Los Dos: Bud and Travis

Travis Edmonson, who brought a Mexican flavor to the fertile San Francisco folk music scene of the 1950s and who, with the duo Bud and Travis, influenced Bay Area groups that lasted longer and became better known, died Saturday in Mesa, Ariz. He was 76.

In 1958, Mr. Edmonson and another guitarist and singer, Bud Dashiell, formed the duo Bud and Travis. Over the next seven years they recorded eight albums and played innumerable concerts and club dates, and their musical virtuosity and seemingly effortless comedic teamwork — not to mention their telegenic looks — earned them appearances on television variety shows and even comedy series like “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

In performance, what distinguished Bud and Travis more than anything was Mr. Edmonson’s passion for mariachi and the other Mexican musical traditions that he had absorbed as a boy in Arizona. Many Latin numbers — “La Bamba,” for example — were part of the Bud and Travis repertory.

The two would sing together until 1965 and would record ten albums. Their debut album was released in 1959 on Liberty Records. They sang a mixture of folk, calypso, show tunes and authentic Spanish music. They would later release an all Latin album, their last album together, with not only boleros but also serenatas, guajiras and juapengos. After the two broke up, there were no reunions and very little contact. Both went on to solo careers. Bud died in 1989.


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