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Brenton Wood

Brenton Wood

The soulful, unpredictable voice behind two 1967 pop-soul classics that still radiate good-time charm.

APPLE MUSIC

Oogum Boogum Song

Brenton Wood

About

MOODS · soulful · warm · nostalgic · playful · breezy · retro · feel-good · sunny · easygoing

BIOGRAPHY

Brenton Wood, born Alfred Jesse Smith in Shreveport, Louisiana, moved to San Pedro in Los Angeles as a child. While attending Compton College he took his stage name from his home county, first fronting a group called the Quotations before graduating into a solo career. Inspired by Sam Cooke and Jesse Belvin, he had cut his teeth earlier singing with Little Freddie & the Rockets in 1958. His breakout came in 1967 with three charting singles: "The Oogum Boogum Song," "Gimme Little Sign" (his highest-charting hit at No. 9), and "Baby You Got It." He kept working for decades after, forming his own label in 1972, releasing "Out of the Woodwork" in 1986, and returning with new material on "This Love Is for Real" in 2001. He died in January 2025.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Brenton Wood's brief but bright run in 1967 produced two genuine R&B classics, "The Oogum Boogum Song" and "Gimme Little Sign," built on what critics have described as charmingly unpredictable phrasing and an infectious sense of good times. Though he never again reached those chart heights, he stayed active for decades, self-releasing music, collaborating with players like Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire, and continuing to record into the 2000s, a long, quietly persistent career anchored by a handful of enduring pop-soul moments.

ON WOKE-1

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