Oliver (singer)
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William Oliver Swofford (February 22, 1945 – February 12, 2000), known as Oliver, was an American pop singer. Born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, he began singing as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the early 1960s. He was a member of two music groups: The Virginians and, later, The Good Earth. Known to all as "Bill," Oliver is often remembered as being caring and accessible to others.
Oliver's clean-cut good looks and soaring baritone were the perfect vehicle for his July 1969 #3 single "Good Morning Starshine", from the pop-rock musical Hair. In October 1969 Oliver reached #2 with Rod McKuen's melodious ballad "Jean", the theme from the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Oliver performed both hits on a number of TV variety shows and specials in the late 1960s, including the Ed Sullivan Show. Later recordings had much less commercial success: "Sunday Mornin'" peaked at #35 in December 1969, and "Angelica" stalled at #97 in April 1970. His follow-up "I Can Remember" from July 1970 missed the Hot 100. Oliver also had one influential non-charted recording later in 1970: "Light the Way", composed by Eric Carmen. Oliver's last single on pop music charts was his 1971 cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" (it reached Billboard's "Bubbling Under the Top 100" and "Easy Listening" charts).
Despite his vocal talents, Oliver could not sustain more hits and he later made a career in business. A short-lived attempt to team up with Karen Carpenter in the late 1970s was unsuccessful. In 1983, People magazine ran a feature article on Oliver, describing a happily married father who kept his distance from the music business. In the late 1990s Oliver was diagnosed with cancer, and he died in Shreveport, Louisiana, on the same date that Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Charles M. Schulz, and Tom Landry all died.
Oliver's brother, John Swofford, is a former athletic director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is the current commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and BCS Coordinator.
