Eternity's Children

History

In 1965, Delta College students Bruce Blackman and Roy Whittaker started a band called The Phantoms, bringing in classmates Jerry Bounds, Charlie Ross, and Johnny Walker. They built a strong local following playing around campus and put out a single, "Workin' Tired" backed with "Gonna Be Nice Tonight," on the small Flash label. The next year, the group moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, where they became the house band in a basement club at the Biloxi Hotel.

When they weren't headlining, they backed touring acts like Charlie Rich and B.J. Thomas. That same year, folk singer Linda Lawley joined, and the band changed its name to Eternity's Children. They released another single on the Apollo label—both songs written by Blackman—called "Can't Put A Thing Over Me" b/w "Time and Place," but it didn't catch on beyond their local fans.

Major label

Around the turn of 1967, a Baton Rouge club manager named Ray Roy saw them play and got his business partner Guy Belello to sign them to a contract and manage the group. Eternity's Children quickly cut a demo that reached A&M Records executive Allen Stanton. In spring 1967, the band moved to Los Angeles and put out their only A&M single, "Wait and See," produced by Keith Olsen, formerly of the Music Machine. It flopped. Even though they toured successfully, opening for acts like Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Blues Magoos, A&M dropped them.

Despite the lack of a hit, Capitol Records took notice and signed the group. Working under Capitol's Tower subsidiary with producers Keith Olsen and Curt Boettcher, they released their biggest single, "Mrs. Bluebird" backed with "Little Boy." Though promotion was limited, the song became a modest success, showcasing the band's tight vocal harmonies. An appearance on American Bandstand pushed it onto the national charts: it hit number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 54 on the Cash Box Top 100 in August 1968, but fell off after just three weeks. The follow-up, "Sunshine Among Us," did worse, peaking at number 117 on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart that September.

Did You Know?

• After Eternity's Children disbanded, three members—Wagner, Blackman, and Walker—went on to form Starbuck, which hit number three with "Moonlight Feels Right" in 1976.
• The second album, Timeless, was cancelled in the U.S. but received a limited Canadian release, where "Mrs. Bluebird" had been most successful.
• Linda Lawley Pelfrey, the group's folk singer, died of cancer on November 24, 2007, at age 58.