Los Angeles, CA – Craft Recordings announces a reissue for Brenton Wood’s 18 Best, a celebrated collection of the soul singer’s classic songs. The October 4th release will feature his most famous tracks, including the career-defining “Oogum Boogum” and “Gimme Little Sign,” as well as “Baby You Got It”—a trio of hits he released in the 1960s. Available for pre-order today, Brenton Wood’s 18 Best will be released on CD as well as vinyl for the first time and for a limited-time, fans can pick up the album on two special colorways: “Lemonade” (via CraftRecordings.com) or “Baby Blue” (via RSD Essentials). Stream on all major platforms today.
Raised in Southern California (first San Pedro, then Compton) as Alfred Jesse Smith, the singer would later change his name to Brenton Wood, speculated by many to be a nod to Los Angeles’ moneyed Brentwood neighborhood. He played piano as a child and, inspired by his idols, soul icon Sam Cooke and doo-wop great Jesse Belvin, performed in a few vocal groups before forging out on his own.
In 1967, the aspiring singer would make good on his dreams of becoming a star after signing to Double Shot Records and releasing the plucky-sweet “Oogum Boogum.” NPR once commented, “It’s hard to be in a bad mood after you hear the ‘Oogum Boogum Song’ . . . there’s something about the feeling. That almost playful falsetto, the drums bouncing along, the jangly guitar hits.”
The single was a runaway hit, reaching No.34 on Billboard’s pop chart and No.19 on its R&B chart. Timeless in its appeal, “Oogum Boogum” would go on to appear, decades later, on soundtracks for films such as Almost Famous and Don’t Worry Darling, as well as on TV series like Sex Education and The Umbrella Academy. A few months after that single’s success, Wood released “Gimme Little Sign,” his buoyant, heady love song that soared to No.9 on Billboard’s pop chart and No.19 on its R&B chart. The single sold more than one million copies worldwide.
At this point, Wood, who released both tunes on his debut album, Oogum Boogum, became synonymous with his upbeat affirmations about love, which AllMusic once praised for their “charmingly unpredictable phrasing and his infectious sense of good times.” The album Baby You Got It followed, with its title-track standout, a shimmering song that once again makes fine use of his falsetto and hit No.34 on Billboard’s pop chart. During this prolific era, the singer cut eleven 45s in total.
One of those tracks, “Me and You,” deserves a shoutout for Wood’s effortless use of smooth doo-wop. And another, “Catch You on the Rebound,” would become a lowrider-soul classic popularized by Latino fans. “These days,” the LA Times noted in 1992, “the veteran performer’s fortunes rest in East LA and other Mexican-American strongholds.” Wood, who has released six albums in total and found renewed popularity in the 1980s by touring lowrider festivals. “In the world of East Side Story compilations and dropped Chevy Fleetlines,” NPR writes, “he’s basically Bruce Springsteen.”
