| The Fleetwoods | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Olympia, Washington, United States |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1958–1983 |
| Labels | Dolton Records |
| Past members | |
| Gary Troxel Gretchen Christopher Barbara Ellis |
|
The Fleetwoods were a singing trio from Olympia, Washington, United States; formed in the late 1950s. They were responsible for eleven hit songs, beginning with "Come Softly to Me". The song was originally called "Come Softly", as written and arranged by founding lead singer Gretchen Christopher and the group was originally named Two Girls and a Guy, but both were changed en route to the song's becoming a chart-topper.
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Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939, Centralia, Washington) and Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940, Olympia, Washington) were two Olympia High School students,[1] waiting for Christopher's mother to pick her up after school. Troxel started humming and said it was a jazz trumpet riff he had in his head. Christopher recognized that it was based on the same chord progression as the song she had been writing. She arranged and sang her melody and lyrics in counterpoint to his background, and liked it enough to ask Troxel to repeat it with her for Christopher's friend and singing partner, Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940, Olympia, Washington).
They performed the song twice at school functions, and their classmates wanted recordings of it so they could learn the song. Christopher recorded the trio, a cappella, on her father's tape recorder and took the tape to Seattle record promoter Bob Reisdorff who started Dolphin Records to record the trio and release the song.[1] Over five months (June - November, 1958), they got the vocal track recorded. They sang it a cappella to the rhythmic shaking of Troxel's car keys. Co-producers Reisdorff and Bonnie Guitar flew with the tapes to Los Angeles where acoustic and bass guitars were overdubbed. The Fleetwoods' recording would top the US pop chart and make it to the Top 5 of the rhythm & blues chart. "Come Softly to Me" was also cover recorded by others. The UK's Frankie Vaughan and The Kaye Sisters had a Top 10 chart hit in the United Kingdom with the song, though The Fleetwoods exceeded them, simultaneously charting in the UK's Top 5.[2][3]
The Fleetwoods' version of "Come Softly To Me" can be heard on a portable radio at one point in the 1986 movie, Stand By Me, which was set in the Pacific Northwest. It is heard on the soundtrack of films including Clean and Sober and Crossing Delancey. Another hit "(He's) The Great Impostor" was featured in American Graffiti, and "Mr. Blue" in Diner and National Lampoon's Vacation.[4] 2010 "Come Softly" is used as the theme music in the BBC's "Roger and Val Have Just Got In"
The Fleetwoods name was based on the only telephone exchange in the Olympia area where the three members lived, Fleetwood2-xxxx and Fleetwood7-xxxx.
The Fleetwoods continued to record into the 1960s, with a number of other successes. Their second hit, "Graduation's Here" (co-written by Ellis and Christopher, who also sang the lead) was followed by "Mr. Blue," which, like "Come Softly", also topped the pop charts. It made the Fleetwoods the first group in the world to have multiple #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in single year (1959). They would hit the Top 10 once more with "Tragedy" in 1961.
Though they went on to have a total of eleven hits on the Hot 100, the beginning of the end for the group came when Troxel was drafted into the US Navy. Additionally, the British Invasion of the mid 1960s changed public taste. The trio's hits ended as they had begun, with a female lead, with Ellis singing melody on "Goodnight My Love", the Fleetwoods' final hit in 1963. Vic Dana, who was to go on to a successful solo career, replaced Troxel in the group when he was in the service, solely for live performances.[5]
By the late 1970s, Troxel was working in a plywood plant in Washington; Ellis was managing a trailer park in California and Christopher was a housewife and modern jazz dance teacher in Washington at St. Martin's College and The Evergreen State College. Ellis is now retired from performing. Troxel gave his written resignation from The Fleetwoods in 1983, leaving Christopher as manager with the sole authority to contract for both the original and replacement Fleetwoods. Troxel, though unauthorized, formed a new Fleetwoods group in the 1980s. While Christopher trained replacement Fleetwoods she also resumed her solo music career, billing herself as "Gretchen Christopher of the Fleetwoods." Both Troxel and Christopher continue to perform and occasionally release new recordings. A new version of "Graduation's Here" appeared on Christopher's autobiographical solo album, Gretchen's Sweet Sixteen (Suite 16) which is one of the 2007 Billboard critics' picks for 10 Best Albums of the Year. It included both the hit arrangement of "Come Softly To Me" and the a cappella "Come Softly", with Christopher singing all the parts.
Since their 1988 induction into the Northwest Area Association Hall of Fame, and their 2005 induction into the Olympia High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame, The Fleetwoods have been inducted into both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame of America in 2006.
The November 2007 release of Gretchen's Sweet Sixteen (Suite 16) was launched in Las Vegas with the second Annual Cool Bobby B Doo Wop Convention and Grand Finale Concert, headlined by 'The Fleetwoods starring Gretchen Christopher.' A year later, though all three originals were inducted and invited, Christopher was the only original member of the Fleetwoods who accepted, attended and performed, dedicating songs to each of her absent partners.
In 2000, Troxel and his wife Jenifer lost Troxel v. Granville, a landmark grandparents' rights case before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court held that under the United States Constitution, non-parents seeking custody or visitation rights of a child against the wishes of the child's parents must prove that the parents are not acting in the best interest of the child in refusing custody or visitation.[6]
In 2008 and 2009, Christopher testified before the Washington State Senate in support of the Truth in Music Advertising Bill. In 2009, it passed both the House and Senate unanimously, and was signed into law by Governor Chris Gregoire. The law provides that a performing group shall not be advertised by the name of a recording group, unless the performing group includes from the hit-making recording group at least one original member who is authorized to use the name. According to the Fleetwoods' signed agreement, that authorization resides solely with Christopher.
(Chronologically with US chart placings)