Gary took me and his nephew fishing in 1961. I was staying at the Guemes Island fishing resort with my parents and Gary had rented the cabin next to ours. His nephew was my age (10 yo) and we became friends that summer and his nephew (David) wanted me to come along. I didn't know who Gary Troxel was until a bunch of teenage girls descended on him later that day. The owner of the resort (Charlie Townsend) gave me one of his albums and I asked Gary to autograph it for me, which he happily did. I still have that album. I'm 71 years old now. What a memory! Oh, this all happened on Guemes Island, one of the San Juan islands.
One of the most compelling videos on youtube. A glimpse of how rapidly the culture/music had shift in just 15 years. I don't think my fellow millennials realize that these acts didn't just go from American Bandstand to the PBS oldies show, they went through the cultural shift as it happened. In 1959, Troxel was clean shaven and in a suit, here in 1974 at just 34-35 he's wearing a tab collared 70s flowered shirt and Gretchen & Barbara also dropped their innocent 50s style for a contemporary Helen Reddy look. And here on the Midnight Special, just think you're expecting to hear America, Al Green, Diana Ross, The Bee Gees....then it's this late 50s classic (for comparison if 2023 was 1974, then this song would've originally come out in 2008) that sounds like it's from a completely different century. I want to give the Fleetwoods credit for keeping this great song the same, instead of trying to update it with some techno sound like The Singing Nun tried to do with her early 60s hit "Dominique".
I was born the year the song came out, heard it the first time in the 80s--as a New Wave kid--and have loved it ever since. I've just realized the bridge is reminiscent of Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark's 'Stanlow'.
I was born in 1959. The first time I heard the song was around 1974. I’ve loved it since, along with a few others from the ‘50s, that I got into when American Graffiti came out (‘73). In the ‘70s, those ‘50s Oldies seemed really old (fashioned) to me. lol I wonder if ‘70s music seemed that was to my kids in the ‘90s. Probably. BTW, I love ‘90s alt rock.
@@annrcantu9273 Yes, same age as you, started listening to 'oldies' (do they call 90s and 2000s music oldies now?) radio in the early 70s. And that's when I heard this, and adored it. Voices of honey.
This is a classic. Absolutely love it, and I agree with the comment that it's good.They kept it exactly as the original. If you wanna really see a cultural change, look at the folk groups.A lot of those folk groups wore clean-cut suit jackets and ties and then....
same, 43 years old here. first heard "Mr Blue" about age 7 on the radio. about 1993 i saw the 1959 lp Mr Blue at the thrift store & got it.@@VirginSuicide77
In 1954 I was a 10 y/o boy sitting in the the Spudnut Shop in the wee hours of the day in Albany. Oregon USA rolling my newspapers for my am route. My 2 favorite groups were the Fleetwood's from Olympia, Washington and the Domino's. When I went to bed the radio said The Fleetwood's wold be driving to sign a new record contract. That meant either US99W or E. While working in the corner in they walked in the door sat down and ate Spudnuts with me and gave me a 45rpm autographed record that travelled with me in the US Navy atound the world to the Philippines and the Vietnam War. And here I sit in Philippines with my family in covid lockdown. Now I am a 74y/o disabled veteran sharing this memory with them. When I pass to my reward I will have military funeral at Clark Field. On this 2020 Veterans Day may god bless you all and the USA
Super cool story! All I knew of the Fleetwoods was they were a guy and two chicks and their sound was impossibly smooth and wonderfully melodic! I think I must have heard Come Softly about a thousand times and we often sang the doo wop sounds in junior high and wherever else. So it's very cool to read these stories and find out he was the type of guy he sounded like. Great Impostor was my personal favorite and its soothing sound is what I often need as this grizzled geezer that I've become a few decades on.
I was 14 when this first came out. I had a lot of slow dances and good memories of the with the fleetwood's. They showed me the right way to appreciate great music
I always loved their music, great guitar playing subtly in the background. A class act. Good songs and arrangements, beautiful performances. I never get tired of listening to this reflective music. Delicate, not in your face.
The original member of the Fleetwoods (Gary Troxel, Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis) performed their 1959 single "Mr. Blue" on Midnight Special back in 1974.
Boy this song takes me back to 1959 graduated high school bought my first car fixed it up and painted it Blue, and we named our cars then an I named mine "MR BLUE"....because I painted it blue !!! And here it is 2022, and I still call my Blue pickup "Mr Blue !!!!
...you know how wonderful this is,when they create that lovely sound with the blending of their voices...it would have been magic ,the first time that happened ,in the studio...
Such a heartbreakingly beautiful song. Wow, the color motion picture camera is absolutely one of our greatest inventions. Just imagine only being able to look at a painting of this wonderful performance.
This song was a favorite when I was 10. After all these years it is still a favorite. Gary still has that choirboy voice (on PBS in 2000s), but I truly miss Si Zentner's trombone. This song has GOT TO HAVE that soulful and melancholy 5 note trombone element. When PBS did their oldies be-bop special that included Gary they took no chances, they included both a trombone AND a trumpet. For me brass part is just too integral a part of the song. Also, this may seem a little weird, but when I play this song (from my 50s playlist) I sing (try to anyway) along with Gary 50% of the time, and 50% I'm singing with the ladies backup. Any cover without the ladies bee-wop backup is heard by me only one time. I got to have that element too. The ladies above and the PBS backing vocals were great.
I agree about the trombone. It added something very special. Havin' Fun by Dion, from the same era, also had a trombone line which added that same kind of plaintive tone.
I like this old song I used to hear the year it was released I was thirteen then and in my Freshman year at High School. I liked to play baseball in those days. Very nice to hear again after all these years.
Certainly that is Gary Troxel of the Fleetwoods we loved to har in the 50's . he was very kind to reply to my email and send ma a singed photo of the group too.
Back when it was released, young guys used to paint rock songs on their cars that tied in with how they were doin'. My navy bud painted "Mr. Blue" on his car.
I was in Jr High School (early 60s) when I met Gretchen, who was married to one of my teachers. Instant boyhood crush occurred, and I received several autographed pics from her a week later, which I still have. She is still performing up in Seattle, WA. I think.
One of the most distinctive voices in late 50's pop music, the ultra smooth delivery, coupled with what are really pretty overt lyrics ( come to me softly) make these folks classics... and yet nowhere are their names given in these videos !
It must been a trip to see this in the 70s so much changed from 1959-1970 I mean look at how he is dressed must been like a reminder of an iconic era of America
nice to see this Live 1974 version, thanks for the post , been mezmorized by this tune since discovering it played on WJAS am in pittsburgh in the 1980's as a young boy :)
First time I’ve seen a video of them singing. I remember my oldest brother had a LP of them and he played this song and as a very young child I thought Mr Blue was the funniest name I ever heard.
I was six when this came out but I remember it like it just happened yesterday. This is one of the songs that made me understand "magic." Still an incredibly beautiful song, very special. BTW, notice the way he stands; look at his hips the last 15 seconds and the way he bows. It's very obvious to me he is having severe back pain while performing. Been there; can wreck your entire life and ruin every relationship you ever had or hope to have. May God bless them, and Thank You to whoever recorded, saved and uploaded this. Would love to turn on the radio and tune in a station playing 50's & 60's songs of this type.
Neato! All are in fine voice. I like the trombone part and so sad it is missing. Hal Blaine, ubiquitous L.A. session drummer, once made a good joke referring to the lack of work for pro trombone players. "What do you call a trombone player with a beeper? An optimist."
Are you familiar with the work of a trombone player who WOULD'VE had a beeper had they existed in his day? One of his first bands came to the attention of Marlon Brando, who hired them for one of his films. He went on to work with Stan Kenton and Benny Goodman, among others. He quit the Goodman gig in disgust, when the bandleader refused to stand up to racial discrimination towards one of the orchestra members. While with Kenton, his work came to the attention of a singer who couldn't read a lick of music but knew what he liked. The singer requested the trombonist for a recording session, the result of which, was what the singer's biographer called, "the most famous song" of the singer's legendary career. The "perfect storm" of talents blowing through the studio that night into the next morning: Frank Sinatra, his arranger Nelson Riddle, trombonist Milt Bernhart. The song, "I've Got You Under My Skin," featured a 'bone solo described by one critic as the "greatest 8 bars of instrumental music ever recorded."
Yes sir I agree to Cynthia love the Fleetw oods just a nice melancholy sound we w I'll never have music like this again my fa mily had and AM radio and everymoring when I was dressing for school I would h ear this song.
I'm sorry that I didn't know who they were, I knew the songs, but I couldn't find then at hen old record shops in the late 70's when I was in high school, I found a Japanese release of Blossom Dearie at ($50) easier than I found them. My partner of 18 years hated 'em and called them the Drift Woods, but he's dead now so I can Listen peacefully, I hope he finally is as well.
The Fleetwoods have always been my fave group. Some of the sons on their LPs are beautiful and sad-songs only Fleetwood people would know-like Love Alone, their version of Before and After, Hey Little Tear, and Sure Is Lonesome Downtown.
To jockejocke: It was 1974 "Midnight Special" TV show,this is probably from the DVD,since it has a tag. Back then halter dresses/tops were worn the "proper way" WITHOUT BRAS!! unlike today's more modest(unless your a celeb who flaunts hers) dress code,of a bra under halters or tank tops...please if the "girls" can fill it let 'em breath!! >> One of my fave groups,I have a anniversary CD,and missed the group in a Doo-Wop Concert tour in Denver late 2011 due to the $65 tix cost!! ;>O
Gary took me and his nephew fishing in 1961. I was staying at the Guemes Island fishing resort with my parents and Gary had rented the cabin next to ours. His nephew was my age (10 yo) and we became friends that summer and his nephew (David) wanted me to come along. I didn't know who Gary Troxel was until a bunch of teenage girls descended on him later that day. The owner of the resort (Charlie Townsend) gave me one of his albums and I asked Gary to autograph it for me, which he happily did. I still have that album. I'm 71 years old now. What a memory! Oh, this all happened on Guemes Island, one of the San Juan islands.
What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it.
One of the most compelling videos on youtube. A glimpse of how rapidly the culture/music had shift in just 15 years. I don't think my fellow millennials realize that these acts didn't just go from American Bandstand to the PBS oldies show, they went through the cultural shift as it happened. In 1959, Troxel was clean shaven and in a suit, here in 1974 at just 34-35 he's wearing a tab collared 70s flowered shirt and Gretchen & Barbara also dropped their innocent 50s style for a contemporary Helen Reddy look. And here on the Midnight Special, just think you're expecting to hear America, Al Green, Diana Ross, The Bee Gees....then it's this late 50s classic (for comparison if 2023 was 1974, then this song would've originally come out in 2008) that sounds like it's from a completely different century.
I want to give the Fleetwoods credit for keeping this great song the same, instead of trying to update it with some techno sound like The Singing Nun tried to do with her early 60s hit "Dominique".
I was born the year the song came out, heard it the first time in the 80s--as a New Wave kid--and have loved it ever since.
I've just realized the bridge is reminiscent of Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark's 'Stanlow'.
I was born in 1959. The first time I heard the song was around 1974. I’ve loved it since, along with a few others from the ‘50s, that I got into when American Graffiti came out (‘73). In the ‘70s, those ‘50s Oldies seemed really old (fashioned) to me. lol I wonder if ‘70s music seemed that was to my kids in the ‘90s. Probably. BTW, I love ‘90s alt rock.
@@annrcantu9273 Yes, same age as you, started listening to 'oldies' (do they call 90s and 2000s music oldies now?) radio in the early 70s. And that's when I heard this, and adored it. Voices of honey.
I would argue that Heart Waves, Bad Habit and Kill Bill are visually and musically very different to Hot N Cold, Baby, Poker Face or Tik Tok
This is a classic. Absolutely love it, and I agree with the comment that it's good.They kept it exactly as the original. If you wanna really see a cultural change, look at the folk groups.A lot of those folk groups wore clean-cut suit jackets and ties and then....
Gary Troxel has the kindest eyes I've ever seen.
Mary Miller
YES! His eyes are hypnotic.
Yes , gentle and calming
Yes, those kind eyes!
It's 2021...I'm 71...Still loving The Fleetwoods
59
I have a handful of their albums (I’m 45)
25 and I adore their sound. :)
same, 43 years old here. first heard "Mr Blue" about age 7 on the radio. about 1993 i saw the 1959 lp Mr Blue at the thrift store & got it.@@VirginSuicide77
awesome vincent! You should check out their entire first album of the same name. Mr. Blue from 1959. @@vincent.van_gogh
Gary Troxel has such a cool soothing singing voice.
Bill Accord Is he a gay?
@@iVenge No. He married some girl he dated in High School.
Dylan Cannon: Yes. That is true. Such a soft voice and manner though.
I love this song and am so glad that Gary Troxel stayed true to the original music. It's unforgettable!!
I'm 25 and this is a treat
I've never heard voices and harmonies like these
In 1954 I was a 10 y/o boy sitting in the the Spudnut Shop in the wee hours of the day in Albany. Oregon USA rolling my newspapers for my am route. My 2 favorite groups were the Fleetwood's from Olympia, Washington and the Domino's. When I went to bed the radio said The Fleetwood's wold be driving to sign a new record contract. That meant either US99W or E. While working in the corner in they walked in the door sat down and ate Spudnuts with me and gave me a 45rpm autographed record that travelled with me in the US Navy atound the world to the Philippines and the Vietnam War. And here I sit in Philippines with my family in covid lockdown. Now I am a 74y/o disabled veteran sharing this memory with them. When I pass to my reward I will have military funeral at Clark Field. On this 2020 Veterans Day may god bless you all and the USA
Thank you for your service sir
Super cool story! All I knew of the Fleetwoods was they were a guy and two chicks and their sound was impossibly smooth and wonderfully melodic! I think I must have heard Come Softly about a thousand times and we often sang the doo wop sounds in junior high and wherever else.
So it's very cool to read these stories and find out he was the type of guy he sounded like.
Great Impostor was my personal favorite and its soothing sound is what I often need as this grizzled geezer that I've become a few decades on.
I didn't know the Fleetwoods were from Olympia. I live in Seattle.
What breathtaking humility.
Love the Flwwtwoods. I still have their album. In the sixties and early seventies, college kids love their music. Peaceful and melodic.
I was 14 when this first came out. I had a lot of slow dances and good memories of the with the fleetwood's. They showed me the right way to appreciate great music
I like all versions - 1959, 1974 and 2006. Singing voice is still clear and pristine.
Beautiful with beautiful memories of golden voices and times gone by. I miss them terribly.
What a great Fleetwoods song! So good to listen to it after so many years. Those are three exquisite voices singing together.
This was their second Billboard # 1 hit within one year. Great song.
i have an original .45 of this. played it over and over as a young teenager.
I always loved their music, great guitar playing subtly in the background. A class act. Good songs and arrangements, beautiful performances. I never get tired of listening to this reflective music. Delicate, not in your face.
I got to see the Fleetwoods in 2000. The song is timeless. And their performance was followed by a standing ovation.
The original member of the Fleetwoods (Gary Troxel, Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis) performed their 1959 single "Mr. Blue" on Midnight Special back in 1974.
Di you know whatever happened to Barbara Ellis?
Boy this song takes me back to 1959 graduated high school bought my first car fixed it up and painted it Blue, and we named our cars then an I named mine "MR BLUE"....because I painted it blue !!! And here it is 2022, and I still call my Blue pickup "Mr Blue !!!!
I love to hear this song when I'm driving my red '55 Chevy Bel Air
Bill Poe The only thing better would be a 58 Chevy Impala convertible and this song! But you are lucky to have a '55!
Bill Poe The only thing better would be a 58 Chevy Impala convertible and this song! But you are lucky to have a '55!
My first car was a 55 Bel Air I bought for $165.00 in 1962 Sure wish I still had it!
Perfect 55 Chevy music! Heck yea!!
Really cool to see these folks do this tune in the 70's! SMOOOOOTH.
Great song with moving message
...you know how wonderful this is,when they create that lovely sound with the blending of their voices...it would have been magic ,the first time that happened ,in the studio...
HERE WE ARE IN 2017 AND GARY IS AS GOOD TODAY AS BACK THEN. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!
Such a heartbreakingly beautiful song.
Wow, the color motion picture camera is absolutely one of our greatest inventions. Just imagine only being able to look at a painting of this wonderful performance.
Not enough white geniuses now 😥
They didn't know the 1950's ended... 15 years later! Great sound continued!
This song was a favorite when I was 10. After all these years it is still a favorite. Gary still has that choirboy voice (on PBS in 2000s), but I truly miss Si Zentner's trombone. This song has GOT TO HAVE that soulful and melancholy 5 note trombone element. When PBS did their oldies be-bop special that included Gary they took no chances, they included both a trombone AND a trumpet. For me brass part is just too integral a part of the song. Also, this may seem a little weird, but when I play this song (from my 50s playlist) I sing (try to anyway) along with Gary 50% of the time, and 50% I'm singing with the ladies backup. Any cover without the ladies bee-wop backup is heard by me only one time. I got to have that element too. The ladies above and the PBS backing vocals were great.
I agree totally.
I agree about the trombone. It added something very special. Havin' Fun by Dion, from the same era, also had a trombone line which added that same kind of plaintive tone.
And they still sound as smooth as they did then.
Geweldig, heerlijke jaren 50 muziek. Memories. ❤
what a simple, beautiful, classic
I really really love this song and heart and soul and all of the other songs from the 50s/60d era and a lot of the doowapsongs from then too.
1974 ... Please come back.
I like this old song I used to hear the year it was released I was thirteen then and in my Freshman year at High School. I liked to play baseball in those days. Very nice to hear again after all these years.
Certainly that is Gary Troxel of the Fleetwoods we loved to har in the 50's . he was very kind to reply to my email and send ma a singed photo of the group too.
Wow great!
Where can I reach him by email?
Superb.They've lost none of their beautiful harmonies!!
This song is relaxing to listen while it’s raining at night
I re-call hearing this song when I was a kid, thought it was Great then, and today , it's still Great. I wish them the Best!
I'm only 58 years old so when they sing this in 1974 I was only 11and I knew back then as a kid this was great music and will never be done again ❤️
What happened to all the great song writers? Nobody writes great harmonies like this anymore.
leafyutube there's still plenty of great music, just not on the radio.
There’s no talent anymore,it’s a shame!!!
Yes!
As a early 2000s kid i love this song
Gary is wearing typical 1970's fashion. Still a beautiful song 15 yrs. after it was released, and the same is true today. No horn in this
Yeeeeees stilll a huge killer song!!!!my old time favorite greetings from cancun Mexico !!!!
Very beautiful song and group...always touching to the heart since my days of the very young.
~~ calms my parrot down , bless them.
Smooth and mellow. Very nice!
Great Song
Absolutely awesome...I love this music...Truly an ERA lost...
Thank you for posting this timeless Classic!!!
Still awesome after all these years .
Back when it was released, young guys used to paint rock songs on their cars that tied in with how they were doin'. My navy bud painted "Mr. Blue" on his car.
Gretchen on Left, Barbara on right. Always the same. I went to school with Barbara. :)
I was in Jr High School (early 60s) when I met Gretchen, who was married to one of my teachers. Instant boyhood crush occurred, and I received several autographed pics from her a week later, which I still have. She is still performing up in Seattle, WA. I think.
Right and left, as in stage right and left from Gary’s point of view? Or from the audience point of view?
omg, what a difference in their looks and outfits since 1959!
One of the most distinctive voices in late 50's pop music, the ultra smooth delivery, coupled with what are really pretty overt lyrics ( come to me softly) make these folks classics... and yet nowhere are their names given in these videos !
Still great in 2022.
It must been a trip to see this in the 70s so much changed from 1959-1970 I mean look at how he is dressed must been like a reminder of an iconic era of America
The 70's and 80's had a big oldies revival. That's why they did this
nice to see this Live 1974 version, thanks for the post , been mezmorized by this tune since discovering it played on WJAS am in pittsburgh in the 1980's as a young boy :)
Loved it back then......love it now!!!!!
It appears he took care of his voice over the years. Nice.
Thank you for posting, truly and awesome generation.
My kitten's name is Mr. Blue and whenever I play this song, he gets up and comes over to listen and rock.
Que vozes lindas esse homem canta de mais
Lovely song.
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First time I’ve seen a video of them singing. I remember my oldest brother had a LP of them and he played this song and as a very young child I thought Mr Blue was the funniest name I ever heard.
great song fantastic memories of my jamaica
I was six when this came out but I remember it like it just happened yesterday. This is one of the songs that made me understand "magic." Still an incredibly beautiful song, very special. BTW, notice the way he stands; look at his hips the last 15 seconds and the way he bows. It's very obvious to me he is having severe back pain while performing. Been there; can wreck your entire life and ruin every relationship you ever had or hope to have. May God bless them, and Thank You to whoever recorded, saved and uploaded this. Would love to turn on the radio and tune in a station playing 50's & 60's songs of this type.
Troxel had an incredible voice.
Rest in peace frank fritz
Just beautiful 💕
Neato! All are in fine voice. I like the trombone part and so sad it is missing. Hal Blaine, ubiquitous L.A. session drummer, once made a good joke referring to the lack of work for pro trombone players. "What do you call a trombone player with a beeper? An optimist."
Are you familiar with the work of a trombone player who WOULD'VE had a beeper had they existed in his day?
One of his first bands came to the attention of Marlon Brando, who hired them for one of his films. He went on to work with Stan Kenton and Benny Goodman, among others. He quit the Goodman gig in disgust, when the bandleader refused to stand up to racial discrimination towards one of the orchestra members.
While with Kenton, his work came to the attention of a singer who couldn't read a lick of music but knew what he liked. The singer requested the trombonist for a recording session, the result of which, was what the singer's biographer called, "the most famous song" of the singer's legendary career.
The "perfect storm" of talents blowing through the studio that night into the next morning: Frank Sinatra, his arranger Nelson Riddle, trombonist Milt Bernhart. The song, "I've Got You Under My Skin," featured a 'bone solo described by one critic as the "greatest 8 bars of instrumental music ever recorded."
this is good and there are many other versions of them singing it live .
still awesome!!!
Beautiful
Thank you AI my friend 😊
Awesome video, and great music!
Still got it
This song sounds as good as it did the first time I listened to it.
Yes sir I agree to Cynthia love the Fleetw oods just a nice melancholy sound we w I'll never have music like this again my fa mily had and AM radio and everymoring when I was dressing for school I would h ear this song.
I enjoy humming this as I bake :)
Gary was just the cutest ❣️
Real music!
Exactly. Today's music is garbage.
I discovered this band the last week and this is the band i prefer after the beach boys
I'm sorry that I didn't know who they were, I knew the songs, but I couldn't find then at hen old record shops in the late 70's when I was in high school, I found a Japanese release of Blossom Dearie at ($50) easier than I found them. My partner of 18 years hated 'em and called them the Drift Woods, but he's dead now so I can Listen peacefully, I hope he finally is as well.
The Fleetwoods have always been my fave group. Some of the sons on their LPs are beautiful and sad-songs only Fleetwood people would know-like Love Alone, their version of Before and After, Hey Little Tear, and Sure Is Lonesome Downtown.
They should've kept with the times and cut a disco song or bubble gum pop song. They're incredible!!!
Precious
Fabulous
Pretty mellow
Wow!!!!!!!😮
There is a message in the music 🎵
Nice job!
This is really nice
WOW ...Sweet
In 1967, my first high school dance, my fired dance with a girl
To jockejocke: It was 1974 "Midnight Special" TV show,this is probably from the DVD,since it has a tag. Back then halter dresses/tops were worn the "proper way" WITHOUT BRAS!! unlike today's more modest(unless your a celeb who flaunts hers) dress code,of a bra under halters or tank tops...please if the "girls" can fill it let 'em breath!! >> One of my fave groups,I have a anniversary CD,and missed the group in a Doo-Wop Concert tour in Denver late 2011 due to the $65 tix cost!! ;>O
What a terrific song. I remember it from way back in 1959.
This might've been performed on the Midnight Special on Oldies Night.
I miss the great trombone.
they were a local group...North Thurston High
everything is good about this.
One of my All Time favorite songs!! I don't say that lightly!
I just wish it had 20 or 30 more verses. 😊 (and its not the same without the coronet)
I see you Olympia Washington!!!