"The Twaddle and the Gurck" Delights Hollywood Party Guests

Even during the "Tea Party" era, Travis continued to write poems and stories. The Twaddle and the Gurck was one of them, coming to him in a rush of inspired lunacy in 1968! In 1976, at a party hosted by composer-arranger-concert pianist David Pinto, Travis performed his Twaddle and the Gurck for David's guests, and telling his unsuspecting audience that most of them would have learned the rhyme at their mother's knee, invited them to join in the refrain . . .

Cai if an Illy cry "Dunair."
Cai if an Owsie lie zerutch.
Cai if an Elwith sigh, "Verrair,"
A Twaddle gare is overmuch . .

About the time the bemused crowd began to titter nervously, Travis's wife, Judy, his daughter, Lisa and perhaps a half dozen others (who had just learned the refrain the day before), joined in the chorus! You could almost feel everyone's hair stand on end! Some, unfamiliar with onomatapoeia and the refrain, began silently moving their lips, perhaps seeking to conceal how badly their mothers' failed them in their childhood! It was great theater, great fun and a highlight of the magical evening which included the premiere of a new song arranged by David Pinto and performed by The 5th Dimension's Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo Davis.

Defining characteristics: poet. n. [Fr. poète; L., Sp., and It. poeta; Gr. poietes, one who makes, a poet, from poiein, to make.] 1. a person who writes poems or verses. 2. a person who writes or expresses himself with imaginative power and beauty of thought, language, etc. (Editor's note. By now, Travis was known to a small, select circle, as much for his exceptional storytelling as for his songs!)