The Highwaymen (folk band)
Encyclopedia
The Highwaymen were a circa 1960 "collegiate folk" group, which originated at Wesleyan University
and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael
" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields
". "Michael" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record
.
group, joined with four other Wesleyan freshman – Bob Burnett, Steve Butts, Chan Daniels, and Steve Trott
– to form the Highwaymen. Fisher, who would graduate in 1962 with the university’s first degree in Ethnomusicology
, was the quintet's arranger and lead singer. In 1959, United Artists released his arrangement of the spiritual “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” while the group were sophomores in college. The recording reached #1 in the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100
chart
in 1961 under the abbreviated title of “Michael”, earning the quintet the gold record. The single also reached #1 in UK and #4 in Germany
. Later members were Gil Robbins
(father of actor Tim Robbins
), who joined in 1962, and classical guitarist, Johann Helton. Today, two of the original five members are still alive, with Daniels dying in 1975 and Fisher in 2010. Robbins died on April 5, 2011 Ten albums have been recorded to date.
The group broke up in 1964, after eight albums and ten singles, an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show, and three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show
. With Dave Fisher as musical director and the only remaining member of the original quintet, The Highwaymen continued for another three years with new members Renny Temple, Roy Connors, Mose Henry and Allan Shaw. They recorded two albums and performed countless concerts and television shows. Temple, Connors and Henry were previously in a popular Florida folk group called the Vikings Three.
The original Highwaymen, minus Daniels (who died in 1975), reunited in 1987 for a concert for their 25th college reunion. Since that time, the band has performed ten to twelve concerts a year. The group last performed in August 2009 in Massachusetts. The rock and roll magazine Blitz described the Highwaymen’s record of their 1963 concert at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
as the best compilation or reissue of 2009. Blitz also named the band's album When the Village Was Green one of the best releases of 2007. In 1990, the group sued country music's Highwaymen
, made up of Willie Nelson
, Waylon Jennings
, Johnny Cash
and Kris Kristofferson
over their use of the name (inspired by a Jimmy Webb
ballad they recorded. The suit was dropped after the foursome agreed to let members of the original group open for them at a 1990 concert in Hollywood.
Of the original quintet from Wesleyan (all of whom made the Dean's List), one attended Harvard Business School
, two attended Harvard Law School
, and one attended graduate school at Columbia University
, then proceeded into business, law, and academia, respectively. Fisher alone stayed in the music business. After the second incarnation of The Highwaymen, Fisher traveled to Hollywood where he composed and arranged music for films and television and worked as a studio singer and musician. He wrote more than a thousand songs, many of which have been used in movie and television productions. Bob Burnett had a career as a trusts and estates
lawyer. Chan Daniels (who died in 1975) had been an executive for Capitol Records
. Steve Butts received a Ph.D. in Chinese Politics from Columbia, and until retirement, had served as an academic administrator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Grinnell College
and Lawrence University
. He also taught baroque music performance and statistics at Columbia and the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. Steve Trott
, after graduating from Harvard Law, became a prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney
's office. Later, he served in the United States Department of Justice
during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan and in 1987 was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
.
Fisher died on May 7, 2010, at the age of 69.
", "Big Rock Candy Mountain
") and played the central role in uncovering an important, long-overlooked song by Leadbelly
, "Cotton Fields
", which subsequently became a major addition to the repertoires of both the Beach Boys and the Creedence Clearwater Revival
. The Highwaymen also made the first recordings, or at least the first recordings in the United States
, of seminally noteworthy songs by Ewan MacColl
and Peggy Seeger
("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
") and Buffy St. Marie ("Universal Soldier
").
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Michael, Row the Boat Ashore is an African-American spiritual. It was first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina....
" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields
Cotton Fields
"Cotton Fields" is a song written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly who made the first recording of the song in 1940.-Early versions:...
". "Michael" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
Career
As a freshman in 1958, Dave Fisher, who in high school had sung in a doo-wopDoo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
group, joined with four other Wesleyan freshman – Bob Burnett, Steve Butts, Chan Daniels, and Steve Trott
Stephen S. Trott
Stephen S. Trott is a Senior Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Trott was nominated for this position by President Ronald Reagan on August 9, 1987 after the seat held by Joseph Tyree Sneed, III became vacant...
– to form the Highwaymen. Fisher, who would graduate in 1962 with the university’s first degree in Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, was the quintet's arranger and lead singer. In 1959, United Artists released his arrangement of the spiritual “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” while the group were sophomores in college. The recording reached #1 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1961 under the abbreviated title of “Michael”, earning the quintet the gold record. The single also reached #1 in UK and #4 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Later members were Gil Robbins
Gil Robbins
Gilbert Lee "Gil" Robbins was an American folk singer, folk musician and actor. Robbins was a former member of the folk band, The Highwaymen. The New York Times described Robbins as a "fixture on the folk-music scene." He was the father of actor and director, Tim Robbins.-Early life:Robbins was...
(father of actor Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
), who joined in 1962, and classical guitarist, Johann Helton. Today, two of the original five members are still alive, with Daniels dying in 1975 and Fisher in 2010. Robbins died on April 5, 2011 Ten albums have been recorded to date.
The group broke up in 1964, after eight albums and ten singles, an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show, and three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. With Dave Fisher as musical director and the only remaining member of the original quintet, The Highwaymen continued for another three years with new members Renny Temple, Roy Connors, Mose Henry and Allan Shaw. They recorded two albums and performed countless concerts and television shows. Temple, Connors and Henry were previously in a popular Florida folk group called the Vikings Three.
The original Highwaymen, minus Daniels (who died in 1975), reunited in 1987 for a concert for their 25th college reunion. Since that time, the band has performed ten to twelve concerts a year. The group last performed in August 2009 in Massachusetts. The rock and roll magazine Blitz described the Highwaymen’s record of their 1963 concert at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
as the best compilation or reissue of 2009. Blitz also named the band's album When the Village Was Green one of the best releases of 2007. In 1990, the group sued country music's Highwaymen
The Highwaymen (country supergroup)
The Highwaymen were an American supergroup comprising four country music artists well known for, among other things, their involvement and pioneering influence on the outlaw country subgenre: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson...
, made up of Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
over their use of the name (inspired by a Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
ballad they recorded. The suit was dropped after the foursome agreed to let members of the original group open for them at a 1990 concert in Hollywood.
Of the original quintet from Wesleyan (all of whom made the Dean's List), one attended Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
, two attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, and one attended graduate school at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, then proceeded into business, law, and academia, respectively. Fisher alone stayed in the music business. After the second incarnation of The Highwaymen, Fisher traveled to Hollywood where he composed and arranged music for films and television and worked as a studio singer and musician. He wrote more than a thousand songs, many of which have been used in movie and television productions. Bob Burnett had a career as a trusts and estates
Trusts and estates
The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation of the event of such person's incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law...
lawyer. Chan Daniels (who died in 1975) had been an executive for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. Steve Butts received a Ph.D. in Chinese Politics from Columbia, and until retirement, had served as an academic administrator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
and Lawrence University
Lawrence University
Lawrence University is a selective, private liberal arts college with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence University is known for its rigorous academic environment. Founded in 1847, the first classes were held on November 12, 1849...
. He also taught baroque music performance and statistics at Columbia and the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music. Steve Trott
Stephen S. Trott
Stephen S. Trott is a Senior Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Trott was nominated for this position by President Ronald Reagan on August 9, 1987 after the seat held by Joseph Tyree Sneed, III became vacant...
, after graduating from Harvard Law, became a prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney
Los Angeles County District Attorney
The District Attorney of Los Angeles County prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County, California....
's office. Later, he served in the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan and in 1987 was appointed a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
.
Fisher died on May 7, 2010, at the age of 69.
Legacy
The Highwaymen had a significant impact on the folk scene of the early 1960s. Aside from two major hit singles and several appearances on The Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson Shows, the group contributed two future standards to the folk repertoire ("All My TrialsAll My Trials
All My Trials was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains,...
", "Big Rock Candy Mountain
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Big Rock Candy Mountain, first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne...
") and played the central role in uncovering an important, long-overlooked song by Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
, "Cotton Fields
Cotton Fields
"Cotton Fields" is a song written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly who made the first recording of the song in 1940.-Early versions:...
", which subsequently became a major addition to the repertoires of both the Beach Boys and the Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
. The Highwaymen also made the first recordings, or at least the first recordings in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, of seminally noteworthy songs by Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
and Peggy Seeger
Peggy Seeger
Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who was later to become his wife. At the time the couple were lovers, although MacColl was married to someone else. MacColl and Seeger included the song in their...
") and Buffy St. Marie ("Universal Soldier
Universal Soldier (song)
"Universal Soldier" is a song written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. The song was originally released on Sainte-Marie's debut album It's My Way! in 1964. "Universal Soldier" was not a popular hit at the time of its release, but it did garner attention within the...
").
Discography
- "Michael"
- "Big Rock Candy MountainBig Rock Candy MountainBig Rock Candy Mountain, first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne...
" - "All My TrialsAll My TrialsAll My Trials was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains,...
" - "CottonfieldsCotton Fields"Cotton Fields" is a song written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly who made the first recording of the song in 1940.-Early versions:...
" - "The Gypsy Rover"
- "I’m On My Way"
- "Whiskey In A Jar"
- "I Know Where I’m Going"
- "Number One"