Song:Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight
Album:The Only Doo-Wop Collection You'll Ever Need
The Spaniels are one of the all time great doo wop groups. But they never got their due until George Lucas used Goodniight Sweetheart Goodnight in the film American Graffitti. The lead singer of The Spaniels was James "Pookie" Hudson. He was born June 11, 1934 in Des Moines, IA and grew up in Gary, IN. Other members were Ernest Warren, Billy Carey, Willis C. Jackson, bass singer Opal Courtney Jr. and Gerald Gregory. The Spaniels are notable for three reasons. They were the first significant doo wop group to come from the Midwest US. They were the first group to have the lead singer use a seperate microphone. And they were instrumental in establishing Vee Jay Records as a force in black music. They started out in 1952 as Pookie Hudson & The Hudsonaires. They decided to call themselves The Spaniels because a lot of other groups were named after birds. Gary record shop owners James and Vivian Bracken were starting their own label. They moved to Chicago and The Spaniels and Jimmy Reed were the first acts on the Vee Jay roster. The Spaniels did very well in the R & B market but broke nationally in 1954 with Hudson's Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight. But in those days a lot of black songs were covered by white artists and usually that version would be a bigger success. And that's what happened. The McGuire Sisters' version reached #7 on the pop charts. This continued to happen throughout the 50s and it resulted in several personnel changes. But The Spaniels remained with Vee Jay until the company went broke in 1966. Hudson reformed The Spaniels after George Lucas used Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight in the 1972 film American Graffitti and the group toured the oldies circuit for years. This comp from Shout! Factory is an excellent intro to doo wop. Pookie Hudson died on Jan. 16, 2007 at age 72. Here are The Spaniels performing Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight on the PBS special Doo Wop 50.
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