Western Continentals

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Western Continentals

The Western Continentals is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1968 International Quartet Champion.


Quartet Members

Winning Members:

  • Tenor: Al Mau
  • Lead: Ted Bradshaw
  • Bari: Paul Graham
  • Bass: Phil Foote

Replacement Members:

  • Tenor: Frank Friedemann

Former Members

  • Tenor: Curt Kimball
  • Bass: Terry Diedrich

Contest Placement

Internationals

1965 1966 1967 1968
8th 21st 2nd 1st

District

Represented the Far Western District.

  • 1964 1st

Recordings

  • Gonna Build A Mountain[1]
  • Barbershop With A Continental Flavor[2]

Extended History

Western Continentals

A funny thing happened to the Western Continentals on their way to the 1968 International championship. In 1965, only a year after they first got together, Dr. Curt Kimball, Ted Bradshaw, Paul Graham and Terry Diedrich placed eighth in the International competition.

Then Kimball, the tenor, was called to service in Vietnam and was replaced by Al Mau. They dropped to 21st in '66.

They went to Los Angeles in '67, not only with Mau but with a new bass, Phil Foote, replacing Diedrich. They won the silver medals. The next year, in Cincinnati, they captured the gold.

If a native Arizonan still lived in Phoenix in the 1960s, he wasn't with the Continentals. Mau was from Wisconsin, Bradshaw (the lead) from Ohio, Graham (bari) from Michigan, and Foote from Detroit (by way of El Paso, thanks to the Air Force). Kimball had come from Oklahoma.

The quartet was "on again, off again" for a decade after winning the championship. Mau moved to California in 1971 and was replaced by Frank Friedemann, but they disbanded in '72. Foote had also left, but by 1973 both he and Mau were back, and the Continentals resumed shows until a job transfer took Foote away again. He returned a second time in 1977, but the quartet hung up the pitch pipe for good in 1979.


External Links


Barbershop Harmony Society - International Quartet Champions
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1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
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References