Alfred Jesse Smith (born July 26, 1941), better known as Brenton Wood, is an American singer and songwriter known for his two 1967

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, "

The Oogum Boogum Song "The Oogum Boogum Song" was originally performed by Brenton Wood. It was released in 1967 on the album ''Oogum Boogum''. It was written by Wood (under his real name, Alfred Smith). History The song peaked at number 34 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot ...

" (peaking at No. 34 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

) and "

Gimme Little Sign "Gimme Little Sign" is a classic soul music song, originally performed by Brenton Wood and written by Wood (under his real name, Alfred Smith), Joe Hooven and Jerry Winn. The charted versions were Wood's, Peter Andre's, the Sattalites', and Dani ...

" (peaking at No. 9).

Early life

Wood was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

, United States. The family moved to San Pedro in Los Angeles, California, when Wood was a child. He attended

San Pedro High School San Pedro High School is a public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District and is located in the San Pedro portion of the city of Los Angeles, California. The school serves the entirety of San Pedro as well as most of the Eastvie ...

for part of his first year before moving to Compton, where Brenton became a member of the

Compton High School Compton High School is a high school in Compton, California, United States, part of the Compton Unified School District. History The school opened in 1896 as Compton Union High School and was later re-established as Compton Senior High School in ...

track team and received several awards for his athletic achievements. Following his high school graduation, Wood enrolled in East Los Angeles College. Soon after, he took the stage name Brenton Wood, possibly inspired by the wealthy Los Angeles enclave of Brentwood (some sources state that the name is in honor of his "home county"), with a second possible connection of Bretton Woods. During this period, his musical interests began to manifest themselves. He was inspired by

Jesse Belvin Jesse Lorenzo Belvin (December 15, 1932 – February 6, 1960) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s. Belvin co-wrote the 1954 Penguins' doo-wop classic " Earth Angel", which sold more than 10 million copies, while h ...

and

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is common ...

, and he began cultivating his songwriting skills, also becoming a competent pianist.

Career

Early

for Brent Records and Wand Records failed to

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

. Wood signed with Double Shot Records, and his

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

"The Oogum Boogum Song", reached No. 19 on the US ''

'' R&B chart and No. 34 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the spring of 1967. In Southern California, "The Oogum Boogum Song" hit the top 10 on

KGB-FM KGB-FM (101.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a classic rock music format. KGB-FM's studios are located in San Diego's Kearny Mesa neighborhood on the ...

and No. 1 on KHJ. Wood's biggest hit came a few months later, as "Gimme Little Sign" hit No. 9 on the pop chart, No. 19 on the R&B charts, No. 2 on KHJ, and No. 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

; sold over one million copies; and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. The title is not actually sung in the song; the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

instead repeats "Give Me Some Kind of Sign". Wood's "Baby You Got It" (1967) peaked at No. 34 on the Hot 100 during the last week of 1967 and No. 3 on KHJ on January 31, 1968. His backing band During the 1960s was the LA-based Kent and The Candidates which was led by drummer

Kent Sprague Kent Sprague aka Butch Dubarri is a singer, drummer and composer. During the 1960s, his band Kent & the Candidates backed Brenton Wood, playing on two of the singer's hits. He was also a member of Boones Farm in the early 1970s and later one hal ...

. They also recorded several singles for the Double Shot label. A true music entrepreneur, in 1972 he formed his own record label and released, co-produced and co-wrote the Funk Soul classic "Sticky Boom Boom oo ColdPart I and II" with collaborators George Semper (co-producer, arranger) and

Al McKay AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

(co-writer, performer) of

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

fame. Wood recorded a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

with

Shirley Goodman Shirley Mae Goodman (June 19, 1936 – July 5, 2005) was an American R&B singer, best known as one half of Shirley and Lee, a 1950s duo. Later in her career, she had a resurgence with the disco hit " Shame, Shame, Shame" in the 1970s. Career ...

. His next solo song to reach the charts was "

Come Softly to Me "Come Softly to Me" is a popular song recorded by The Fleetwoods, composed of Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxel, who also wrote it. The original title was "Come Softly", but was changed en route to its becoming a hit. Bob Reisdo ...

" in 1977. He returned again in 1986 with the album ''Out of the Woodwork'', which included contemporary re-recordings of his early hits, along with several new tracks, including the single, "Soothe Me". His album ''This Love Is for Real'' came out in 2001. Among his later appearances was in 2006 on the Los Angeles public access program '' Thee Mr. Duran Show'', where Wood and his band performed several of his hit singles. In 2014, he partnered with William Pilgrim & The All Grows Up for a remake of the song "Gimme Little Sign" on their album, ''Epic Endings''. In 2019, "The Oogum Boogum Song" was used in a commercial for

Kinder Joy Kinder Joy (formerly known as Kinder Merendero in Italy and Bahrain) is a candy made by Italian confectionery company Ferrero as part of its Kinder brand of products. It has plastic egg-shaped packaging that splits into two; one half contains l ...

products.

Discography

Albums

;Studio *''Oogum Boogum'' (1967) – (Double Shot) –

Billboard Hot 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artist ...

No. 184 *''Gimme Little Sign'' (1967) – (

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

) – 'UK version of ''Oogum Boogum'' ' *''Baby You Got It'' (1967) *''Come Softly'' (1977) – (

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

) *''Out of the Woodwork'' (1986) – (Golden Oldies) *''Sweet Old School'' (1995) *''Classic By Design'' (2000) *''This Love Is for Real'' (2001) *''Lord Hear My Prayer'' (2009) ;Compilations *''Brenton Wood's 18 Best'' (1991) *''18 More of the Best, Vol. 2'' (1999) *''Better Believe It'' (2000) – (

Demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

/ Westside)

Singles

*"Hide-a-Way" (1963) *"I Want Love" (1966) *"Sweet Molly Malone" (1966) *"

" (1967) – US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 #34; US R&B No. 19 *"

" (1967) – US Billboard Hot 100 #9; US R&B #19;

No. 8 *"Baby You Got It" (1967) – US Billboard Hot 100 #34; US R&B No. 30 *"Lovey Dovey Kinda Lovin'" (1968) – US Billboard Hot 100 No. 99 *"Some Got It, Some Don't" (1968) – US Billboard R&B No. 42 *"It's Just a Game, Love" (1968) *"A Change Is Gonna Come" (1969) – US Billboard "Bubbling Under" #131 *"Whoop It On Me" (1969) *"Great Big Bundle of Love" (1970) *"Boogaloosa Louisian'" (1970) *"Sad Little Song" (1971) *"Sticky Boom Boom (Too Cold)" (1972) *"You're Beautiful People" (1973) *"Another Saturday Night" (1973) *"All That Jazz" (1975) *"Rainin' Love (You Gotta Feel It)" (1975) *"It Only Make Me Want It More" (1975) *"Bless Your Little Heart" (1976) *"Come Softly To Me" (1977) – US R&B No. 92 *"Number One" (1977) *"Let's Get Crazy Together" (1978)

Filmography

*''Popdown'' – (1967) – (Brenton Wood appeared in the movie, alongside

Julie Driscoll Julie Driscoll Tippetts (born 8 June 1947) is an English singer and actress. Career Driscoll is known for her 1960s versions of Bob Dylan and Rick Danko's "This Wheel's on Fire", and Donovan's " Season of the Witch", both with Brian Auger and ...

Zoot Money George Bruno Money (born 17 July 1942) is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was draw ...

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated wi ...

Don Partridge Donald Eric Partridge (27 October 1941 – 21 September 2010)Report of death< ...

, and

Tony Hicks Anthony Christopher Hicks (born 16 December 1945) is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British rock/pop band the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. His main rol ...

References

External links

* Brenton Wood biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Brenton 1941 births Living people Songwriters from Louisiana Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana Musicians from Los Angeles Musicians from Compton, California 20th-century African-American male singers American male pop singers Singers from California Songwriters from California Singers from Louisiana Wand Records artists African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American people American male songwriters