William Oliver Swofford (February 22, 1945 – February 12, 2000), known professionally 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 — and was then known as Bill Swofford.
Oliver's clean-cut good looks and soaring baritone were the perfect vehicle for his July 1969 single "Good Morning Starshine" from the pop/rock musical "Hair", which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in August 1969.[1] In October 1969, Oliver reached #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart with Rod McKuen's ballad "Jean", the theme from the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. "Jean" also sold over one million copies, garnering Oliver his second gold disc.[1] 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 more modest commercial success: "Sunday Mornin'", a cover of the Spanky and Our Gang song from 1968, peaked at #35 in December 1969, and "Angelica" stalled at #97 in April 1970. His cover of James & Bobby Purify's May 1968 hit "I Can Remember" missed the Hot 100 but climbed into the top 25 of the Billboard Easy Listening chart in August 1970.[2] 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 "Bubbling Under" at #124 on 1 May 1971 and also reached the Easy Listening chart).
Oliver's producer was Bob Crewe, who also recorded with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, The Rays, Diane Renay, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Freddy Cannon, Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Bobby Darin, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Patti LaBelle, and his own The Bob Crewe Generation. In 1971, Oliver parted ways with Crewe over artistic differences: Crewe preferred elaborate, often orchestrated musical arrangements - Oliver preferred a simpler folk sound.[3] Resuming the name Bill Swofford, the singer toured hundreds of college campuses in the eastern and southern United States in 1976 and 1977.
Despite his vocal talents, Swofford could not sustain more hits. 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 Swofford, describing him as a happily married father who kept his distance from the music industry, selling real estate. He was later a business manager for a pharmaceutical company in Louisiana.
In the late 1990s, Swofford was diagnosed with cancer. He died at the age of 54 in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Oliver's brother, John Swofford, was a quarterback, then the athletic director, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and became the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1997 and Coordinator for the Bowl Championship Series.
On June 4, 2009, a resolution was introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly honoring Oliver.[4]