Western Continentals

The Western Continentals is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1968 International Quartet Champion. First organized in 1964 in Phoenix, Arizona with Curt Kimball on tenor, Ted Bradshaw on lead, Paul Graham on baritone, and Terry Diedrich on bass. That fall, they won the 1964 Far Western District Championship. They qualified for international the next spring and finished 8th in Boston, MA. In 1966, Curt Kimball was drafted and was replaced by Al Mau as tenor. The quartet qualified for the 1966 international contest to be held in Chicago, Illinois. They sadly dropped down to 21st. Following that contest, Terry Diedrich was forced to leave the quartet due to personal reasons and was replaced by Phil Foote as bass. In 1967, the quartet went to Los Angeles and jumped from 21st all the way to 2nd place silver medalists. In 1968 in Cincinnati, Ohio, they won it all. They won that contest singing songs such as “Are You From Dixie” and “Heart Of A Clown”. The quartet traveled all across the county following their championship singing for chapters and shows everywhere. In 1971, Al Mau moved to California and was replaced by Frank Friedemann as tenor. The quartet retired following the 1973 international convention in Portland, Oregon. The quartet came out of retirement several times throughout the decade before calling it quits for good in 1979. During their time together, they recorded three albums: “Gonna Build A Mountain”, “Barbershop With A Continental Flavor”, and “The Continental Sound”. They all included their popular show tunes and a few of their contest songs. Their third album included a few piano and guitar tracks provided by Frank Friedemann. Al Mau went on to earn two silver medals with the Pacificaires in 1973 and 74. Ted Bradshaw was an international finalist in the 1970’s with the Command Performance. The championship version of the Western Continentals, Mau-Bradshaw-Graham-Foote, reunited in 1988 for the society’s 50th anniversary in San Antonio, Texas and the original district championship version, Kimball-Bradshaw-Graham-Diedrich, reunited in 2014 to celebrate their 50th anniversary as Far Western District Champions. The Western Continentals’ final curtain call was in July of 2018 in Orlando, FL when surviving members, Al Mau, Ted Bradshaw, and Paul Graham were honored for the 50th anniversary of their international championship. Today only Al Mau and Frank Friedemann survive. Phil Foote died in 2017, Paul Graham in 2018, Ted Bradshaw in 2019, and both Curt Kimball and Terry Diedrich in 2022.