- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The attraction of the Fleetwoods is the paradoxically delicate yet full-bodied vocals of the three bandmembers.
The Fleetwoods – The Very Best of the Fleetwoods (1975): The Fleetwoods are one of the early rock and roll bands that I remember most fondly. Their studied low-key, doo-wop style allowed them to effortlessly fly sideways against the ever-changing musical landscape of the very late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The attraction of the Fleetwoods is the paradoxically delicate yet full-bodied vocals of the three bandmembers. Singing groups have been a fixture in rock and roll almost from the beginning, but from doo-wop to Motown, most have been African-American. The Fleetwoods are one of the exceptions and are also unusual in having male and female bandmembers.
In fact, the Fleetwoods are the only mixed-gender trio to have multiple #1 hits. Surprisingly, two of their stellar ballads hit #1 on the charts in 1959 in quick succession: “Come Softly to Me” and “Mr. Blue”. Nor was that the end of it: The Fleetwoods had a total of eleven Top 100 hits, with “Tragedy” landing in the Top Ten in 1961. The band called it quits in 1963 but have continued to tour periodically over the years in various incarnations.