Travis Edmonson of Bud & Travis
Comments & Recollections 15
RON WILBURNE of the musical group HORIZON is also known to most folk fans as part of The New Christy Minstrels. He recalls for visitors of the website his meeting with Travis Edmonson last year.
”How big a thrill it was for me to finely meet Travis Edmonson in person. I had that pleasure on 04/03/05 in Queen Creek, Arizona when I was appearing with Randy Sparks & The New Christy Minstrels for their Reunion Concerts.
Randy asked me if I knew who Travis Edmonson was, and I turn towards Travis and said to Randy,” of course I do Randy, he is Travis Edmonson! or as I refer too him, "Mr. Malaguena Salerosa". (I remember telling Travis how I had nearly worn out my LP playing the song over and over again!)
It was so nice of Travis to come to our concert, and it was a once in a life time chance for me to meet him. I would have loved too spend more time talking with Travis, but Randy was really enjoying visiting with him also. I will always remember those few minutes and Travis' kind words.
I still work with Randy from time to time, and my own folk group, "Horizon" here in Sacramento. We just signed with Robert Zucker and AMAZ Records.”
Ron Wilburne
February 2007
LINDA FLEISCHMAN in Oregon was excited to be able to purchase Bud & Travis albums on CD.
“What a sadness to learn about Travis Edmonson's health!
Undoubtedly, Bud and Travis were the best of the folk singers. The musicianship and harmonies were virtuoso, close to classic and flamenco - and their patter was a gas. I will forever be puzzled as to why they never made it bigger than they did. They were masters.
I have played the albums so many times over the past (what) 40 years (yikes) that they are unlistenable. Please tell Mr. Edmonson that fans remain just as avid as ever. "Cloudy Summer Afternoon," what a gem.
I look forward to listening to Bud and Travis in pure, delicious harmony once more.”
Linda Fleischman
February 2007
Entertainer JIM VISONE in Las Vegas enjoyed a live Bud & Travis performance in New York during the sixties.
” I first saw the duo at the Bitter End in the village, and have the “Bud & Travis In Concert” LP.
I later met Travis in Tucson, and he arranged a gig for me to play at a recovery facility attached to one of the hospitals there in town. Probably the most appreciative audiences that I ever played for. That was in maybe 1975.
I wish Travis all of the best, and I hope that he keeps on going for many more years."
Jim Visone
February 2007
Overseas fan LUCIO RUSSO in Italy likes the early Bud & Travis albums best.
“I grew up in the sixties with Bud & Travis music in Taranto, Italy, where my father was friends with some men at the US Navy base there.“
Lucio Russo
February 2007
LENORE MAHLER in Idaho purchased the seven currently available Bud & Travis CDs as a birthday gift for her father.
“I grew up listening to Bud & Travis thanks to my dad. His 77th birthday is coming up, and I would like to give back to him the wonderful gift he gave to me - the music of Bud & Travis. Many thanks to Travis Edmonson who has given my family so much wonderful music to enjoy!”
Lenore Mahler
January 2007
JAMES J. McMANUS, now living in Georgia, traces his own history and how it crossed with musical heroes Bud & Travis.
”I was a new staff member at the US House of Representatives and I had become an habitue of The Cellar Door in Georgetown, not far from the White House. By chance I was there the night Liberty recorded “Bud & Travis In Person.”
So late of Indiana, I had never heard of these young men. But that night I was stunned and even emotionally moved at the faultless beauty of their voices, their harmonies, their musicianship. There was fun and excitement and sheer joy in their performance.
The years passed, and I returned to journalism, then took another brief time-out as an aide to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy as he campaigned across the nation in the spring of 1968, a journey that ended so tragically. Finally, I traveled the world as a CBS News correspondent, then retired.
That is what happened to me. But, what had happened to Bud and to Travis? They had simply dropped from my sight and hearing so many years ago.
During those years I had collected all the Bud & Travis albums and played them again and again for friends and for my five daughters. Time passed.
A few weeks ago, I unpacked an attic trunk, dusted the album covers, bought a new turntable and listened once again. Why had their talent not shot them upward like a skyrocket so that we could have watched and listened and admired. Where had they gone?
This time, I went to the internet and got my answers, some poignant, some sad. But, the triumph of Travis Edmonson was on heart-warming display - for there he is! He has celebrated his 74th birthday anniversary and I am now 75. We are peering into the twilight. But, we don't have to believe it.
We are again connected in the way that art and the artist brings us all together. The voices, the words, the guitars collapse 40 years of time and we are once more at the Cellar Door. He is the pure and undiminished voice and I am the perfect listener, sitting quietly as before, both of us convinced that we are still young men on our way.
Bless you, Travis. And thanks.”
James J McManus
January 2007
GARY PUMPHREY in Colorado Springs is delighted to learn about the Travis Edmonson Collection CD of “Perspective on Bud & Travis.”
”I bought my vinyl copy of Perspective in high school! It is wonderful, but I haven't been able to play the scratchy record in many years.”
Gary Pumphrey
January 2007
CLINTON JARBEAU in British Columbia is looking forward to a release from The Travis Edmonson Collection which will include the B&T single “The Alamo.”
“I was at the Bud & Travis grand reunion concert at the Santa Monica Civic in 1962. I had a passel of second cousins living in Torrance, and now dispersed from there, but we all attended, I as the youngest member of the entourage.
It was a fine time, and I became a life long fan right there. I don't have anything but the warmest memories of that effort, certainly don't remember much about the program, just the fact that they were funny, and fun to listen to. For those of us who survived the 60's, a great deal of the optimism and idealism of that time became
personified for me in the work of Bud and Travis. “
Clinton Jarbeau
January 2007
CINDY CARRERA in Phoenix has been a fan since childhood, and lists her favorite Travis Edmonson track as “anna.”
"” I have many fond memories of the songs on “The Bud & Travis Latin Album,” as my parents played it all the time while I was growing up. At that time, I couldn't appreciate the beauty of lyrics and the skill with which Travis Edmonson performed them. Since being reintroduced to Bud and Travis, I, too, now play the CD all the time. I'd love to be able to sing the songs and know what I'm singing. "
Cindy Carrera
January 2007
GEORGE REED's special Bud & Travis favorites are the Perspective and Spotlight albums.
”Great news to know these are available on CD!”
George Reed
January 2007
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