The Fleetwoods

The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington, whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940). In 1959, they twice topped the Billboard Hot 100 with their single hits "Come Softly to Me" and "Mr. Blue".The band members met as high school students in Olympia, Washington. Originally the band consisted of only Gretchen Christopher and Barbara Ellis, but Gary Troxel was asked to accompany them with jazz trumpet, later switching to vocals. They then started performing in 1958 as "Two Girls and a Guy" but later changed the name to the Fleetwoods after the Fleetwood telephone exchange.In 1959, they were noticed by producer and Dolton Records founder Bob Reisdorff, and together they recorded their self-written first hit, "Come Softly to Me," which shot to No. 1 in Billboard and was also covered 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. Their second hit, "Graduation's Here," was co-written by Ellis and Christopher, with Troxel later adding a scat line in counterpoint. That one was followed by "Mr. Blue," which, like "Come Softly To Me", also topped the US pop chart.The Fleetwoods continued recording into the 1960s. They hit the Top 10 again with a cover of Thomas Wayne's "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 had to fulfill his obligation to go onto active duty in the United States Navy, as he had joined the Naval Reserve in 1956. Additionally, the British Invasion of the mid 1960s changed the public's taste. The trio's hits ended in 1963 with Barbara Ellis singing lead on "Goodnight My Love". 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.In 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 at Evergreen State College. Ellis is now retired from performing. In 1983, Troxel gave his written resignation from The Fleetwoods, leaving Christopher as manager with the sole authority to contract for both the original and replacement Fleetwoods. Troxel formed a new Fleetwoods group in the 1980s. His group has been performing regularly since the mid 1980s doing several "oldies" concerts each year, including two performances on the PBS Doo Wop, Pop and Soul Generations (My Music) series.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.