Oliver (singer)
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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. Known by friends 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 single "Good Morning Starshine", from the pop-rock musical Hair, which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In October 1969 Oliver reached #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the adult contemporary chart 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). In 1976 and 1977 Oliver toured hundreds of college campuses in the eastern and southern United States. His amazing wit and charm brought him standing ovations in nearly every venue where he performed.
Despite his vocal talents, Oliver 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 Oliver, describing a happily married father who kept his distance from the music business. He later made a career in business, working for a pharmaceutical company in Louisiana as a business manager. 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 was survived by his former wife, Maggie, and their two children, Beth and Bob.
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.
[edit] References
- Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
