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 Curt, 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 Al but with a new bass, Phil Foote, replacing Terry. 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. Al was from Wisconsin, Ted (the lead) from Ohio, Paul (bari) from Michigan, and Phil from Detroit (by way of El Paso, thanks to the Air Force). Curt had come from Oklahoma.
The quartet was "on again, off again" for a decade after winning the international championship. Al moved to California in 1971 and was replaced by Frank Friedemann, but they disbanded in '72. Phil had also left, but by 1973 both he and Al were back, and the Continentals resumed shows until a job transfer took Phil away again. He returned a second time in 1977, but the quartet hung up the pitch pipe for good in 1979.
