A Salute to Travis Edmonson of Bud & Travis
Keeping His Legacy alive!
visit the up-to-date version of this website at www.travisedmonson.com
Comments & Recollections 16
Comments Pages
From Singapore to the Middle East, the international range that Travis Edmonson's music had is clearly demonstrated by GEOFF CLAYTON in the United Kingdom.
“I was a young airman serving with the Royal Air Force in Singapore from 1959 to 1962. It was there that my wife and I first heard some of Bud and Travis's music played on British Forces Radio. We thought their voices, harmony and guitar playing were sensational and so we searched Singapore City record stores for their music. The album we managed to find, the only one, was “Spotlight on Bud and Travis.”
Our son, Kris, was born in Singapore in August 1960. He grew up listening to a variety of music, of course, but when he was old enough to sit up unaided he used to do a sort of shuffle on his bottom and wave his arms about in time to the music whenever Bud and Travis sang "Jenny on a horse", it was so obviously his favourite track!
Years later we contributed most of our record collection, including Spotlight, to a service field hospital in the Aden Protectorate. Volunteers there had just set up a DJ service on headphones
for the patients but it had been done on a very tight budget and they were desperate to build up a library of recordings. In this way the music that had given us such pleasure had a new lease of life entertaining people who were recovering from illness or injury, making Bud and Travis a part of their lives, too.
Over the years, Travis's music and incredible talent has touched
many lives.
Bud & Travis' much-loved singing revives wonderful memories for me of a earlier time in my life. In my experience, music is uniquely able to do that. A single musical phrase is sometimes all that is needed to trigger the recall of people, places and events, bringing them clearly to mind. Memories are very personal possessions and I find the longer I live the more I treasure
and need them.”
Geoff Clayton
April 2007
RAFAEL ALMARAZ in Las Vegas is one of thos4e lucky people who saw Travis Edmonson perform live.
” I am originally from Casa Grande, Arizona. I grew up listening to the old rock and roll or traditional Mexican music. Being of Mexican ancestry I can appreciate real Mexican music.
When I was in the US Air Force, and stationed at Williams Air Force Base, Chandler, Arizona, in the early 1960s, I really got into folk music and ran into one of Bud and Travis' albums (Bud & Travis In Concert). I was so impressed by their talent and their ability to perform Mexican music better than the original singers that I had heard before.
I used to play their music to my in-laws and they could not believe that two non Mexicans could sing and play guitar better than our own people. I don't want to brag, but I played in band in high school, played guitar, and I played a lot of Mexican music, and I was absolutely amazed at their talent, their musicianship and their showmanship. To this date i have not heard anybody play those songs better then Bud and Travis.”
Rafael Almaraz
April 2007
DON MACLACHLAN, who is now resident in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, keeps his Bud & Travis music ever handy on the go in his MP3 player.
“Been a fan since hearing Malagueña Salerosa in Edmonton, Alberta, muchas años pasados...
I live now in a world of Mariachis and street singers - all of whom know 'the song' but none of whom can perform it as B&T did for so many years... I always come home and play 'the original' once again... Thanks so much for the memories and the songs. (I played bass in our own 'home brew' folk group - made a few bucks but never went pro- have to continue with a couple of degrees and do the conventional thing...)”
Don MacLachlan
April 2007
DON STEMMLER in Maryland points to the inspirational impact Travis Edmonson's music has for so many people
“I would like Travis to know that my double LP of the Santa Monica concert sustained me through the Army, college, and the early days of my teaching career.
Only recently did I obtain a B&T CD as a gift. When I heard Bonsoir Dame, Cloudy summer afternoon, and I Guess I'll Go Home, I cried right in front of my girlfriend. Damn. I had not listened closely to music for many years. I felt reconnected with a part of me that I lost. This occurred at a time when I was rereading J.D. Salinger.
In a simpler time years ago, I used to tell people that if my house were burning the first two things that I would save were my Bud And Travis in Concert album and Brubeck's Take Five.
Bud and Travis gave the world a gift, and I want to thank Travis Edmonson for sharing his talent with me and the world.”
Don Stemmler
March 2007
PETER M POWERS in Napa, California is a long-time Bud & Travis fan.
” I had an old LP of B&T Naturally, and many of the other LP's from Bud and Travis. I am really interested in this particular CD because of the unique arrangements of Down in the Valley and also In the hills of Shiloh. I was very happy to find this site!”
Peter M Powers
March 2007
GLENN PETERSEN in New York particularly cherishes Naturally and the the Bud and Travis `debut' album.
” I still have and still occasionally listen to four B&T LPs I bought in Santa Barbara in 1963/64, where I also saw Travis perform. This music truly shaped not only my aesthetic sensibility, but also had a very big impact on the course of my life. I've gone several times over the years to “Most Happy Fella” at the New York City Opera just to hear "Joey" in its original setting. I can't begin to express my appreciation for Travis Edmonson's music.”
Glenn Petersen
March 2007
When LEILANI BABCOCK in Michigan heard that all of Travis Edmonson's albums were available on CD, she wanted to order every one.
I have always loved Travis' music. ” I met him once in Lake Tahoe in 1967. He was then acquainted with a group called the The Christiana's, who worked at the ski lodge by the same name.”
Leilani Babcock
February 2007
ROSANNE BUSCH was hoping against hope that her beloved `Bud and Travis `debut' album was available on CD just as she remembers it. Voila! The Travis Edmonson Collection fulfills her wish.
"Your digitally remastered CD is wonderful. I love my old 33 1/3 album so much, but cannot play it anymore. New equipment . I wanted the original in a CD version. Love the music SO much.”
Rosanne Busch
February 2007
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Travis Edmonson made his breakthrough with The Gateway Singers, resident group at the hungry i
Be sure and check out the website
celebrating the great San Francisco club at www.hungryi.net
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RICHARD WADSWORTH delineates a series of coincidences which he thought would interest Travis Edmonson.
“It turns out that Travis's background and our family backgrounds were fairly close. My older brother was born in Nogales. He studied art with DeGrazia in Tucson in Junior High School, and because of his work then, Ted figured out that Terry would become an architect - which he did, designing the Nogales Public Library - still a unique structure in the Southwest. While a college student, he was an extra in Oklahoma, a stand-in for Gene Nelson (since one of my uncles was the casting director for most movies made in Arizona). Long
before that my grandparents were pioneers in Arizona. They met in Nogales - she could speak no English and he no Spanish. He disappeared for several weeks and returned having learned enough Spanish to propose to her. We lived with her during the war, around the block from Tucson High. My grandfather built the Southern Pacific Depot in Tucson and others down into Mexico. They lived in a caboose while in Mexico and were attacked by Yaqui Indians.
When, in the mid 60's, I would take my grandmother into Mexico, like to the Cavern Restaurant in Nogales or down to Guaymas, I often had the local mariachis play her favorite songs - one of which was Malagueña Salerosa .
Later when I was working on my PhD at the U of Arizona, I used to play my Bud and Travis Latin Album for her on special occasions, like when she asked me to help make tamales. She would say, "for gringos, they make pretty music that tug at her heartstrings." I thought that was a pretty cool statement. That is why the Latin Album is special to me. While my Spanish is marginal, my singing is poor (never got anywhere beyond the Tucson Boys Choir), and my guitar gathers dust in its stand in our living room in Texas, I still dream of playing ala Bud and Travis.”
Richard Wadsworth
February 2007
GEOFF CLAYTON wrote into the website from the United Kingdom where Bud & Travis material was released on the London label.
" I used to have the Spotlight on Bud and Travis LP, which I bought new in 1960. I'd like to hear it again, particularly “Jenny on a Horse,” which was a favourite of mine.”
Geoff Clayton
February 2007
Comments Pages
"I Talk to the Trees"
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