Oliver (William Oliver Swofford)
Encyclopedia
William Oliver Swofford 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. 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. 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. 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).
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. 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 is the current commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference
and Coordinator for the Bowl Championship Series
.
On June 4, 2009, a resolution was introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly
honoring Oliver.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
. Born in North Wilkesboro
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 4,116 at the 2000 census and is now 4,245 as of the 2010 census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improvement, which continues to have a major presence in...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, he began singing as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
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
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
were the perfect vehicle for his July 1969 single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Good Morning Starshine
Good Morning Starshine
"Good Morning Starshine" is a pop song from the musical Hair. It was a #3 hit in the United States in June of 1969 for the singer Oliver.-History:...
" from the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
"Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
", which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the R.I.A.A. in August 1969. In October 1969, Oliver reached #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
with Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen is an American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks, and classical music...
's ballad "Jean
Jean (song)
"Jean" is the title of a popular song from 1969 . It was written by the American poet and composer Rod McKuen, who also recorded a version of the song....
", the theme from the Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
. "Jean" also sold over one million copies, garnering Oliver his second gold disc. Oliver performed both hits on a number of TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
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
Spanky and Our Gang
Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s folk-rock band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's popular Our Gang comedies of the 1930s...
song from 1968, peaked at #35 in December 1969, and "Angelica" stalled at #97 in April 1970. His cover of James & Bobby Purify
James & Bobby Purify
James & Bobby Purify were an R&B singing duo, whose biggest hits were "I'm Your Puppet" in 1966, which reached #6 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and in a re-recorded version #12 in the UK Singles Chart , and "Let Love Come Between Us" in 1967, which reached #23 in the U.S.James Lee Purify was...
'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. Oliver also had one influential non-charted recording later in 1970: "Light the Way", composed by Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen
Eric Howard Carmen is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist.He scored numerous hit songs across the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Raspberries , and then with his solo career, including hits such as "All By Myself", "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", "She Did It",...
. Oliver's last single on pop music charts was his 1971 cover of Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
's "Early Morning Rain" (it reached Billboard's "Bubbling Under the Top 100" and "Easy Listening" charts).
Oliver's producer was Bob Crewe
Bob Crewe
Bob Crewe is an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, record producer and fine artist. He is known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for The Four Seasons...
, who also recorded with Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli
Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
and The Four Seasons, The Rays
The Rays
The Rays was an American group formed in New York in 1955, and active in the 1950s. They first recorded for Chess Records. Their biggest hit single was "Silhouettes," a moderately-slow doo-wop piece of pop music that reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957, released on XYZ Records...
, Diane Renay
Diane Renay
Diane Renay , born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".-Career:...
, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Freddy Cannon
Freddy Cannon
Frederick Anthony Picariello Jr. , known as Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".-Biography:...
, Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
, Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...
, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, 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. 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
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
in the late 1970s was unsuccessful. In 1983, People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
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
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
In the late 1990s, Swofford was diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He died at the age of 54 in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Oliver's brother, John Swofford
John Swofford
John Swofford is currently the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference He was born on December 6, 1948 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. While at Wilkes Central High School, he played as quarterback for the Wilkes Central Eagles football team...
, was a quarterback, then the athletic director, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, and is the current commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
and Coordinator for the Bowl Championship Series
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
.
On June 4, 2009, a resolution was introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...
honoring Oliver.