Thornton ‘Pookie’ Hudson
From the LA Times…Thornton ‘Pookie’ Hudson lead singer, songwriter of the Spaniels has died at age 72 of complications from cancer of the thymus at his home in Capitol Heights, Md.
Hudson, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, who grew up in Gary, Ind., formed an R&B vocal harmony group in the early 1950s with high school classmates, including the late bass singer Gerald Gregory. The Spaniels’ first hit was “Baby It’s You” in 1953 for Vee-Jay, an early black-owned recording label.
Hudson, a tenor, wrote “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight,” which reached No. 5 on the R&B chart in 1954, No. 24 on the pop chart.
“I was going with this girl, and I used to walk home from her house late at night,” Hudson recalled years later. “As I walked, I put the song together in my head because that’s what her mother was always telling me — ‘Well, it’s 3 in the morning, and it’s time for you to go.’ “
See also RockLibrary.com for a write up on the 2005 Doo-Wopp Hall of Fame inductees, including the Spaniels. Pookie Hudson and the Spaniels also performed at the event.
~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com
Technorati tags: Pookie, Spaniels, died, R&B, Vee-Jay, Pookie Hudson, Spaniels
