Fw: Travis Edmonson RIP
bluesfantom
tom
Just in from Dirty Dave the Record Slave. Travis's wife ran the famous club the Hungry I. His son Steve, made a record for my Burnside label with jackie Payne and is still active on the Delta Groove label....rip
Travis Edmonson, folk-music star, dies at 76
Influential folk musician Travis Edmonson died Saturday at a Mesa
hospital , according to Chantal N� Laoghaire, curator of the Travis
Edmonson Collection.
Edmonson, 76, grew up in Nogales, where he discovered folk music. He
became a major folk-music star in the 1950s and 1960s.
He was best known as a member of the Bud & Travis duo, which included
Bud Dashiell. Their "Malaguena Salerosa" went platinum in the 1950s
and "Cloudy Summer Afternoon" was a top 30 hit.
Edmonson's use of Spanish lyrics paved the way for other artists to
use the language in their music.
His songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and influenced folk
groups that followed him.
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Deb Lubin
Deb
--- On Mon, 5/11/09, bluesfantom <blues...@centurytel.net> wrote:
Joel Fritz
hear of his passing.
Fritz Bros Tunes: http://www.myspace.com/thefritzbrothers
Deb Lubin wrote:
> We were in Memphis when I heard that Steve's dad was close to leaving us. Luckily, Steve got to talk to him before he passed. I'm sure Steve will chime in soon, and thanks, Tom, for posting this.
> Deb
>
>
> --- On Mon, 5/11/09, bluesfantom <blues...@centurytel.net> wrote:
>
> From: bluesfantom <blues...@centurytel.net>
> Subject: Fw: Travis Edmonson RIP
> To: BLU...@LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG
> Date: Monday, May 11, 2009, 6:29 PM
>
> I just learned from Terry Currier our Steve Edmounson's dad has passed away.
> Steve, my deepest thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
>
> tom
>
>
>
>
>
Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/
Steve Edmonson
my father, Travis Edmonson. Travis was quite an amazing man. His passing
was not unexpected, as he had been quite ill for some time. While I was in
Memphis for the BMA Awards, I was in constant contact with the hospital.
When I arrived in San Francisco, I called his wife at the hospital and was
told that he was expected to pass very soon. I had her hold the phone to
his ear, and even though he was in a non-responsive state, I talked to him
for a while, saying my good-byes. I received a call less than an hour later
with the news that he had passed.
Travis' musical virtuosity has been well documented. His rendition of
"Malague�a Salerosa" in particular, never failed to raise the hair on my
neck. His knowledge of Latin American music (particularly the traditional
Spanish language "Folk" songs from around the world, and music of the
"Epocha de Oro," of the 1930's and early 1940's in M�xico) was unequaled.
His music was very popular in M�xico and Latin America, and he continues to
have many fans on both sides of the R�o Grande to this day.
Travis, and my mother, Jo Ann Bryant (who managed the famous Hungry i
nightclub,) were in San Francisco for the whole "Beat" thing, and were
always involved in "left-of-center" politics. Travis wrote the anti-war
song, "If I Were Free," for Peter, Paul & Mary, as well a many other songs
that were recorded by groups like The Kingston Trio.
I have included a link to the L.A. Times Obituary, as well as links to a
couple of his fan-sites for those of you who want to learn more about him.
It would be impossible to encapsulate his amazing life in such a small
space, but the information in the obit is fairly accurate. There are so
many stories from his past, but many are not exactly G-rated. There was the
wild side of Travis, so there are many stories that I can't share. One
involves Suzanne Pleshette and a bathtub full of Dom Perignon.you get the
idea. There was the ethno-musicologist side of Travis. He spent a good
deal of his life researching and performing Folk and traditional music from
Europe and the U.S. as well as from Latin America. As Erik Darling of The
Weavers said of Travis and his musical partner, Bud Dashiell, "Bud and
Travis were the best. No one of their ilk could even touch them. When they
got on stage and did their thing, there was nothing like it. Wonderful!"
Bob Shane, founding member of the Kingston Trio, was in college when he
first saw Travis perform in San Francisco. He has often said that Travis is
his musical idol.
His interest in history wasn't confined to music. Travis accompanied his
brother Colin traveling the mountains of M�xico, living with and studying
theYaqu� Indians in the 1940's, which eventually led to the publishing of
the first Yaqu�-English dictionary. This all took place decades before the
Carlos Casteneda books. Travis is still a "fariseo," or acolyte in the
Yaqu� religion, and the tribe has honored him many times in the past. By
the time Travis came along, many of the musical compositions of early
African-American musicians had already been listed as PD (public domain),
and Travis fought hard to get royalties paid to the heirs of famous
Americans like Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly.)
I have spent most of my life as a Blues musician, and I'm sure that this
stems from my early exposure through Travis to Blues musicians who had
crossed-over to the coffee-house circuit of the late 50's/early 60's. I can
remember traveling with them and having many of them (like Josh White,
Lightnin' Hopkins and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee) perform in my living
room. Travis had friends in just about every genre of music. Through
Travis, I met many Jazz musicians, from Roland Kirk to Jon Hendriks; Latin
musicians, like the famous Latin composer, Lalo Guerrero, The Clancy
Brothers (from Ireland,) and many more!
There will be a public memorial for Travis in Tucson soon, and I will post
that information when the details are ironed out. Again, thanks to all of
you
for your kind notes of condolence.
Steve Edmonson
edmo...@comcast.net
The Jackie Payne-Steve Edmonson Band
http://www.payne-edmonson.com
http://www.myspace.com/jpseb
http://deltagrooveproductions.com/music/artists/jackie_payne/main.html
Bud & Travis Website (created and maintained by a fan here in the U.S.):
http://www.budandtravis.com/index_new.shtml
Travis' Website (created and maintained by a fan in Ireland.):
http://www.travisedmonson.com/
Travis' LA Times Obit:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-travis-edmonson12-2009may12,0,6106526.story
Jay Watterworth
life with your father.
Jay
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pat boyack
Pat B
Barbara Hammerman
I join those who have offered their thoughts to you on the passing of your
father.
I'd like to add how very much I appreciate your detailing for us so much
of what was surely a dynamic and meaningful life!
I've already explored some of those websites and will save your email to
roam around a bit more to discover other aspects of your interesting father.
Travis was clearly a leader in his field, nurtured others and had a bit
of fun along the way!
A life well lived.
Thank you for including us in such a meaningful way with information about
this special man.
-Barbara/Toez
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