Travis Edmonson of Bud & Travis
EXCLUSIVELY available from travisedmonson.com
Comments & Recollections 7
CHRIS MORALES in Santa Barbara has joined the legion of Travis Edmonson fans via the Best of Bud & Travis CD.
”I am a recent convert to Bud and Travis and I play their music every day, 2-3 times daily! My older brothers played them when I was very little, but I only knew of them, and now, I'm so glad that I know how great they are!”
Chris Morales
March 2006
TOM BOLLINGER, who is presently delighting in his new CDs from the Travis Edmonson Collection agrees with that one of the greatest folk singers' ranking of Bud & Travis.
”I agree with the comments made by Erik Darling: Bud & Travis were the best. Their work, in my opinion was truly artistry. Please pass along my kindest regards to Mr. Edmonson.”
Tom Bollinger
March 2006
Musician ANDY RODRIGUEZ wrote in, not only to declare his admiration for Travis Edmonson, but to ask a special request of the singer with respect to one of his compositions on Andy's favorite B&T album, Perspective on Bud & Travis.
“ I am a long-time fan of Bud and Travis - I literally grew up listening to them and I also learned to play guitar by listening to them (among others). Now, with my own kids grown and married, I'm in the process of recording my first CD ,and would very much like to include a particular song, "A Long Time Back."
Andy Rodriguez
March 2006
(Travis Edmonson has agreed to the request, and we're all looking forward to Andy's new album.)
KEN GREEN, who's now teaching in the California desert, first met Travis Edmonson when a student at the University of Arizona. In an earlier contribution to this website, Ken wrote of how important it was to him to get a message to Travis to thank him for the inspirational help the latter had provided back in the sixties. On February 11, 2006 Ken was able to pay a visit to Travis, and express his appreciation in person.
”My wife Vinnie and I had a great visit with Travis and Rose Marie. Needless to say it was a thrill to see him and talk to him. I still have so many questions I would like to have asked but I will get to them next time.
We sat and talked for quite a while about lots of memories. Then he and Rose Marie asked me if I had brought my guitar and asked me to play for them. One of the great thrills was to have Travis sing along with me on Cloudy Summer Afternoon. When I started to play Bon Soir Dame he said he wasn't going to sing. However, he not only sang but threw in a little harmony to boot. He asked me to help him tune his guitar and I got a chance to play it. Very special.
All in all it was a terrific visit. I promised to come by again on our next trip. He signed a copy of his Santa Barbra CD for me which took some effort but I appreciated greatly.”
Ken Green
February 2006
Though it's been a quarter century since they last met, BARBARA McKINNEY's recollection of her friendship with and admiration for Travis Edmonson typifies the long-lasting impact he had on people.
“I had the pleasure of knowing and loving Travis for many years... With my performing partner, Pat Horine, I met Travis in Atlanta in 1967 when he was trying out a partnership with Bob Shane at our club "Pat & Barbara's" (we alternated sets with them and that was one of the thrills of my young life. Travis introduced me to his friend, Whitt McKinney, whom I later married....
Travis was my dear friend, and I've loved and prayed for him all his life. It's wonderful to be able to find his music online. I don't find it in the music stores in Georgia...although I was able to order one CD. I have the vinyl disc of the Santa Monica concert and it is a treasure to me. To know him was to love him.”
Barbara King McKinney
February 2006
BILL DuBOIS, now resident in Florida, is another who has special feelings for The Bud & Travis Latin Album.
“I'm a 58 year old retired naval officer. Been a hard core B&T fan since I was 15 and got my first guitar in 1963 ...
It was an el cheapo from Wallach's Music City in Long Beach, California ...but I rubbed off the label on the head ... and took some gold foil and did a decent job of tracing out "Goya" instead.
I saw B&T perform at the Laguna Bowl in 1964 with three buddies (just got my license). Travis, we were the guys up in the cheap seats yelling for you to do Bonsoir Dame. Bought all the records in mono - we didn't have a stereo turntable.
After moving to Florida, I saw a copy of the Latin Album in stereo in a store in Orlando ... but didn't buy it. It wasn't until 1995 when prowling the early internet news group called rec.music.folk did I finally find someone who would make a tape of it for me.
Well ... since then I have purchased all the released CDs...except those that show up on this site ... I cannot wait to get a CD version of InPerson and Perspective (two other favorites).”
Bill DuBois
February 2006
KERRY BYRNES, who has faithfully kept all his Bud & Travis LPs in pristine condition, travels back and forth between the U.S. and Latin America, so it will be no secret which of Travis Edmonson's songs are his favorites.
"How could one begin to pick a favorite song from the classic folk repertoire of Bud & Travis? Impossible!!! But I always was thrilled by the Latin-flavored songs included in their albums--and that's why their "Latin Album" is probably my favorite LP.
Their songs always were melodic and sensitive, a truly distinctive sound amidst the other giants of the folk music era. One just couldn't get enough of B&T--and their sound is as fresh today as when their albums were recorded decades ago.
One of my life's regrets is that I never had the opportunity to hear these musicians perform live. So, for years, one had to settle for second best--listening to the B&T albums that one might be fortunate enough to track down. Now, however, with a growing number of B&T--and Travis-- albums starting to appear on CD, it's almost like being able to hop into a time travel machine and be instantly transported back to the 60s.
I was most pleased to learn of the Travis Edmonson website that provides all B&T fans a totally new way to connect with two of the folk era's greatest--Bud & Travis.
Que viva la música de Bud y Travis para siempre!"
I hope these sentiments are appreciated by Travis and worthy of being included along with the postings others have made."
Kerry Byrnes
February 2006
BOB BURLINSON of Rye, New York has had the privilege of experiencing many Travis Edmonson performances.
“Sometime during the summer of 1960 (maybe 1961 - it was a long time ago), I was a graduate student at New York University, adjacent to Greenwich Village in New York City.
I was addicted to folk music, had memorized all of the Kingston Trio releases to that time, hung out with the Clancy Brothers at the White Horse Tavern on Bleeker Street, and wandered the streets, coffee houses, and music venues of the Village on an almost nightly basis.
I wandered into the Bitter End one evening - I had no idea who was on the bill, but they never had a bad show. Bill Cosby or Woody Allen was on stage - Tom Smothers used to hang out there between shows an heckle them - and when the comedy act ended, they brought on the "headline act" - Bud and Travis - Who ?- ten minutes later I was hooked. Their musicality, their showmanship, the interaction between Bud and Travis was mesmerizing.
Travis' beautiful voice, the soaring melodies, his guitar expertise were unlike anything I had ever heard, and I had seen all the great acts that went through the Village in those days. I went back again and again, as often as they appeared - never failing to be thrilled by their music and totally entertained by their patter - which was always fresh - The quickness of wit was outshone only by the perfection of their music. "Malagueña Salerosa" is one of my favorites to this day.
A year later, I was in the Post Exchange at I Corps Headquarters in Ui Jong Bu Korea and the Santa Monica Concert (Vol 1) showed up. I immediately added a Bud and Travis segment to the set list for the folk group we had formed. One of the guys was from El Paso, and immediately adapted the Latin repertoire as his own.
Soon we were talking about " a medley of our hit" and "cutting an album at 66 and 1/5th with the hole only on one side and not quite in the middle and with sesame seeds on the other side and one could buy it at their local A&Poo Feed Store where it was sold as licorice pizza". We would ask our audience if they had ever been "theraped grouply".
I still have virtually every album that Bud and Travis ever did from the early days to Travis in Santa Barbara - what a talent and what a treasure he is. I had the privilege of meeting him and his lovely wife Rose Marie in Scottsdale last summer. I did not know whether to shake his hand or to genuflect. Despite his health issues, the humor, the personality, the graciousness shine through.
When I showed my "kids" - ages 30 to 37 - the picture of me with Travis last summer, the three of them started singing "Biddy Bum Bum to San Fernando" - which I played incessantly on our car tape player when we took family trips many years ago.
My two boys are rather accomplished musicians (primarily guitar) and when I played a recent CD in their hearing, they stopped and commented on Travis' remarkable skill.
I join with so many others in a celebration of Travis Edmondson."
Bob Burlinson
January 2006
Musician DENNIS SEIBEL wants to replace his missing B&T albums via the Travis Edmonson CD Collection, and recalls their influence on his own performing.
”I first heard the Bud & Travis LP of their Concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium while growing up in Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman carried their albums, and they sold well there!
My best friend's older sister had the “In Concert” album, and that's when I became an immediate fan. I turned 13 that year (1960), and I don't know if I was still 12 or had turned 13 when I heard them. But I was hooked.
Many great memories listening to them, and attempting to copy their style, harmonies, and improvised humor on stage. My friend and I began performing as a folk duo just a few years later, and tried to mimic B and T humor and style.
I bought every album they put out. I sang many of their songs as a soloist too, in the Boston area in the early 1970s, and their arrangement of Mariah was the best.
Thanks for your response and for your efforts for Mr. Edmonson. I wish him the very best--he was a huge inspiration to me.”
Dennis Seibel
January 2006
KAREN GLAZER in Florida was a student during the folk boom, but only became an avid admirer of Travis Edmonson in the 21st century.
“While all my friends were into pop and folk in the 60s, my own fare was strictly limited to playing and listening to classical music. Decades passed. Children and grandchildren were born, and the internet arrived. One of my grandsons started buying and collecting vinyl records from the Ebay auction site, and sending me scratchy CDs of the albums he liked best.
Apparently he came across Bud & Travis in a miscellaneous lot, and then started obtaining everything of theirs he could get his hands on. Of course, I was the beneficiary of a copy of each on compact disc. And yes, I have to admit now, I didn't know what I was missing when I turned up my nose at whatever chart music my college friends had been listening to.
Travis Edmonson is a musical marvel. I am so impressed by his incredible voice and that ability to bring out so many shades of meaning in his interpretations. I have become a devoted fan. Better late than never!”
Karen Glazer
January 2006
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