 UPDATE: September
2006. During the past year, there has been a campaign to get all of
Travis Edmonson's LP albums on CD. The project, referred to as the
Travis Edmonson Collection, is now almost complete. Two
Travis solo albums and eight of the Bud & Travis albums are pictured
at left There are also three Gateway Singers albums that are not
pictured. The
quality is outstanding and the "value added" is that Travis personally
signs each and every one of them. All work and materials are donated,
and 100% of the funds received go to Travis.
You can learn more about this project
at Travis Edmonson's Web site.
Travis Edmonson has
never been a guest artist at the Arizona Folklore Preserve, in the sense
of a person who performs on the stage. But he is always an honored
guest, and he usually manages to sing just a bit. And enthusiastically!
Travis is also in the audience at Dolan's concerts away from
the AFP, whenever it's possible. During Dolan's 40th anniversary
celebration, Travis was at Kerr Cultural Center on the day the year-long
celebration began (February 12th) and at Tohono Chul Park in May.
Travis first visited the AFP in August
2001, and it was an exciting day. Dolan dedicated his show to Travis. He
had a Gateway Singers album and a copy of "In Concert" by Bud & Travis
on stage, and he remarked to Travis that he had not signed the Bud
& Travis LP. In
the photo above, Travis is signing the album, which at the time
was about 41 years old.
Travis is the first person
Dolan will name when you ask him about his influences, and the influence
goes back many years, before Dolan became a member of the New Christy Minstrels. You
can read Dolan's story about the mentoring Travis provided to him on Travis'
site, D
Searching the Internet will yield a
number of interviews and articles about Travis. In case you don't already
know, you'll most likely learn that after a phenomenal career that spanned
about 30 years, Travis suffered an aneurysm and a stroke in 1982, and has
since been paralyzed on the left side. In the last few years, he has
also been struck a disease that was originally diagnosed as Parkinson's.
Travis loves nothing more than being
around live music. He co-hosts a television program on Access Tucson
every other Thursday evening. Dolan was his first guest, and
the two were wonderful together in the hour-long program: a highlight was
when Dolan sang "You've Got a Friend in Me," with Travis harmonizing
beautifully. Travis was the guest of Dolan's friend and fellow original
New Christy Minstrels member, Art Podell, at the Christies' Reunion concert
in Queen Creek, Arizona, on April 3, 2005. Art sang a solo and dedicated
it to Travis, with a comment at the end of his tribute that hundreds of performers
would echo, "We're all beholden to you." There are photos
of Travis with Art, Dolan, and Randy Sparks on the New
Christy Minstrels Reunion Slide Show page.
Travis truly appreciates the effort
Dolan put into developing the Arizona Folklore Preserve, and has been there
several times to show that appreciation the best way he can—by being
an enthusiastic audience member.
Some information about three of the
most popular CDs in the collection is below:
In Concert took place
at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1960. Almost anyone who was
at that concert will tell you now, 45 years later, that it was the ost incredible
of events. That complete double album, which has remained a prized
possession for countless fans is now offered on a single CD. The songs
were an eclectic mix of folk music, Mexican music, love songs, a show tune
("They
Call the Wind Mariah"),
an even a lively Mexican cowboy song ("La Vaquilla Colorado"). As
with Travis' solo work, the introductions to Bud & Travis songs were
frequently almost as entertaining as the songs themselves, and at times they
were downright hilarious. A highlight of the show is the wild and crazy
introduction to "Sloop
John B," and
the continuation of the hilarity throughout the song. To give away
a secret, Travis is arguing for his right to improvise.
Travis' signature song, "Malaguena
Salerosa,"
stands out on the recording as a great example of studiol perfection in a
live setting. Travis' beautiful tenor voice on this beautiful love
song will give you chills.
In Concert Volume 2, aka
simply 2, was
the continuation of In Concert. More of the great
music and funny banter, with some important additions such as Travis' original
song, "The Clock," and his arrangements of other songs such as "All
My Sorrows"
and "E La Bas."
The Bud & Travis Latin Album is
Travis' favorite Bud & Travis
album, and something he insisted on recording
in 1965, not long before the duo broke up permanently. Travis wanted
to do a record that was purely Spanish music, not only from Mexico but from
other Latin American countries as well. Travis was right, and the album
was their biggest seller. The album contains a
couple of numbers that are familiar to a large percentage of the U.S. population: "La
Bamba" and "Guantanamera." And it includes
two additional songs that are familiar to Travis or Bud & Travis fans: "Sin
Ti" (translated means "without you") and once again,
Travis' signature song, "Malaguena Salerosa." The
remainder of the songs, while not familiar to most non-Spanish speakers,
are destined to become not only familiar to, but favorites of, their listeners.
There are also somef "new" Travis
Edmonson CDs that were made available in 2001 and 2002. Taken from
live recordings made in 1966, they offer listeners a glimpse into the Travis
solo shows of that era.
The first two have a remarkable story. Soon
after Travis and Bud broke up, he took some time  from
touring to spend most of the month of December 1966 in Tucson. He was
doing his regular night club act, nothing special (except that everything
Travis did was special), and a friend of his made a reel-to-reel recording
of the two sets. The
friend gave the tapes to Travis, who put them away and forgot about them. Then
in 1999, 17 years after he had become paralyzed, he found the tapes in his
garage. They were an absolute treasure, and friends were quick to get
them translated to cassette, and then the folks at RediscoverMusic got them
on CDs. They used Kachina drawings by Travis himself as cover art. The
result: two CDs that represent the everyday Travis, and yet one of the best
concerts one could ever experience.
That great tenor voice. The wonderful
work on his Goya guitar. The rapport with his audience.  The
effortlessness of moving from pop music of the day to a show tune to a Mexican
song to an American folk song. He sang a Christmas song or two. He sang
a Jewish song or two. He got a "gal" from the audience to help with
a sing-along. He told jokes. He told stories. He combined
the Beatles' hit "Yesterday" with Randy Sparks' "Today"
to form a beautiful medley. He sang "Kisses
Sweeter Than Wine," and
you would think he had lived the story. That also goes for "It
Was a Very Good Year." He sang his song "I'm
a Drifter" (Dolan
sings that, and he loves the line, "I've seen a June bug in July"). Travis
proved he can make his voice rough enough for the blues in "Crescent
City Blues." He showed off his powerful voice with a song
written by Mariam Makeba, "Love Is..." And of course,
he sang "Malaguena
Salerosa," perhaps the
best of his seven recordings of his signature song. There were more
great songs in that evening of music, too many to mention on this page.
"Travis Edmonson, Live at UCSB
(University of California, Santa Barbara), 5/9/66," was actually  recorded
before the Tucson Tapes, but was released more than a year after they were
released. It's a must-have for a Travis Edmonson collector, and a very
nice CD for anyone else. The concert included a song that was not previously
recorded, a beautiful love song written by Travis called "All
of My Life." There is also the only Travis solo
of "Cielito
Lindo," a song he also recorded with Bud. He sang
a funny Woody Guthrie number, "Talkin' Guitar Blues." "La
Bamba" was also part of the program (it is also on the
Tucson Tapes), and somehow Travis Edmonson as a solo manages to make more
music with that song that almost any group can make. Travis sang "It
Was a Very Good Year," and there is a mysterious round
of applause in the middle of the song. The
explanation was that he moved a stool out of the way with his foot, never
missing a beat with guitar and voice, and even that got audience approval. Of
course, Travis sang "Malaguena Salerosa," and
while it was not as perfect as the recording on the Tucson Tapes, it nevertheless
conveys his emotions about that song.
The tribute to Travis Edmonson on this
page is just a small fraction of the "shrine" to Travis created
on his Web site. His Webmaster, Chantal, has done an outstanding job,
especially in including so much information about his recordings and the
particular songs on them. There are 80 music clips! Go there
with a few minutes to spare and you are bound to have an enjoyable visit. Go
there without time to spare and you may find yourself late for your next
appointment.
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