Reno & Smiley

Don Reno, Red Smiley, and the Tennessee Cut-Ups were a bluegrass band of such high quality that they gave serious competition to Flatt & Scruggs in the '50s. Reno, an unsurpassed master of the banjo, played for Bill Monroe in 1948, replacing Earl Scruggs. With a smooth and mellow baritone, Smiley made a perfect partner to Reno, singing lead to his high harmony part. Reno's incredible talent carried over to guitar playing and songwriting. Among his compositions are the exquisite "Emotions" as well as "Feuding Banjos," the unforgettable song in the film Deliverance, co-written with Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. You don't know the five-string banjo if you haven't heard Reno. Reno and Smiley both grew up in different rural sections of North Carolina and both played with the Morris Brothers at different times in their formative early years. After both men served in separate divisions of the Army during World War II, and after they were discharged they played in a variety of country bands -- Reno even did a stint with Monroe after Scruggs left the Blue Grass Boys in 1948 -- before they met each other in December 1949. Both musicians were recruited by fiddler Tommy Magness to play in his band the Tennessee Buddies. In the summer of 1950, the pair began playing duets together. After cutting a few singles with Magness for King Records (which were eventually released on Federal) in the spring of 1951, they left the fiddler and began working with Toby Stroud's Blue Mountain Boys in Roanoke, VA. In the fall of that year, the pair finally formed their own band, the Tennessee Cut-Ups. Initially, Reno & Smiley found it difficult to land jobs in Virginia and South Carolina. Nevertheless, they cut several sides for King early in 1952. Before those singles were issued, the duo had...