{"id":1167,"date":"2011-01-02T16:59:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-02T21:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=1167"},"modified":"2013-05-29T15:29:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T20:29:19","slug":"dean-courtney-we-have-a-good-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=1167","title":{"rendered":"Dean Courtney – We Have a Good Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dean Courtney <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong>
\n <\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Dean Courtney – We Have a Good Thing <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Greetings all, and Happy New Year <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

How\u2019s about we get the Funky16Corners<\/strong> juggernaut rolling again with a very tasty bit of Northern Soul?<\/p>\n

Before we get started I have to let you know that our sister blog, Iron Leg,<\/strong><\/a> where the sounds of 60s garage, psyche and pop are discussed returns to new posts today, so head on over there for a searing garage punk cover of a classic soul 45.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also very important to note, I’ll be taking part in the Spindletop<\/strong> night with DJ Perry Lane<\/strong> next Monday night, beginning at 10PM at Botanica, 47 East Houston Street<\/strong> (between Mulberry and Mott)\u00a0 in New York City. They have a very groovy thing going there so come on down to soak up the Hammond 45s, soul jazz and other swinging sounds.<\/p>\n

I have to begin by admitting that within my Northern Soul infatuation, there was a time when somewhere, locked deep in my mind, I conflated the existence of two separate singers, Dean Parrish<\/strong>, and Dean Courtney<\/strong> into one person.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that I ever had any evidence that this was in fact the case, but rather my dilapidated, overworked mind (I think it has poorly lit hallways like an abandoned building) took two people with the same first name, who were both soul singers, and stapled them together (though I suppose mixing him up with Lou Courtney<\/strong> would have made more sense).<\/p>\n

This probably had something to do with the fact that both of these singers made records that are verily worshipped on the Northern scene.<\/p>\n

That silliness out of the way, Dean Courtney\u2019s \u2018We Have a Good Thing\u2019 is without question a fantastic record.<\/p>\n

Courtney was an Alabama native who did most of his recording in New York City for RCA and MGM.
\n\u2018We Have a Good Thing\u2019 was the top side of his first RCA 45 in 1966.<\/p>\n

One of the things that drew me into Northern Soul is the fact that so many of the records, while ostensibly \u2018soul\u2019 sides, also have a serious pop underpinning. This is part and parcel of the Motown-worship that inspired the creation of so many of them, and yet another painful reminder of the uncertainty of the marketplace when you consider how many of the classics of the genre were utter commercial failures (thus the rarity).<\/p>\n

According to Dave Ferguson\u2019s<\/strong> comprehensive overview of the career of arranger Jimmy Wisner<\/strong> (in the March 2007 issue of There\u2019s That Beat<\/strong>), \u2018We Have a Good Thing\u2019 was co-written by Dean Courtney, despite being credited solely to John T. Mack.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The arrangement by Wisner is the epitome of stylish, danceable soul. Opening with rock solid drums, and marked by a descending rhythm guitar line, Courtney delivers the verse in a velvety tenor. The melody is filled with hooks, and the addition of backing harmonies, restrained strings and vibes fleshes things out nicely.<\/p>\n

Despite it\u2019s 1966 release date, \u2018We Have a Good Thing\u2019 didn\u2019t enter the Northern canon until the mid-70s.<\/p>\n

I also have to note that this 45 also has the greatest span between physical appearance and actual playability of any record I own (and I have a grip of water damaged 45s from a certain Philadelphia basement). Fortunately there was a nice scan of the 45 in \u2018There\u2019s That Beat\u2019 that allowed me to get the label info.<\/p>\n

Courtney still performs today, and has traveled to the UK for appearances on the Northern scene.<\/p>\n

I hope you dig the track, and I\u2019ll be back later in the week with something cool.<\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg for a garage cover of a soul classic
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dean Courtney Listen\/Download – Dean Courtney – We Have a Good Thing   Greetings all, and Happy New Year How\u2019s about we get the Funky16Corners juggernaut rolling again with a very tasty bit of Northern Soul? Before we get started I have to let you know that our sister blog, Iron Leg, where the sounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,24,12,18],"tags":[166,169,164],"class_list":["post-1167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funky16corners","category-northern-soul","category-soul","category-soul-45","tag-funky16corners","tag-northern-soul","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-iP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1167"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1177,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions\/1177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}