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Arthur Smith & Don Reno

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Biography

Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith & Don Reno

Arthur Smith (April 1, 1921 – April 3, 2014) was an American country music composer, guitarist, fiddler, and banjo player who had a major hit with the instrumental "Guitar Boogie".

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In 1955, Smith composed a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos" and recorded the song with five-string banjo player Don Reno (February 21, 1927 – October 16, 1984) an American bluegrass and country musician best known as a banjo player.

Born in Buffalo, South Carolina, Don Wesley Reno grew up on a farm in Haywood County, North Carolina. He began playing the banjo at the age of five. His father gave him a guitar four years later; and in 1939 12-year-old Reno joined the Morris Brothers in performing at a local radio station. He left one year later to join Arthur Smith, with whom he would years later record "Feudin' Banjos". The composition appeared in the popular 1972 film Deliverance as "Dueling Banjos" played by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel. Not given credit, Smith had to proceed with legal action that eventually gave him songwriting credit and back royalties. It was a landmark copyright infringement suit.

Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.