Come Softly to Me

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"Come Softly to Me" is a popular song written by Gary Troxel, Barbara Ellis and Gretchen Christopher, published in 1959 and performed by The Fleetwoods.

The song was at first called "Come Softly" but was changed en route to its becoming a hit. They performed the song twice at school functions and their classmates wanted recordings of it so they could learn the song. After six months, they got the song recorded. They sang it a cappella, then dubbed the instrumental accompaniment, consisting only of Latin-styled acoustic guitar and the rhythmic shaking of Troxel's car keys.

Bob Reisdorf, the owner of Dolphin Records (later changed to Dolton Records), was responsible for the name change. He thought that the title was too risqué, so he had it changed to "Come Softly to Me." Released in 1959, the retitled song hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in April.

The song was also covered by other artists, and Frankie Vaughan and the Kaye Sisters in particular had a chart hit in the United Kingdom with it.

Preceded by "Venus" by Frankie Avalon

Billboard Hot 100 number one single April 13, 1959

Succeeded by "The Happy Organ" by Dave "Baby" Cortez