The Highwaymen (folk band)

The Highwaymen were a 1960s "collegiate folk" group. They originated at Wesleyan University and had a Billboard #1 hit in 1961 with "Michael", a version of the African-American work song "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore", and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cotton Fields". "Michael" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record.

As a freshman in 1958, Dave Fisher, who in high school had sung in a doo-wop 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 African-American work song "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore", first collected by folklorist Guy Carawan. The recording reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on 4-11 September 1961 under the abbreviated title of "Michael", earning the quintet a gold record. The single also reached #1 in the UK and #4 in Germany. Later members were Gil Robbins (father of actor Tim Robbins), who joined in 1962 when Steve Trott entered Harvard Law School, and in 1991 guitarist/bassist Johann Helton.

The original group stopped performing in 1964 and the members, while remaining in touch, went their separate professional ways. 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. Fisher alone stayed in the music business, and with him as musical director, the "Highwaymen" continued with Renny Temple, Roy Connors, Mose Henry, and Alan Scharf. They recorded two albums, Stop! Look! & Listen and On a New Road, and performed concerts and appeared on many television variety shows. Temple, Connors and Henry were previously in a popular Florida folk group called the Vikings Three. Alan Scharf had an earlier career as an actor which continued after the Fisher-led group disbanded.

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