Tim Burton and Musicians!

Rating: Null/10 (11 January 2004)

Tim Burton again with the barely-known musicians! First, in "Ed Wood", in the party scene toward the end, after the debut of a movie that didn't close down the first night. The very first thing you see is a pair of gnarled hands pounding away at an electronic piano keyboard. These hands belonged to the redoubtable Korla Pandit, of 1950s "Snader" fame. Being from that era myself, I instinctively knew whose hands they were, and astonished my brother-in-law with this bit of world-class trivia.
Now in Big Fish, who's the "barely-known" musician? In the scene where we first see the town of "Spectre", we see a man sitting in a porch swing, playing "Dueling Banjos" on ... a banjo. In the credits, you'll see "Banjo Man", Billy Redden.
In the 1972 movie "Deliverance", you may remember another character sitting in a porch swing, playing "Dueling Banjos" with Ned Beatty playing the guitar part. In the credits for "Deliverance", you'll see "Banjo Boy", Billy Redden. Same guy. He's NOT an albino; he's NOT retarded...and he DOESN'T play the banjo in real life.