doowopAmnon's video: Spaniels - Lovey Dovey Baby Be Mine - 1958 Charly LP 1114 86 wmv

INFO -- By Marv Goldberg, thank you. Based on interviews with Pookie Hudson,,It's an honor to write about Pookie Hudson: one of the most recognizable voices in R&B is also one of its finest. Aided by the booming bass voice of Gerald Gregory and the rest of the Spaniels, Pookie turned out one great song after another. Thornton James Hudson (he received the nickname "Pookie" from an aunt) came into the world on June 11, 1934 in Des Moines, Iowa, although the family relocated to Gary, Indiana soon after he was born. Two of his cousins had names you might know: Josephine Baker and Thomas "Fats" Waller. When he was a child, these cousins would occasionally visit. Any wonder he wanted to sing? Other early influences were groups like the Charioteers, the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots, and those new kids on the block, Sonny Til and the Orioles. In 1949, while still in Roosevelt Junior High, Pookie joined with Billy Shelton and Calvin Fossett to form the 3 Bees (they were occasionally the 4 Bees, with the addition of bass William Dooley). Continuing on through Roosevelt High School, they sang together until the spring of 1952, when all except Pookie graduated. That could have been the end of a pleasant episode, but Pookie was determined to sing. Some other classmates approached him about joining them at a December 1952 talent show at Roosevelt High (which Pookie was ready to enter as a soloist) and the result was the Hudsonaires: Ernest Warren (first tenor), Willie C. Jackson (second tenor), and Gerald Gregory (bass). Spaniels - 1953 They won the show by performing the 4 Buddies' "I Will Wait" and decided that they should stick together. However, they still needed a baritone. One day, Opal Courtney, Jr. showed up at a rehearsal and stayed around to fill that spot. (His father, "Shag" Courtney, had played with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1934-36.) A shadowy sixth member was pianist Junior Coleman, who appears in the only photo of the original group. He was Willie C. Jackson's nephew and only accompanied them on some talent shows. (When they started recording, Vee-Jay assigned Count Morris to be their accompanist.) Although still in high school, bass Gerald Gregory was already married. One day, his wife joked that the Hudsonaires sounded like "a bunch of dogs." Goodbye "Hudsonaires"; hello "Spaniels."