Travis Edmonson of Bud & Travis
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 Travis Edmonson made his breakthrough with The Gateway Singers, resident group at the hungry i
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Memories of the Bud & Travis Santa Monica Concert
see below for new entry by Dallas Williams
For all Travis Edmonson and B&T admirers who never caught a live performance, listening to the recording of their exhilarating concert on March 24, 1960 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is the surrogate experience of attending one of their shows.
The vibrancy of Santa Monica was so remarkable that, after four and a half decades of listening to the album and retaining it as part of one's consciousness, most fans have the sense that at some point, they must have actually seen the duo in person.
Virtual reality, decades ahead of its time!
But what was it like to have actually been in the hall that night as one of the 3,000-strong audience?
Here are some recollections …..
John Thomas, producer of B&t's Folk Era CDs (as well as the B&T Latin Album and Santa Monica Concert itself) was a student at UC Santa Barbara at the time, and an invited guest at the concert. In the liner notes from that album he vividly sets the scene that night at the Santa Monica Civic.
“It was already filling with fans, and the electricity was palpable. This was a special event, a packed house of 3,000 strong, for a special show! We all knew it would be a night to remember even before the house lights dimmed and the introduction was made. When Bud and Travis launched into "Myra," the entire audience became one with the performers. I was in the 5th row center stage, and it was truly awesome!
I've never experienced anything like it before or since. I'd seen and heard Bud and Travis play in person before, but never like this. The magic of their music, now enhanced by Alberto Calderon on percussion and Charles Gonzales on the guitarron, was evident from the first few notes. Every song took me to a place I'd never been before, and a place I wanted to return to time and again. The lights were alternately strong and delicate, spotlighting each solo in the most amazing manner. The sound was "right there"-they filled the room. When I left, I felt ten feet taller than when I came in!
We all became one that night: the performers, the audience, the sound engineer, the lighting technician, all part of an experience that brought us to a new understanding of music-its impact, its power, and its meaning as a shared experience that can truly elevate the human spirit and provide a new dimension to the meaning of life. Truly, it was a once in a lifetime experience.”
on stage at Santa Monica Civic as photographed by good friend Robert O'Neill
Just how exciting it was to be there is put in no uncertain terms by Les Blank ….
“The Santa Monica concert was one of the greatest evenings of my life - right up there with my honeymoon, the birth of my three sons and my miracle recovery several years ago. I remember that night like it was yesterday.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was watching and listening to history unfold.
From what I remember, the Civic Auditorium was a super venue - it had a balcony that was packed and I didn't count the audience but I suspect there were at least 2500+ there that night. The main floor (we were in BB, row 11) was , on the whole, a bit older than my fiance and I - most of the youngsters were in the back and the upper tier. The people around me were not as nearly enthused by the between song patter as we were. The intro to "Sloop John B" was mostly lost on the first 20 or 30 rows all across the front. That night was the only time I saw them do "John B" in their show (and I saw them four times from 1959 thru 1965).
I don't believe I ever attended a concert the size of the Santa Monica gig, where the evening was so dominated by two performers. Bud and Travis dominated wherever they did their thing.”
Anne Vance has the distinction of having actually had one of the songs on the program that night dedicated to her! (It was “The Breeze and I” which did not appear on either of the albums.) Anne's husband, Norm, has been a close friend of Travis Edmonson since college days in Arizona, but for the Vances too, the evening was no ordinary one.
“I remember that evening well, and wish I could do justice to the atmosphere in the auditorium at Santa Monica that night. It was electric!
There was a full house - it's a large room - and it was full! They had everyone there in the palms of their hands, especially me.
Norm and I went with our friend, Lillian, and like everyone else there we were enthralled! Bud and Travis never sounded better! And I was thrilled when Travis dedicated a song to me. I guess he liked the Mexican food I made for dinner a few nights before when he visited us at our house.
I loved the interaction of the two of them on stage - the clever "patter" that they were famous for. They were so good together. Their personalities were so very different, but I think that's what made them click so well on stage."
Dallas Williams, who was lucky enough to see Bud & Travis perform as soloists as well as a duo, finds a stream of memories rise when he remembers seeing B&T at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium …..
“Memory is fickle. If I listen to recordings of the event, I could fool myself into thinking I remember what I do not.
For some reason, I remember the parking lot at the Santa Monica, and the girl. The parking lot is gone now. LA is like that. The girl is sort of gone. In Fresno, I think. A grandmother …. The sea air. And happy to be there.
Later, trying to sing "Les Fraises et Les Frambroise" without the slightest idea what it meant, on a Goya guitar with my friend Brian. And I learned at the concert how to wist my fingers between the E and A strings to make the drum sound on "Two Brothers". `One wore blue and one wore grey.' Thrump. Thrump. I think I wept to be there. Not openly. Malagueña Salerosa is probably my favorite song.
Bud & Travis also made me laugh as I wept. Happy to be there.
I don't know if David "Buck" Wheat was playing bass with them that night. But I knew Buckwheat later, in Marin and LA. He built a marimba-like drum set from carpet tubes mounted on a structure that looked like the Golden Gate Bridge. You had to stand on a table to play it. It's still around LA somewhere.
I was in the little town of Arcata, California some years back. And the kiddie that ran the music store there had a grand collection of Bud and Travis, and he filled a 90 minute tape for me. That sustained me until I discovered you folks in this brave new world.
I learned a lot from those guys. And they led me astray. I always want to thank the ones who did. Had I graduated with my degree in Drama, I would probably be teaching young women in Bennington how to do Shakespeare. Hmm. Something to be said for that. As it is, I'm still singing in bars. And content.”