The Fleetwoods were one of those groups more successful than one-hit wonders — they had several hits — but they never quite broke through into super-stardom, either. They seemed to be here, and then not-here.*

The group seems to have formed almost by accident:

In one version, high-school students Gretchen Christopher and her friend Barbara Ellis had been trying to organize an all-girl vocal trio in the late 1950s, in their hometown of Olympia, Washington. They’d already been working on some songs but felt they needed a third voice to complete their “sound,” whatever it might turn out to be.

Gary Troxel, a boy in their class, played the trumpet; Christopher and he were waiting for her mother to pick them up after school one day, when he started humming a jazzy little tune he’d been thinking of. The story goes that Christopher (as Wikipedia puts it) “recognized that it was based on the same chord progression as the song she had been writing.” They invited Troxel to sing with them and, well, instant history: their first hit song.**

The title of the whispery number: “Softly, Softly.” Billing themselves as Two Girls and a Guy, they performed it at a couple of school functions, changing the name somewhere in there to “Come Softly.” They tape-recorded it that way, all but a capella — their only accompaniment the jingling rhythm of Troxel’s car keys — and Dolphin Records eventually picked them up.

Dolphin Records seems to have been haunted by nomenclature: the group was renamed The Fleetwoods — supposedly — by picking the name from a phone book; the song was retitled “Come Softly to Me,” although that phrase occurs nowhere in the lyrics, because the company thought “Come Softly” a bit too suggestive… and the label itself shortly had to be renamed from Dolphin to Dolton, because a Dolphin Records already existed. Whoops. Details, details.

After “Come Softly to Me,” the trio charted something like ten more songs. Of these, The Missus’s personal favorite is “Tragedy”:

[Below, click Play button to begin Tragedy. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 2:43 long.]

Lyrics:

Tragedy
(by Gerald H. Nelson and Fred B. Burch; performance by The Fleetwoods)

Wind and storm (wah-ooh)
Gone’s the sun (wah-ooh)
From the stars (wah-ooh)
My dark has come
You’ve gone from me, whoa, whoa,
Tragedy

Oh, come back (come back)
Have me here (right here)
Hold me love (my love)
Be sincere
You’ve gone from me, whoa, whoa,
Tragedy

Like smoke (like smoke) from a fire (from a fire)
Our love (of love) whoa oh oh whoa
Our dreams (our dreams) have all gone (all gone)
Above (above) whoa oh oh whoa

Blown (blown by wind)
Kissed by the snow
All that’s left is the dark be-ee (below)
You’ve gone from me, whoa, whoa, tragedy
Whoa, whoa, whoa tragedy

The Missus has told me a few times of the first occasion on which she heard this song. She was both young and old enough at the time to be swept away by the title, the lyrics, and the whole sound. Melodrama in her soul even then!

As for “Come Softly to Me,” numerous other artists have covered it. Here’s an hypnotic interpretation by The Roches, from their 1985 Another World album:

[Below, click Play button to begin Come Softly to Me. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 3:02 long.]

Lyrics:

Come Softly to Me
(by Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxel;
performance by The Roches)

Mm dooby do, dahm dahm, dahm do dahm ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm ooh dahm

Mm dooby do, dahm dahm, dahm do dahm ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm ooh dahm
Mm dooby do

(Come softly, darling)
(Come to me, sta-ay)
(You’re my ob-session)
(For ever and a da-ay)

I want, want you to kno-o-ow
I love, I love you so
Please hold, hold me so tight
All through, all through the night

(Speak softly, darling)
(Hear what I sa-ay)
(I love you always)
(Always, always)

I’ve waited, waited so long
For your kisses and your love
Please come, come to me
From up, from up above

(Come softly, darling)
(Come softly, darling)
I need, need you so much
Wanna feel your wa-arm touch

Mm dooby do, dahm dahm, dahm do dahm ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm do dahm, ooby do
Dahm dahm, dahm ooh dahm

(repeat to end)

_________________

* “They” continue to perform — in various combinations of original personnel and replacements… singing their original hits.

** A different but more complete version of this story, suggesting that Troxel and Christopher have squabbled over who deserves how much credit, appears at Troxel’s site. That site also contains this tidbit: the license plate on one of Troxel’s restored antique cars — a 1932 Ford Roadster — reads NDOBEDO. Ha!