Brenton Wood: Oogum Boogum [CRAFT]

Why you'll love it

This Craft Recordings LP restores the original stereo album. "The Oogum Boogum Song" reached No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 19 R&B, and made the top 10 of the Canadian R&B chart.

This edition

• Stereo mix
• Original 12-track album

About the album

Some songs get by on a title nobody can forget. Brenton Wood (born Alfred Smith) wrote "The Oogum Boogum Song" himself, and its playful, made-up hook carried him onto the charts in the summer of 1967. The album built around it is a charmer from start to finish.

Producers Hal Winn and Joseph Hooven give Wood's smooth, easy tenor a light, swinging setting. "Gimme Little Sign" is the other big one, a gentle, lilting love song that's been a soul staple ever since, while "I Think You've Got Your Fools Mixed" and "Best Thing I Ever Had" keep the sweetness flowing. He even takes a run at the garage-rock hit "Psychotic Reaction," reworking it in his own laid-back style. His delivery never oversings or rushes; he simply lets every hook do its work, which is harder than it sounds and a lot more fun to listen to.

Wood's records have kept a loyal following among Southern California soul fans for decades, and this reissue makes the case why. You may not know what an oogum boogum is; after one listen, you'll find you no longer mind.

Also at Kops: more Brenton Wood on vinyl · browse Classic Soul

Tracklist

Listen

On Double Shot / Craft (cat# CR00007), a reissue of the 1967 album.