NY folk music veteran Artie Traum dead
PGPear...@aol.com
7/21/2008, 4:49 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. (AP) — Artie Traum, a veteran songwriter and guitarist
who came out of the famous Greenwich Village folk music scene, has
died. He was 65.
Traum died Sunday at his home in Woodstock from cancer that spread to
his liver, said manager Jeff Heiman.
Traum was born and raised in the Bronx and played around the seminal
Greenwich Village scene of the '60s along with his brother, Happy
Traum. The brothers would play together on and off for decades. Traum
also recorded a series of solo albums and produced or recorded with
some of the biggest names in folk, rock and jazz, from Bela Fleck to
Pete Seeger, according to his Web site. Traum began recording jazz
albums in the '90s.
Happy Traum said his brother's musical sensibility, though grounded in
the folk tradition, encompassed styles from jug band to contemporary
jazz.
"He had a big scope to his music. It wasn't one thing. He had a bit of
chameleon in him," Happy Traum said Monday.
Traum recorded dozens of albums in his long career and played shows
around the world. He performed publicly until May, when melanoma in
his eye spread, Happy Traum said.
The Traum brothers were managed by Bob Dylan's late manger Albert
Grossman. Like Dylan and Grossman, the Traums moved to this Hudson
Valley arts colony. The brothers stayed and became stalwarts of the
Woodstock music scene.
Traum is survived by his wife.
==============================
Paul Pearson
CurrentOccupant_dudley
wrote:
> NY folk music veteran Artie Traum dead
That's too bad.
I guess that's why he & Happy cancelled out of Clearwater Festival
this year.
dudley
TIM...@aol.com
LIST...@listserv.brown.edu writes:
NY folk music veteran Artie Traum dead
This is indeed sad, and it was fascinating to read how many dang recordings
the traum bothers were on.
Also, it was interesting to see that they also played with dylan on those
really bizarre early recordings with allen ginsberg. ginsberg's forays into
music, with that dang harmonium, are not exactly entertaining or a high point,
but as foot notes go, fascinating.
however, as us dylan fans the traum brothers were pivotal.
"Down in the Flood," "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and "I Shall Be Released."
This is an interesting exerpt from wikipedia.
On September 24th, 1971, in Columbia's Studio B, Dylan recorded four songs
with his friend, Happy Traum.
"He felt there were some songs that he had written that had become hits of
sorts for other people, that he didn't actually perform himself," recalls
Traum, "and he wanted to fit those on the record as well...So we just went in one
afternoon and did it, it was just the two of us and the engineer, and it was
very simple...we chose three [songs] on the spot and mixed them...in the
space of an afternoon...Sometimes I wasn't even sure if it was a final take until
we would just finish and Bob would say, 'Okay, let's go and mix it.'"
I guess that is true, hits for other people, notably the byrds and the band.
but, I see these as the first official dylan releases of the basement tapes
(mighty quinn on self portait not withstanding)
you know, I'm not a big basement tape fan. I see them as real important
transitions, but for both dylan and the band, what came before and what came
after are more interesting that this passage. dylan has always seemed to keep
them a bit at arm's length. invisible republic my ass. look, I like them and
when full sessions are released i'll be first in line, but I just think they are
overated.
yet, the sessions with the traums were really where dylan used the basement
tapes as what they were, in reality, which were, demos. certainly, this was
they were seen for sweet heart of the rodeo and music from big pink.
this was how dylan used them with the traums. what is interesting, is that
dylan went back to the folk roots, so maybe that whole harry smith anthology of
folk music theory marcus perpetuates has a point.
in any event, except for bootlegs, the greatest hits three inclusion of three
songs from the traum sessions were the first hearings of dylan singing
basement tape era songs. And, all three are classics. For my money, the I shall be
released here is the best version of that mournful anthem. there is a
simplicty that is at the heart of the matter that even richard manuel's version
doesn't take into account.
crash on the levee, down in the flood, the basement version, is sort of
goofy. too much fun. the lyrics there are sung like the images are just part of
the symbology of the basement tapes invisible republic, weird america. but with
the traums, its more robert johnson invective metaphor.
it's interesting, when dylan decided to rock this out in his unending tour,
which I saw a few versions of, it was essentially an electrified version of
the traum bros sessions and not the basement tape arrangement.
you ain't going nowhere is just a good time song, and i can't really argue
that this is the best version. in fact, i am partial to the maria muldear
version on her heart of mine, but it is easy to like any version of this ditty.
greatest hits three is an interesting record. it was the first greatest hits
record to include unreleased material, thus proving you can sucker old time
fans with the newbies. the unreleased songs were basically three categories,
tomorrow is a long time, an unreleased folk period dylan, watching the river
flow and masterpiece, leon russel sessions, where new songs. the new father
was in a drought period songwriting wise, and the traum sessions, which were
basement tape songs. if the basement tape songs were never bootlegged, these
sessions would not have been so unique, the basement tapes were demos and this
was the offical recordings of some of the songs. why not, when the new songs
weren't coming as quickly, record some stuff from old demos.
on the other hand, dylan was also competiting with himself, with the
bootlegged versions, and it is interesting that he went back to his folk roots for
songs he demoed with his rock group.
soon, these basement tape versions would be released. the traum sessions
became over looked. they became underated. I think the traum bros sessions are
the defnitive version and in a way, they make the basement tapes versions
more interesting, there is a dialog going on. it's not the same as dylan doing a
remake of a song as he has done so many times live, it's more like the out
takes on say the ndh cd. but let's face it, there was a longer period of time
between the band recordings and the traum records, as say the versions of
desolation row or visions of johanna, which are just different takes.
and the fact is, the traum versions are the arrangements dylan still
performs, more or less.
my condolences happy. rip happy. viva la foot notes!
**************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for
FanHouse Fantasy Football today.
(http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)