Highwaymen folk singer Bob Burnett dies
The Original Highwaymen (L-R) included Bob Burnett, Steve Trott, Steve Butts and David Fisher. Bob Burnett died Dec. 14, 2011. He was 71. Credit: MCT
The members of the folk group the Highwaymen were freshmen in the same fraternity at Wesleyan University in Connecticut when they came together to perform at a campus party in 1958.
By their senior year, the quintet had a No. 1 single with their haunting version of the African-American spiritual "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore."
Although the group had a significant impact on the folk scene in the early 1960s, the Highwaymen disbanded in 1964 when Bob Burnett and two other members decided to attend graduate school.
Burnett, the guitar-playing tenor who became a lawyer, died Wednesday at his home in East Providence, R.I. His family said he had a brain tumor. He was 71.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Burnett worked as a trusts lawyer for several banks before retiring from Bank of America.
He temporarily left the Highwaymen in 1962 to serve in the Army. At basic training in Fort Dix, N.J., he met the colonel's daughter, Kathleen Cullis; they married in 1964.
In addition to his wife, Burnett is survived by a son and two daughters. Los Angeles Times
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