The Spaniels Live in Andover, MA 11/12/83

The Spaniels’ lead singer James “Pookie” Hudson, began singing in church choirs in Gary, Indiana and was befriended by a pair of fellow Roosevelt High students, Billy Shelton and Calvin Fossett. Calling themselves the Three Bees, the trio sang in school halls, churches, the glee club and at talent shows. After Shelton and Fossett graduated in 1952, classmates Gerald Gregory and Willie C. Jackson asked if Hudson could sing with them. First tenor Ernest Warren and baritone Opal Courtney Jr. soon joined.
In spring 1953, Gary record shop owner and DJ Vivian Carter and her boyfriend, James Bracken, launched Vee Jay Records. The Spaniels became the first artists signed and their debut, “Baby It’s You,” was a top 10 R&B hit. Their third record, “Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite,” was an immediate and nationwide hit in 1954, becoming an R&B standard, closing countless dances and record hops.
That fall, Courtney left to complete school, and joined the Air Force. The following year, Warren was drafted, and replaced by James “Dimples” Cochran. Jackson soon left to secure a steady-paying job in a steel mill. Despite scoring national hits, the Spaniels received no royalties and were, essentially, broke.
Hudson also quit and got a job building railroad boxcars. Gregory and Cochran added first tenor Carl Rainge and Cochran’s old singing buddy, Donald “Duck” Porter. Ultimately, Hudson brought them “You Gave Me Peace of Mind,” in the fall of 1956 and returned full-time with Rainge remaining as first tenor. This lineup- referred to as the “second group” of Spaniels, were also successful with “Everyone’s Laughing”, “You’re Gonna Cry”, and “Stormy Weather” in 1957-58. In 1960, Hudson relocated to Washington, DC when the group began playing clubs there. Warren rejoined, Rainge, Porter and Cochran left, and Hudson added three new members and hit with “I Know.” Vee Jay ran into financial difficulty and, not long after, they went their separate ways. In 1969, Hudson reformed the Spaniels with new members for concerts and recordings.
In early 1974, he reunited with the “second group” to record and for the remainder of the 1970s and ’80s, Hudson bounced between Gary and Washington, dividing his time between the Gary-based group and a Washington-based lineup.
In 1991, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation honored the original five Spaniels which led to a reorganization of the original group. After Gregory’s death in 1999, Hudson worked with a Washington-based lineup. He died of cancer in 2007.
Beginning in the early 1970s, Boston-area disc jockey, concert host and producer, historian and enthusiast, Little Walter DeVenne began documenting the pioneers of vocal group harmony, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll using Super 8 movie film and reel to reel tape recorders. Concerts in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and other locations were preserved. Sadly, Walter died in 2021, and the films were feared lost or destroyed. Through the efforts of Walter’s friend and longtime disc jockey, Mike Bollea, many of these recordings have been preserved. Through Mike’s generosity and a desire to see Walter’s historic films shared with fans and devotees of this music, we present the Little Walter’s Time Machine Official Archives series, remixed and synched by Todd Baptista, from the original source material.
This 45-minute set was recorded on November 12, 1983 at the new 1,200 seat Collins Center for the Performing Arts in Andover, Massachusetts. The 9 PM concert starred the Crystals, Hank Ballard, backed by the Valentinos, and the Spaniels. Over 1,100 fans attended. At the time, the group consisted of Hudson, Rainge, Porter, Cochran, and Gregory. Cochran had lost a finger in a work accident in September of 1983 and was unable to travel with the group for this concert. In all honesty, Hudson later admitted that there had been drinking before the show, and that he was unhappy with the quality of their performance. Without the Spaniels’ consent, a local radio station’s broadcast of the show was recorded and subsequently issued on a CD, much to Hudson’s dismay. The concert opens with the group’s standard warm-up of Rainge, Porter, and Gregory singing snippets of R&B hits bringing on Hudson for “Baby It’s You”, “Stormy Weather”, “A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening”, an acappella rendition of “Danny Boy”, “I Know”. “You Gave Me Peace of Mind”, “Everyone’s Laughing”, “You’re Gonna Cry”, and “Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite”. The group returned to the stage for an encore of “Zing Went The Strings of My Heart”, led by Gregory, although we have chosen to not include this performance for the reasons Hudson stated. Still, the performance offers a rare opportunity to see the Spaniels on stage in the 1980s when the members were in their late 40s. Copying, reuploading, distributing, selling, or any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.