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08/04/14 - NNHS Newsletter Dueling Banjos “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation's tears in shoulder blades.” - Boris Pasternak (10 Feb 1890 - 30 May 1960)

Dear Friends and Schoolmates,

    It's deliciously not bad here in Fayetteville this week; I hope you're not dueling the heat and humidity today...

   Personally, I've never seen the movie.  The descriptions alone always struck me as - well, strongly disturbing.....

   And if you thought THAT was strange.....

"Dueling Banjos" is an instrumental composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. The song was composed in 1955 by Smith as a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos", which contained riffs from "Yankee Doodle". Smith recorded it playing a four-string plectrum banjo and accompanied by five-string bluegrass banjo player Don Reno. The composition's first wide scale airing was on the 1963 television episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" featuring the music of "The Darlings", otherwise known as "The Dillards", a bluegrass group. The show was aired in season four, production number 96 which aired in 1963, "Brisco Declares For Aunt Bee". A brief version was played by the parents of Mindy, in the pilot of Mork and Mindy.

The version by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell went to #2 for four weeks on the Hot 100 in 1973, all four weeks behind Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song", and topped the adult contemporary chart for two weeks the same year.^[1] The song also reached No. 5 on the Hot Country Singles chart at the same time it was on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary Singles charts.

The song was made famous by the 1972 film Deliverance, which also led to a successful lawsuit by the song's composer, as it was used in the film without his permission. A cover of the song by Steve Ouimette (using electric guitars, bass, and drums) was released as downloadable content for the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. The Toy Dolls also covered the song on their album Absurd-Ditties.

In Deliverance, a scene depicts Billy Redden playing it opposite Ronny Cox, who joins him on guitar. Redden plays "Lonnie"—a mentally challenged inbred but extremely gifted banjo player. (Redden could not actually play the banjo. A local musician, Mike Addis, disguised using careful camera angles, reached around from behind Redden.^[2]) Two young musicians, Ron Brentano and Mike Russo, had originally been signed to play their adaptation for the film, but instead it was performed by the others.^[3]

"Dueling Banjos" was arranged and performed for the film by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell and was included on its soundtrack.^[4] When Smith was not acknowledged as the composer by the filmmakers, he sued and eventually won, receiving songwriting credit as well as royalties.

For corrections, see entry   from Terry Haney on www.nnhs65.com-08-07-14-NNHS-Once-There-Were-Greenfields.html. Thanks, Terry!

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THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday today to The United States Coast Guard - 1790 AND Colleen Luke Barton ('57) of England AND Buzzy Blanchard (Kecoughtan HS - '68) of LA!    Happy Birthday tomorrow to   The late Barbara Kemp Bostwick ('57) (deceased  04/22/12) AND   Frank Friedland ('60) of VA!    Happy Birthday this week to: 06 -   Susan Whitcomb Harlin ('72) of TX; 07 - Elaine Ferrell Taylor ('57) AND    Kenny Branch ('62) of AR AND Judy Fertitta Gibson (Hampton HS - '62) of VA AND The late Anne Davidson Matthis ('64) (deceased 02/08/13); 08 -   Virginia Deuell DeBerry ('46) AND Kathy Presgraves Whitt ('71) of VA; 09 - Katherine Adams Barbrey ('57) AND      Hunter Todd  ('57) of TX; 10 - Marshall Conley ('63) of VA!    Many Happy Returns, One and All! http://www.nnhs65.com/Happy-Birthday.html

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100 YEARS AGO TODAY: August 4, 1914 - World War I: Germany invaded Belgium. In response, Belgium and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The United States declared its neutrality. THIS DAY IN WWII:

August 04, 1944 - The Holocaust: a tip from a Dutch informer led the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they found Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and others. Anne, a teenager at the time, was one of the eight people arrested. Her diary would be published after her death. The last entry in the diary was on this day.

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THIS DAY IN 1964: Tuesday, August 04, 1964 - American civil rights movement: civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney were found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21. Tuesday, August 04, 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin incident: U.S. destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy reported coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin. Tuesday, August 04, 1964 - Politician Andrew Bartlett was born Andrew John Julian Bartlett in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Tuesday, August 04, 1964 - Radio host Gary King was born in Stevenage, England.

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From My Friend Sherri, of UT - 08/03/14:

		AMEN! Thank you, Sherri!

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From My Friend Alice, of NV - 08/03/14 - "Not by Accident":

		SO TRUE! Thanks, Alice!

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     From Me ('65) of NC - 08/032/14:

  From Judy Phillips Allen ('66) of VA - 08/01/14 - "Funnies (#2 in a series of 13)":

		Thanks, Dearest Judy!

BONUS BANJO CROCHET PATTERN:

http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/121398.aspx - Sharon Ballsmith's Banjo Bag - "... a fun little summer tote that is also reversible…no lining needed!"

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BONUS BANJO RECIPES:

http://www.healthyhomerecipes.com/recipedetail.aspx?id=1005 - Banana Banjo Recipe http://www.martindorey.com/recipes/expolding-egg-banjo/ - Exploding Egg Banjo Recipe - "The exact origins of the Exploding Egg Banjo are unknown to me. For years I had thought it was just another name for a sandwich. A colloquialism. But no! When I started delving, and by that I mean Googling, I discovered (to my shame) that The Egg Banjo (or exploding egg banjo) is a very special sandwich indeed. The ironic thing is that, like a fool who isn’t in on the joke, I had been enjoying Exploding Egg Banjos for many, many years without understanding quite what I was doing. I was doing it right, it’s just that I never quite made the connection. Try one yourself and you’ll get it soon enough. The exploding bit is easy. It’s the banjo part that promises – and delivers – that very brilliant eureka moment..." http://www.thelady8home.com/2012/08/06/banjo-with-egglands-eggs/ - Banjo with Egglands Eggs Recipe - "...About two decades ago, when my husband was an Engineering student, he often visited his Aunt who lived in the Indian city of Indore. There, he frequented an eatery where a vendor fed him something that was called ‘Banjo’. After we met, which was sometime after he had left his student life behind, he waxed eloquent about it at every opportunity he got. He even tried replicating it a couple of times. That’s when I figured out that whatever this ‘banjo’ was, it consisted of eggs and bread. To me it looked like a plain omelet squished between two pieces of bread..."

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FINALLY:

1. Thursday, August 7, 2014 - The NNHS Class of 1955 holds Lunch Bunch gatherings on the first Thursday of every month at Steve & John's Steak House on Jefferson Avenue just above Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News at 11:00 AM. The luncheon is not limited to just the Class of '55; if you have friends in that year, go visit with them. 2. Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - The NNHS Class of June 1942 meets at noon on the second Wednesday of every other month for a Dutch treat lunch at the James River Country Club, 1500 Country Club Road. PLEASE JOIN THEM. Give or take a few years makes no difference. Good conversation, food and atmosphere. For details, call Jennings Bryan at 803-7701 for reservations. 3. Friday and Saturday, October 10 and 11, 2014 - The NNHS Class of 1969 will hold a 45-YEAR REUNION at the Newport News Marriott at City Center, 740 Town Center Drive.  For further information, contact Jean Baker Howell at hokie13mom@cox.net. 4. Friday and Saturday, October 17 and 18, 2014 - The NNHS Class of 1964 will hold a 50-YEAR REUNION at the Newport News Marriott at City Center, 740 Town Center Drive. See: www.nnhs1964.com and contact David Spriggs at 757-409-2799 or nnhs64@cox.net.

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PRAYER ROLL: http://www.nnhs65.com/requests-prayers.html - updated 07/17/14

BLOG: http://nnhs.wordpress.com/ - updated 03/13/11

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Y'all take care of each other!  TYPHOONS FOREVER!  We'll Always Have Buckroe!                                  Love to all, Carol

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NNHS CLASS OF '65 WEB SITE: http://www.nnhs65.com

PERSONAL WEB SITE: http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat

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Carol Buckley Harty 7020 Lure Court Fayetteville, NC 28311-9309 910-584-8019

THREE WAYS TO DONATE:   1. Visit the main page (http://www.nnhs65.com), scroll halfway down, and click on the Pay Pal Donate Button (nnhs65@gmail.com); 2. Go to www.PayPal.com, log in, select "Send Money (Services) to nnhs65@gmail.com; or 3. Just mail it directly to my home. Thanks!

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Dueling Banjos (Originally titled "Feudin' Banjos")

Co-composed and recorded by Don Reno (21 Feb 1927 - 16 Oct 1984) and Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith (01 Apr 1921 - 04 Apr 2014), 1955

Used in Deliverance (1972) without the composer's consent

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 "Dueling Banjos" midi courtesy of http://www.reocities.com/aequum/music60s70s.html - 08/04/10

"Eight Banjos" Image courtesy of http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/banjo_lineup/ - 08/03/10

Animated Musical Divider Line clip art courtesy of - well, I cannot seem to locate that information at the moment

Animated Tiny Birthday Cake clip art courtesy of Sarah Puckett Kressaty ('65) of VA - 08/31/05
Thanks, Sarah Sugah!