Brenton Wood

Brenton Wood is a soul singer best known in the 1960s for the hits "The Oogum Boogum Song" and "Gimme Little Sign". Born Alfred Jesse Smith in Shreveport, Louisiana, on July 26, 1941, he grew up in San Pedro near Los Angeles, California, and learned to play the piano. He joined vocal groups such as Little Freddie & the Rockets, who recorded a single in 1958, then took the name Brenton Wood to launch a solo career. Signed to Double Shot Records, he scored a hit with a playful soul-pop track, "The Oogum Boogum Song", which reached #19 on the R&B charts and #34 on the pop chart in 1967. A few months later, Brenton Wood repeated his performance with the following single "Gimme Little Sign", which reached #9 in the pop charts and #8 in the UK. More minor hits follow in the wake, with "Baby You Got It" (No. 34), "Lovey Dovey Kinda Lovin'" (No. 99 in the pop charts) and "Some Got It, Some Don't" (No. 42 in the R&B charts). Although he continued to record new material, the singer struggled to recapture the public's enthusiasm, until his gentle comeback in 1977 with the album Come Softly and the song "Come Softly to Me" (No. 92 in the R&B charts), followed by a disco turn, before continuing to perform at nostalgic galas. He recorded the albums Out of the Woodwork (1986), That's the Deal (1991), Sweet Old School (1995), Classic by Design (2000) and This Love Is for Real (2001). On January 3, 2025, Brenton Wood died in Moreno Valley (California), aged 83.