William Oliver Swofford was born on February 22, 1945, in
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Jack and Helen Swofford. He attended the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill starting in 1963 and began singing as an undergraduate. He was a member of two popular music groups — The Virginians and, later, The Good Earth — and was then known as Bill Swofford. His uptempo
single "
Good Morning Starshine" from the
pop/
rock musical Hair reached No. 3 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in July 1969, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc by the
R.I.A.A. a month later. Later that fall, a softer, ballad single titled "
Jean" (the theme from the
Oscar-winning
film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard
Easy Listening chart. Written by poet
Rod McKuen, "Jean" also sold over one million copies, garnering Oliver his second gold disc in as many months. Late that fall, Oliver also had one inspirational recording titled "Light the Way", composed by
Eric Carmen. Oliver's last single to enter the pop music charts was his 1971 cover of "
Early Morning Rain" by Canadian singer-songwriter
Gordon Lightfoot. The song "Bubbled Under" at No. 124 on May 1, 1971 and also reached No. 38 on the Easy Listening chart a few weeks later. As producer
Bob Crewe preferred elaborately orchestrated musical arrangements and Oliver preferred a simpler folk sound, these "creative differences" led them to part ways in 1971. Resuming the name Bill "Oliver" Swofford, the singer toured hundreds of college campuses in the eastern and southern United States in 1976 and 1977. He was recorded on numerous albums of his friends, including
Steve Goodman, and is credited with guitar and vocals on several of Steve's albums. He and Goodman wrote one of the songs together ''(Jessie's Jig (Rob's Romp, Beth's Bounce))
which was released on the album Jessie's Jig and Other Favorites'' and dedicated it to their children. In 1984, Oliver recorded his final album
In Our Time. The album was finally released in 2005 under the title
Lonely Days and contained the same song list as "In Our Time", minus his re-recorded hits, "Good Morning Starshine" and "Jean". ==Personal life and death==