Happy Traum, Folk Music Stalwart, Dead at 86

Happy Traum, a folk singer and guitarist who, with his brother Artie and on his own, was a mainstay of the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the ’60s, and continued to carry a torch for that genre after moving to Woodstock, N.Y., in the ’70s, died yesterday, July 17, 2024. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer. He was 86.

In addition to his own recordings and live performances, Traum was highly regarded as the co-owner, with his wife Jane, of Homespun, a music instruction company that offered lessons by well known musicians on physical media and, later, in digital formats.Born Harry Peter Traum, on May 9, 1938, in The Bronx, New York, Happy (a nickname that combined his first and middle names) began playing guitar and banjo in his teens and took lessons from the renowned blues artist Brownie McGhee. His first recording session took place in 1963 when he joined such other folkies as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Pete Seeger to cut an album for Folkways Records called Broadsides.According to the bio of Traum on his website, “Happy, with his group, the New World Singers, cut the first recorded version of ‘Blowin’ In the Wind,’ and Happy sang a duet with Dylan on his anti-war song ‘Let Me Die in My Footsteps.’ (These tracks were re-released in August 2000 by Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings as part of a boxed set, The Best of Broadsides 1962-1988: Anthems from the American Underground.)”

Traum and his group also recorded an album for Atlantic Records, for which Dylan wrote the liner notes. The album, according to Wikipedia, featured the first recording of Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

Happy and Jane Traum moved to upstate Woodstock in 1967 and he formed a duo with his younger brother, Artie. They performed at the Newport Folk Festivals of 1968 and ’69, and continued to work together for the next four decades, until Artie’s death in July 2008.

The brothers recorded their debut album as a duo, a self-titled effort for Capitol Records, in 1970. They cut three further albums together, while pursuing individual careers. Happy Traum’s debut solo album, Relax Your Mind, was issued in 1975, followed by American Stranger for the same label in 1977. Happy released a collaborative work, Bright Morning Stars, with John Sebastian, Roly Salley, Richard Manuel and Larry Campbell in 1980. In 1987, he released Buckets of Songs on Shanachie.

Happy (top) and Artie Traum in 1970 (Photo from Wikipedia)

Traum also produced the classic folk album, Mud Acres, Music Among Friends, for Rounder Records in 1972, and took part in numerous sessions for a series of albums by the Woodstock Mountains Revue, a loosely assembled group of local musicians. He also contributed to albums by Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Sebastian, Chris Smither, Jerry Jeff Walker, Eric Andersen, Rick Danko, Maria Muldaur, Levon Helm and others.

According to his website bio, “Perhaps Happy’s most important and lasting musical contribution has been Homespun Tapes, which he and his wife, Jane, co-founded in 1967. This dynamic and still-growing company has a catalog of more than 500 music lessons on DVDs, CDs, books and downloads, and their products are distributed and sold around the globe. Taught by top professional performing musicians, the lessons cover a wide variety of instruments and musical styles. Happy produces all of the lessons, and brings to Homespun over 50 years of experience as a guitarist, performer, writer, teacher, and popular member of the music community.”

Related: Who are some of the other musicians who have passed in 2024?

Traum also wrote and published a number of guitar instruction books, beginning in 1965 with Fingerpicking Styles for Guitar.

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Jeff Tamarkin

Best Classic Bands Editor Jeff Tamarkin has been a prolific music journalist for more than four decades. He is formerly the editor of Goldmine, CMJ and Relix magazines, has written for dozens of other publications and has authored liner notes for more than 80 CDs. Jeff has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys. His first book was 'Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.' He is also the co-author of 'Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.,' with Howard Kaylan.

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