What a Howl! Pookie Hudson and the Spaniels
(6 downloads)Saturday, Jan 12, 2008
Thornton James “Pookie” Hudson passed away from cancer on January 17, 2007. He was the lead vocalist and composer for the classic Do Wop group, the Spaniels. His best known song was “Goodnight, Sweetheart” which hit number five on the R & B chart in 1954. As was common practice back in those days, a “whitened” version of this promising tune was needed to pass on to the public at large and to break it on the national chart. This was served up by the McGuire Sisters, and their version made it to number seven on the national chart and for some time was probably perceived as the original. Meanwhile, the Spaniels cut was relegated to black radio only, until the early 1970s when the original was featured on the soundtrack to 'American Graffiti'. Apparently, Alan Freed refused to play any Spaniels records as a result of being deservedly refused a writing credit on “Goodnight, Sweetheart”, which may have been sought as a form of compensation.Though, throughout the mid-50s their name was easily found on the R&B charts, the track provided here, Do Wah, was not a successful effort. Maybe not a chart-breaker, but a nice tune nonetheless with its sparse instrumentation, bass vocalizing, and dark, mid-tempo rumba mood. It may have just been a little too heady for the 1955 top 40.
Forming in 1952 amongst a group of high school friends in Gary, IN, the Spaniels were one of the first successful R&B vocal acts to emerge from the Midwest. The impetus for their getting together was to perform in a school talent show as Pookie Hudson and the Hudsonaires. They soon changed their name to the Spaniels and were one of the first two acts to sign with Vee Jay records when it launched in the spring of 1953, the other act was guitarist Jimmy Reed. Vee Jay is historically notable as the most successful black owned record label prior to Motown. The original Spaniels were: Ernest Warren (first tenor), Opal Courtney, Jr. (baritone), Willie Jackson (second tenor), and Gerald Gregory (bass) and Hudson as the lead. Among Hudson’s many reputed innovations was the practice of using a separate microphone as the lead man while the rest of the group shared a second microphone. Perhaps an innovation in the fine art of hogging the spotlight, but there never seemed to be any dispute that Hudson was the star of the show. He was the most talented among a group of pretty talented musicians and it may have run in the family considering he was cousins with both Josephine Baker and Fats Waller. In any case, he is looked upon as the first true front man of the vocal groups. He also wrote or co-wrote most of the group’s material, another anomaly for his day.
The B side to this was a cut called “Don’cha Go”, more on that and the Vee Jay records story coming soon.
Here they are, past their prime, but still sounding good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xADs9uY1EI&NR=1
Vee-Jay 131, 1955