tune. Look it up

[@threynolds2]

Richard Pehtown, mighty fine! Thank you.

[@davidholliday8341]

Deliverance was terrifying, but honestly it HELPED the banjo. Young'ns who buy their banjos online miss out by not hanging out in independent music stores. The one where I bought my banjo and took my first lessons was already old when that movie came out. The proprietor, and the older sales reps from the manufacturers whose products he carries have all all said that their best sales years came after 3 movies: Bonnie and Clyde, Deliverance and Oh Brother Where Art Thou. Say what you want about the films, the banjo picking was amazing, and sales skyrocketed.

[@myjeevie]

Thank you! Wonderful post.

[@richardpehtown2412]

I worked a few benefit shows with Herb Pedersen, Chris Hillman and John Jorgensen. Now Herb, that is a B@NJO PLAYER.

[@mitchbowen8693]

Andy Griffith Show... the Darlings...Doug Dillard, on banjo. I met Doug and have been to parties at his Nashville home. Wonderful talent and kind, jovial man...

[@jasondutchman6736]

"paddle faster, I hear banjos!" :)

[@g0679]

Jason Dutchman ... Ahead or behind ?

[@chrislacefield3337]

It takes true talent to pick a banjo. Banjo players are awesome.

[@adriansoul7223]

Except it doesnt and he is terrible. Constantly off time. It's almost as atrocious to the ears as the banjos sound itself.

[@ZacharyDesforges]

Adrian Soul No I think the banjo sounds cool

[@Kerm88]

Adrian Soul the banjo is harder to master than the guitar

[@ZapeZeam]

man I dont know about his banjo playing skills but his jokes really worked for me :D

[@larryjohnny]

_Elvis never impersonated anybody_ Great moment in the talk...

[@Sleepindragon2]

He was a karate guy, he didn't impersonate one.

[@jonblake9163]

E impersonated Johny Cash....

[@TheNightowl001]

Johnny Cash was just a bit less than 3 years older than Elvis, and Presley was actually being produced at Sun Records before Cash was. Johnny's first work for them was in 1955. They were very much contemporaries. In fact, in 1956, they were recorded as they jammed together, along with Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis! I'm not a huge, huge Elvis fan, but he was not trying to impersonate Cash.

[@acemcjack]

Elvis impersonated Forrest Gump! :)

[@threynolds2]

acemcjack, Elvis died before the movie was produced. What are you implying?

[@nickacelvn]

Look at all those beautiful people. pure inspiration!

[@brian423]

Did I hear a bit of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in his last few chords? I think I did.

[@franceslambert8070]

The fact that he did not play well, but got up there anyway, should have clued most of the commenter 's in. He was talking about being a good person, not a good banjo player. To have some dignity for yourself. Go back and LISTEN to HIM TALK!!!

[@MrBikegaucho]

Frances Lambert I agree completely, it's amazing how most comments are negative and completely focused on the wrong thing here

[@franceslambert8070]

Mark Green Yes, and not just here. I have kept count of how many people LOVE to disparage people, idea's, others religious beliefs, etc, etc ad nauseam!!! Most folks know how to talk (and write) without swearing, but, most people who disparage others, rest in anonymity because they can't talk without sounding like a teenager, swearing behind mom and dad. If I wasn't a lady and sure of myself, I would chew them out for being so childish!!!

[@morganacres9360]

Whatever. Hardly prophetic was it? What he did say (which was brief) is so cliche that the only reason he must've gotten up there was to get a large audience to hear him play banjo. Badly

[@akielchemichi]

Is not the film's fault or the instrument itself. Is rather I think, the style of music they use it on. I love the sound of banjo in samba pagode!

[@bushranger900]

Just a fabulous person and musician!! LOVE the Banjo!

[@THEIRONCLAYMAN]

As a banjo player, I'm entirely sick of being asked to play dueling banjos. I play clawhammer and yah I can play both parts at the same time, but god damn. Also Earl Scruggs is not the be all end all of banjo, there's an entire history of banjo music that came before his picking style and everyone decided to constrain themselves.

[@twospiritbanjo]

THEIRONCLAYMAN Right! I get asked all the time to play it! That or Orange Blossom Special! I am also a clawhammerist.

[@umkwaig]

I always get Freebird yelled at me. I'm not kidding :)

[@johnswan6759]

And this guy cant realy play

[@teddyl7006]

No please not one more. Just couldn't finish it. Deliverance didn't ruin the banjo for Howard. Great players did.

[@Caswell39ADavern]

Both "Bonnie & Clyde" and "Deliverance" introduced bluegrass to a huge world-wide market.

[@franceslambert8070]

And it did the world alot of good.

[@awesomeas2]

And “oh brother, where art thou?”

[@3CourseProductions]

I've been playing banjo for about 7 years, I've slayed with the banjo, lord knows my face hasn't done me any favors

[@rhunter3619]

"That was nothing"...truer words were never spoken

[@dianegambrell4891]

And you Howard Golthwaite!

[@bwlove25]

I thought the acronym for Banjo was going to be "be amazing, not just ordinary"...or something like that. Oh well, his is cool too!

[@pingpong5000]

Here in England the Banjo isn't the bug deal it is in parts of the USA. I'm from Liverpool in the 50's with professional family in Classical and Jazz and actually had the joy to meet 3 of the Beatles as family friends so that obviously was my musical roots. As a kid my exposure to American Bluegrass and the Banjo came first from the Beverly Hillbillies and later the great film Deliverance and I am very grateful to both.

[@bills48321]

I always loved the music in Deliverance and Earl Scruggs' tune for it. I think the banjo's popularity did take a hit when musical tastes changed from the banjo in the rhythm section of dance bands in the 1920's to guitar in the 30's, and similarly, the string bass taking over for the tuba during that time. Bluegrass music resurged after Deliverance and the banjo became more of a virtuoso instrument with players like Danny Gatton, and Bela Fleck.

[@larryburton5516]

I didn't know Earl had any music in the movie. The Dueling Banjo's Music was written by Arthur Smith who lived around the Charlotte, NC area and was born in SC. He use to have a regional show around the Carolina's and Virginia. When Deliverance came out they didn't get permission to use his music and he sued and won the lawsuit. In the movie the Banjo Boy never played any music. They had a player positioned behind him who did some chords/picking of the banjo. A few years ago the boy who "played" the banjo was working at the Walmart in Clayton, Ga. near where a lot of the movie was filmed.

[@markmatzell]

Steve Martin is a cleaner picker than this guy.

[@MyTubelessification1]

The absolute best impersonation ever interpre-ted. i just can't say. but would it matter. i think i'll go eat worms.

[@GRDwashere]

Deliverance did for the banjo what this vid did for TEDx

[@sunrisesunset7]

Thanks to the movie the Banjo as well as the soundtrack for Deliverance were both hugely successful and it did spark many aspiring banjo players in the 1970's. Deliverance was a box office success in the United States, becoming the fifth-highest grossing film of 1972 after grossing a domestic total of over $46 million and earning three Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe nominations.

[@tina8palmer]

I love the banjo.

[@merchillio]

It was one of most atrocious highkick line I've even seen.

[@DarkAngel-vs3om]

Jean-Dominic Lapointe especially Asian girl in middle andother two on her left and right haha they just didn't have clue 😂😂

[@bigearl33]

I played in a Bluegrass band for years,,, we never learned ''dueling banjos''' (or 'Feuding Banjos' as it was called before the movie) ... so when it was requested we could honestly say 'we don't know it', instead of 'we are not playing it'

[@gertnood]

Good tactic. Like not knowing polkas. I played in a polka band for years, I remember far too many of them.. but funny I can't remember them when asked. Great workout though, must say that.

[@buckclark6973]

This is the guy that played the banjo on the porch in the movie. That explains the title.

[@dr-johngy-brongen]

very nice and charismatic speaker, keep it up! god bless ya

[@corp-fh1cp]

How cool was this??? VERY COOL & fun.

[@YammoYammamoto]

100% worthy of a ted-->X

[@narlycat]

Steve Martin is a banjo picking genius get him to play King Tut, and The Who had a banjo in their song Squeeze Box, Daddy's got a squeeze box momma can't sleep at night.

[@SIXPACFISH]

Strange how people always applaud when someone stops playing a banjo. Or is it?

[@terencejay8845]

'A Gentleman is someone who knows how to play the piano-accordion, but doesn't.'

[@markmarsh27]

LOVE this Guy!

[@auotukun872]

I haven't seen the movie deliverance but I saw the clip of the banjo duel :) I didn't leave for my class because I wanted to watch the duel to the end...so I loved it.

[@tigertiger1699]

Excellent... really wonderful 😂👍

[@davecmonty1187]

I enjoyed this, thanks!

[@hope4ourfallen]

Dont call me maybe 🎶 😂 Dude is a riot😄

[@AusyG]

I'll fly away is the first song and Earl's breakdown.

[@alfonshomac]

oh please, one day I picked up a banjo at guitar center (not a banjo player) and I played that line, Immediately someone followed and we played the dueling banjos until laughter broke our flow. We were friends for a little bit, that guy and I

[@auluadenbartolli6755]

Until he told you what a purdy mouth you've got?

[@twospiritbanjo]

That also happened to me at a Guitar Center! I was there to go in and tune their banjos (like usual) and I started to claw out the tune (I play clawhammer) and this 50 year old comes outta nowhere playing it on a guitar. We started jammin out and everyone in the store was stompin and clappin!

[@darkmysterytemple]

I play banjo and I love deliverance. And i can play it well and i play it often. And he ain't unpopular he is on Ted, now bring out the cousins

[@GlorifiedTruth]

THIS MAN IS A COVETER AND AN IDOLATOR.

[@petefeltman]

Glorified Truth I dont think you're wrong but you might want to explain such a statement a little more in depth?

[@demondik]

"This guy sure has a pretty mouth!"

[@carllloyd7534]

Got to love ted

[@jtc1947]

You get a good banjo player along with guitars and basses and You can have some very entertaining music. Deliverance was a movie based on a book. FICTION! Get over it!Remember JOHN HARTFORD who wrote GENTLE ON MY MIND?

[@johntait491]

A good bit of fun. Thanks.

[@jackw1252]

Think I just about lost it when the lad in the wheelchair got on stage to do the can-can XD

[@pdpauldelaney]

Wonderful!!!

[@youxkio]

After this, I am searching for some banjo songs. I really feel like listening to this sickness.

[@84953]

PR disaster?! I think that scene in deliverance was awesome. Hey folks, they were trying to tell a story. The man who played the character playing the banjo, just wasn't going to be able to do it. Using as many people from the area in the cast was important to at least some realism of the movie. The scene with the other guy, I think the gas station attendant, dancing to the music was totally spontaneous. For those of you who don't know it, much of stuff done in movies and television, particularly where there is music (except for things like talent shows) is dubbed in a studio after the movie is shot. That's why in many shows where there is a lot of people who are both dancing and singing in a scene, you don't notice that the dancers are not out of breath as they usually would be. Personally I thought parts of that movie were in fact a great "shot in the arm" for folk/bluegrass music.

[@FalloutUrMum]

I hear a surge of tourism happened in northern Georgia after Deliverance came out, particularly single male campers. It must have been Banjo enthusiasm....

[@jacemeldrum5052]

Call me maybe...I love how he sarcasticly calls it rock n roll

[@preppysquirrel9712]

When we drive through a run down or otherwise sketchy looking area we say something like "I think I can hear banjo music, how about you?". We had a good laugh when we took a wrong turn in or near Perl Germany and came to a dead end with a deserted railroad infrastructure and overgrown landscape and heard banjo music in our heads.

[@lex3729]

The "banjo kid" was Anderson Cooper's first role.

[@Moshbearpig]

HA!

[@taxidrivercarl6074]

I've just ordered my first banjo in Britain. I am already dreading a lifetime of people throwing the Deliverance chords 🤦‍♂️

[@pascalchauvet4230]

As for the movie, the banjo scene bears a damp heat cicada-sound density to it, which emphasizes the incompatibility of the two groups of persons involve. Not more, nor less.

[@martincurtis9341]

I can relate to this guy at 2:03 . That was hilarious

[@JewandGreek]

Steve Martin blows this guy away in both comedy and banjo playing.

[@jambalaya7647]

Has Steve Martin done a clever TED talk using the banjo as a foil for an inspirational message? Noooooooo....

[@JewandGreek]

They would book Steve Martin in a heartbeat if he was interested. He obviously has better things to do. By the way, I'm hardly alone. The thumbs down are at 40% of the thumbs up. Not too favorable.

[@unknowmysteries5925]

Agreed. Recent his special with Martin Short he plays for a short while and waaaaaaaay better.

[@MrLknewell]

Steve Martin is a professional banjo player. If course he is better. That's like comparing anybody who gets up there with a guitar to Jimi Hendrix or Keith Richard's. Give the dude a break.

[@inw_sentinel]

I typed banjo into youtube and that scene is the first thing that came up! 🤣

[@mariswolowitz2969]

You know the difference between a banjo, and a trampoline?............... You take off your shoes, to jump on a trampoline.....

[@jambalaya7647]

banjo = viola, when it comes to jokes. =)

[@RiffDevin]

This video made me feel like the Earl Scruggs of Ted youtubers

[@banjomusic76]

Good talk , but not good banjo playing. Would have been great if this guy could have picked some mesmerizing beautiful bouncy bubbly notes and shown people how wonderful the banjo truly is.

[@stephenandersen4625]

the Hindenburg wasn't a blimp.

[@GibsonVienna]

Saw the Movie, have the Soundtrack-LP. Nothing bad with Deliverance or the Contribution for the Banjo.

[@whipsnade13]

The dancers are thinking: "How much longer do we have to do this...?"

[@MsGroovalicious]

I like you already...don't fret. The banjo is one of the most difficult instrument to play. Fooey on them!!

[@harrybrooks8514]

This guy’s the Earl Scruggs 🪕 of TED presenters 😄

[@rbdavisphoto]

I'm sorry, but he didn't do a thing to bring the banjo back to it's original popularity.. He pulled what I call a Nashville. Thats right! The Grand Ol Opry banned the banjo unless it was played as part of a Skit or was humorous - Until Earl Scruggs, and that was insult to injury. IF you've never heard the way it was originally played, you're missing out. Surry County North Carolina started a style of Clawhammer Banjo which uses the thumb and the nail of a finger to produce beautiful melodic sounds in total opposition to the Chicago typewriter nails on a blackboard. I implore everyone of you to check out Riley Baugus - Undone in Sorrow.. AND - Meredith Moon's Version of Darlin' Cory. - YOU'LL THANK ME

[@1st_ProCactus]

And how many years does he say he has been playing ? This guy should stick to the jokes. But without a banjo he's got none.

[@mitoys3628]

The kid in deliverance did not play the banjo. It was a sound track.

[@NotBob223]

That's not completely true... the real banjo player hid behind the kid and reached through him to play the banjo unseen. The kid was only ever paid $500 for his role.

[@mitoys3628]

There are a couple of times when the finger board is showing and that was not banjo playing. Yes I do--- play a banjo that is.

[@wmacky]

@ Brent - False. It was a sound track. A young girl was brought in to reach around the boy and fake played it because the boy wasn't able to even do that.

[@EzyoMusic]

I love banjo so much I got one.

[@TheSecretmuseum]

Tim Leary! what a talent!

[@terrywitzu3795]

Love this guy!

[@Xul]

I never heard of Deliverance before and just found this video because of someone mentioning the movie regarding banjos. The banjo sound is just awful (to me). If I would arrive at some similar sound when fiddling around with my synths, there would never be a moment when I would think "Oh, that sounds interesting - let's keep it like that and save the user preset". The banjo sound just seems so flat and extremly limited in its musical application. Actually, I have a hard time thinking of any proper melodic instrument that could be more uninteresting - especially when you consider that learning it basically would also enable you for other much better and versatile string instruments.

[@rustyaxelrod]

Comments dogging this guys pickin is cracking me up. He clearly ain’t no Bela Fleck but so what? Banjo players wrote most of the jokes about banjo payers, it’s part of the culture and is the reason this dude was at TED, not because he was an outstanding player.

[@SparkyBoomMan36]

His banjo playing certainly doesn't help the PR disaster... yikes.

[@Moshbearpig]

It was so cringeworthy!

[@cmwh1te]

I just started playing the banjo yesterday, and this performance was very encouraging to me - I feel like a maestro already!

[@auluadenbartolli6755]

Good thing he was just using the banjo as an allegory for confidence and discrimination.

[@michaelangelo9024]

If you can learn to play a banjo, you can learn to play a banjo.

[@luke_ario1313]

>didn't play rocky top

[@DukeLaCrosse20]

I think The Beverly Hillbillies did wonders for the banjo.

[@SgtGideonsDad]

Can't for the life of me can I figure out why it is called "Dueling Banjos" when there is only one banjo!

[@amyasseektruth8246]

The message is correct - to add to my previous comment

[@johncohen4996]

How do you think "players" like this make us older classic style banjoists feel? Prior to the 1940s the 5-string banjo was a proper instrument, not some hick stereotype played with picks, wire strings, and capoes. It wasn't deliverance that proved to be a disaster for the banjo- it was Earl Scruggs, Pete Seeger, and the re-imagining of the banjo as a Southern folk instrument (hint: Prior to the folk scare it wasn't viewed that way at all).

[@AlCapone-dl3cd]

i THINK A GOOD BAJO PLAYER IS GREAT.

[@ooloncaluphid]

I've noticed that in art museums that have a Musical Instruments section, the Japanese Shamisen will be described as a type of "lute" instead of a banjo.

[@crackermachine]

goddamn, a 15 minute video and the banjo playing is just the last 3 minutes? i want my time back.

[@TragicOw]

It’s a free county... For now! Lmao that was my favorite part

[@HarmoniChris]

He's not the best player, but he's definitely funny.