Today’s classic R&B song of the day is “Gimme Little Sign” by Brenton Wood. Released in the fall of 1967, this track hit #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Cash Box Top 100. Surprisingly, it topped out at just #19 on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart.
“Gimme Little Sign” was written by Mr. Wood (under his real name of Alfred Smith), Joe Hooven, and Jerry Winn. The lyrics aren’t much but tell the story of a guy who needs a little encouragement to know if a girl is interested in him:
If you do want me, gimme little sugar
If you don’t want me, don’t lead me on, girl
But if you need me, show me that you love me
And when I’m feeling blue and I want you
There’s just one thing that you should do
Just gimme some kind of sign, girl
Oh, my baby
To show me that you’re mine, girl
Oh yeah
This is one of those songs I can put on repeat and play all day long. It chugs merrily along with an almost-Carolina Beach Music beat. The melody is infectious and just begs you to sing along. It’s a perfect song to hear on the car radio when you’re cruising on a warm summer night.
Brenton Wood had three hit singles in the single year of 1967: “Baby You Got It,” “The Oogum Boogum Song,” and “Gimme Little Sign,” which was the highest charting of the bunch. He formed his own record label in 1972 and kept recording through the 2000s. Mr. Wood is still alive today, aged 82.
