on 8/6/2026, 4:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Question about "This is for Shirley" in "It Takes a Worried Man""
According to the booklet accompanying Capitol's 1990 Collector's Series Kingston Trio CD, “Shirley” was Shirley Yelm, Frank Werber's girlfriend at the time. 
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The booklet that accompanied the 1990 Capitol Collector's Series Kingston Trio CD provided the below information about “A Worried Man”.
"Recorded at Capitol’s Studio B in Los Angeles, “A Worried Man” was originally an old chain gang song. Right before the Trio starts the second countdown, you can hear them sing “this is for you, Shirley,” in reference to manager Frank Werber’s then-girlfriend Shirley Yelm. Recorded in stereo for the Here We Go Again album and released as a single on September 7, 1959, it charted for eleven weeks and peaked at #20. This was the last Top 20 single for the Guard-Reynolds-Shane Trio. Here We Go Again came out that October with a then-unheard-of advance pressing of 250,000 copies. It went on to sell over 900,000 copies, and held the #1 chart position for eight week. This album not only earned the group another gold record, but was one of four Kingston Trio albums in Billboard’s Top Ten for the week of December 7, 1959, an achievement surpassed only by the Beatles in 1964. ( Here We Go Again was #2, At Large was #4, The Kingston Trio was #7, and From The Hungry i was #8)"
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Near the beginning of the Kingston Trio recording of It Takes a Worried Man, someone says, "This is for Shirley."
I've wondered about this for years. I have a vague recollection of once reading that Shirley may have been a songwriter, arranger, or someone associated with the recording session, but I can no longer find that reference and may be remembering it incorrectly.
Does anyone know who Shirley was, or have a source (liner notes, interview, session notes, etc.) that explains the dedication?
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