The Fleetwoods - Come Softly To Me (live appearance)

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Although the Fleetwoods' sound was smooth, without many of the rougher edges of doo wop groups, they were one of the few white vocal groups of the late '50s and early '60s to enjoy success not only on the pop charts, but also the R&B charts. The Fleetwoods' forte was ballads -- beginning with their 1959 debut single, "Come Softly to Me," the group racked up a number of hits over the next three years, and nearly all of them were ballads. The group broke up in 1963, but their songs -- particularly "Come Softly to Me" -- became pop-rock classics of the pre-British Invasion era.

Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxell formed the Fleetwoods while attending high school in Olympia, WA. Originally, the group consisted only of Christopher and Ellis, but the duo soon asked Troxell to accompany them on trumpet. Shortly after his arrival in the group, Troxell abandoned the trumpet and concentrated on singing once the other two members heard a portion of a song he had written. Following some contributions from Christopher and Ellis, the group had written "Come Softly to Me." They began performing the song at various events around Olympia, eventually gaining the attention of Bob Reisdorff, who ran the Seattle-based label, Dolphin Records.

Dolphin released "Come Softly to Me" early in 1959 and the song became an instant hit, climbing to number one on the pop charts and number five on the R&B charts; it also reached the Top Ten in U.K. The Fleetwoods weren't able to immediately produce a follow-up single as successful as their debut, but their third single, "Mr. Blue," was a number one pop and Top Five R&B hit in the U.S. in late 1959. By the time of its release, Dolphin had changed its name to Dolton. For the next three years, the Fleetwoods had a string of minor pop hits. The group wasn't able to consistently place singles in the upper regions of the charts partially because Troxell was drafted into the navy at the height of the group's popularity at the end of 1959. Troxell was replaced by Vic Dana, who would later have a string of his own hit singles in the early '60s.

The Fleetwoods last Top Ten single arrived in the spring of 1961, when "Tragedy" climbed the U.S. charts. The group disbanded two years later, after releasing their final single, a cover of Jesse Belvin's "Goodnight My Love." Over the next three decades, the Fleetwoods reunited occasionally to perform concerts and oldies revues. In 1973, the group recorded an album with producer Jerry Dennon, but the resulting recordings were unsuccessful. In 1990, the Fleetwoods -- featuring Christopher, Troxell, and instead of Ellis a singer called Cheryl Huggins -- played a tour on the American oldies circuit after Rhino released the compact disc collection, The Best of the Fleetwoods. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Category:

Education

Tags:

• vocal
• doo
• wop
• pop
• r&b

[georgebur]

Why is that guy so self-conscious?

[John1948Five]

@georgebur Because he's young and new to fame.

[unclebobunclebob]

to those of you who replied to my "I wish they would have let them sing instead of lip synching" comment. They DID have the technology. They just didn't trust it. It wasn't PERFECT for them, just like a lot of the concerts performed like phony-baloney musicians can't trust their own voices. But I love the Fleetwoods. Wish I could really hear them live.

[John1948Five]

@unclebobunclebob Yes, the technology was available but not every TV studio spent the money for it. Ed Sullivan studios had the newest and best and artists did not usually lip-synch there. American Bandstand did not. Most TV shows did not.

[getafack]

This song was on mafia 2 radio station :D

[nbanolfkid]

@georgebur because it is 1959.

[blueticecho]

Wow.. A great song and I can still smell the Butch Wax..

[1kachs]

hermosa cancion, recuerdos de universal stereo en los 80s, ahi fue donde la escuche y mucho tiempo querindo saber como se llama, apenas hace un año que supe como se llamaba, tengo 42 años, yde los 80s me refiero al 80 81 que la escuche. mexico

[WorldMafiaHipHop]

Mafia 2, probly the best song on there... When im driving to my last mission i listen to this. May i say, this is the softest 2 step ever!

[JackoReaper]

i want to buy an old 50s car and drive downtown and listen to this old music.

[Beatlereviewer]

I love you pandora for introducing me to them :')

[SuperTheMaster99]

I love Mafia 2 because it make me know this song

[MANforSOCHI]

Im Russian, and me very love it is SONG!!!!!

[MaleBosszz]

Waiting for Mafia 3.

[jakkree2029]

I'm proud to say that "Mafia 2" and Vito Scaletta bring me here.