{"id":5670,"date":"2015-04-21T13:45:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T18:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=5670"},"modified":"2016-10-12T15:40:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T20:40:31","slug":"best-of-f16c-funky16corners-radio-v-61-focus-on-lou-courtney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=5670","title":{"rendered":"Best of F16C – Funky16Corners Radio v.61 – Focus on Lou Courtney"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Funky16Corners Radio v.61 – Focus On Lou Courtney<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Professional Lover (Imperial 45)
\nI Watched You Slowly Slip Away (Philips 45)+
\nSkate Now (Riverside 45)
\nDo The Thing (Riverside LP version)
\nYou Ain\u2019t Ready (Riverside 45)
\nI\u2019ve Got Just the Thing (Riverside 45)
\nIf the Shoe Fits (Popside 45)
\nIt\u2019s Love Now (Popside 45)
\nI Need You Now (Riverside LP Track)
\nMe & You Doing the Boogaloo (Riverside LP track)
\nHey Joyce (Popside 45)
\nI\u2019m Mad About You (Popside 45)
\nDo the Horse (Verve 45)
\nRubber Neckin\u2019 Chick Check\u2019n (Verve 45)
\nYou Can Give Your Love To Me (Verve 45)
\nTryin\u2019 To Find My Woman (Buddah 45)+
\nLou Courtney & Funk Junction – Hot Butter\u2019n\u2019All (Hurdy Gurdy 45)
\nBeware (Rags 45)
\nThe Best Thing That a Man Can Do For His Woman (Epic 45)
\nLou Courtney & Buffalo Smoke \u2013 Don\u2019t Stop the Box (RCA LP track)
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Funky16Corners Radio v.61 – Focus On Lou Courtney 74MB\/192K Mixed MP3<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

NOTE: This mix makes its return by special request! It originally appeared back in November of 2008, and over the past few weeks I have had two people contact me and ask me if I would repost it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since we are seven years on and still without any kind of Lou Courtney reissue retrospective, I thought it couldn’t hurt to put it back out there in the ether.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So dig it, and I’ll be back on Friday with something new.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep the Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

___________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Greetings all.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope all is well on your end, and that you all had a most excellent weekend.
\nMy world \u2013 on the other hand, is a bit chaotic and stressful right now. As a result, after the mix I\u2019m dropping today, I\u2019m going to take the rest of the week off. I need to relax a little and get my head screwed back on correctly.
\nOf course, working at a newspaper, there are few weeks as stressful as the one leading up to Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), so maybe this isn\u2019t the best time to try and chill, but my addled brain can only concentrate on so much at any given time. Right now, in addition to the normal work stress, yet another major layoff is looming, and I have lots to concentrate on in my\u00a0non-work life.
\nThis mix ought to keep you busy, and if that\u2019s not enough, you can always dip back into the podcast archive and whip a little soul on the gang while you\u2019re stuffing your face with turkey, taters and pie.
\nIn the history of the Funky16Corners Radio Podcast<\/strong> (this being the 61st edition thereof), I\u2019ve only done a couple of \u2018single-artist\u2019 mixes (Lee Dorsey, James Brown, Eddie Bo, Jerry-O, Soulful Strings<\/strong>). The reason for this, is that this has always been that very few of the artists we cover in this space have ever generated enough material for a mix of their own, and those that have, probably already have compilations on the market. The ethos here being \u2013 after all \u2013 that what you dig here ought to get you out and digging for more of the same on your own.
\nHowever \u2013 big however here<\/em> \u2013 as in the case of the Soulful Strings \u2013 sometimes I have an artist that I dig a lot, and there is almost nothing available in reissue.
\nThe mix I bring you today is another example of someone like that.
\nI remember the very first time I pulled a Lou Courtney<\/strong> 45 out of a box and put the needle to the wax. I was out digging with a buddy at a once great spot out in the hinterlands, and I happened upon a grip of 45s on the Riverside label by an artist that I\u2019d never heard of before. Despite the fact that I knew Riverside as a jazz label, a quick look at the titles suggested to me that these were soul 45s. As soon as I sat down to preview the records on the store turntable, my suspicions were confirmed.
\nThat first one I played was the mighty \u2018I\u2019ve Got Just the Thing\u2019 by Lou Courtney.
\nThat was probably close to 10 years ago,\u00a0and that record remains a big fave. It was the beginning of a long search for more of his records, and as you\u2019ll hear in this edition of Funky16Corners Radio, that search was consistently rewarding.
\nThere is however , a catch\u2026<\/em>
\nThough I\u2019ve been digging up his records for close to a decade, I\u2019ve never been able to turn up much information on the man. Suitably enough, the little I have found is confirmation that over the years, Lou Courtney let his music do the talking.
\nCourtney was born Louis Pegues<\/strong> in Buffalo, NY in 1944, and appears to have laid down his first 45 for Imperial in 1963. He recorded fairly steadily, for a variety of\u00a0companies for the next 15 years.
\nDuring that time, while he wrote and recorded some absolutely spellbinding soul and funk 45s, he was also writing for, and producing other artists. The really interesting\u00a0thing is, that at least in the beginning, he was having as much success as a pop\/rock writer as he was as a soul singer.
\nDuring the British Invasion years, he and his writing partner Dennis Lambert<\/strong>* wrote songs that were recorded by Freddie & the Dreamers, Leslie Gore<\/strong> and the Nashville Teens<\/strong> <\/a>among others. On the soul side of things, Courtney went on (often with Robert Bateman<\/strong>) to write for Mary Wells, Lorraine Ellison,<\/a> Gloria Gaynor, Dee Dee Warwick, the Webs<\/strong>** and Henry Lumpkin<\/a><\/strong>.
\nThough he clearly spent a lot of time working for other artists, he was (at least in my opinion) saving his best material for himself. Though Courtney\u2019s Imperial and Philips 45s are rousing soul sides, by the time he hooked up with Riverside (and its Popside subsidiary) he had crafted a dynamic sound. Courtney had a wonderful voice with a flexible range, as adept with hard edged soul as with a gentle ballad. That he was also a talented songwriter makes his relative obscurity all the more hard to understand.
\nI\u2019ve gone on in this space before about \u2018journeyman\u2019 performers, who managed to record and perform through the classic soul era without ever breaking through to a larger success. Unlike many of those artists, Lou Courtney had more than enough talent to be a much bigger star, yet for any number of reasons was unable to get to that level.
\nMuch like another favorite of mine \u2013 Chuck Edwards<\/strong> <\/a>\u2013 Lou Courtney had a knack for mixing pop and rock sounds into his soul. As a result his records have both pop hooks and a heavy edge, forceful enough for the dancefloor but with enough pop savvy to keep the dancers singing along.
\nBetween 1966 and 1968, Courtney recorded an LP (\u2018Skate Now and Shingaling\u2019, both rare and excellent) and a number of 45s (some of them with amazing non-LP tracks) for Riverside\/Popside. Many of the cuts from this era have become prized by both soul and funk DJs. During this period he created storming Northern style cuts like the brilliant \u2018Me & You Doing the Boogaloo\u2019 (try not dancing when you hear this one), pop-edged soul like \u2018If the Shoe Fits\u2019 and Motown influenced fare like \u2018It\u2019s Love Now\u2019.
\nHis Riverside\/Popside discography demonstrates that Courtney was an important transitional artist, bridging the gap between soul and funk. There\u2019s not better example of this than the crate digger\u2019s fave \u2018Hey Joyce\u2019 (its famous break sampled by DJ Shadow<\/strong> and Cut Chemist<\/strong>) It\u2019s important to keep in mind that Courtney was working in a variety of styles during this period, continuing to record mainstream soul and ballads as well as funk.
\nHe moved on to the Verve label by 1968 (for two singles), where he continued to craft danceable soul (like the dance craze \u2018Do the Horse\u2019), ballads ( a cover of the Bacharach tune \u2018Please Stay\u2019) and edgy funk like \u2018Rubber Neckin\u2019 Chick Check\u2019n\u2019.
\nHe laid down one single for Buddah in 1969, the smoking \u2018Tryin\u2019 To Find My Woman\u2019. Here (again) Courtney works both prominent guitar and combo organ into the mix, along with blazing, soulful horns.
\nSometime in the next few years (1971, I think) he recorded one of the most slamming funk 45s I\u2019ve ever heard, the manic (borderline insane) \u2018Hot Butter\u2019n\u2019All\u2019<\/a>. This is one of those records that\u2019s so powerful it just about makes may hair stand on end. The track was also used by Donald Height<\/strong> (also on the Hurdy Gurdy label) for the song \u2018Life Is Free\u2019***.<\/p>\n

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

As far as I can tell, Courtney didn\u2019t record again until 1973 when he went into the studio with Jerry Ragavoy<\/strong> to record for the latter\u2019s Rags label. The funky \u2018Beware\u2019 was written by Courtney, produced by Courtney and Ragavoy and arranged by Leon Pendarvis<\/strong>.
\nThe following year Courtney would record the album \u2018I\u2019m In Need of Love\u2019 for the Epic label. The lone ballad in this mix, \u2018The Best That a Man Can Do For His Woman\u2019 comes from that album, once again co-produced by Courtney and Ragavoy, and arranged by Pendarvis.
\nLou Courtney would record one more LP, \u2018Buffalo Smoke\u2019 in 1976. By this time he was working on the funkier side of disco. My favorite cut from the LP \u2018Don\u2019t Stop the Box\u2019 is a great example of the kind of polished, funky grooves that Steely Dan<\/strong> was clearly listening to at the time (dig the electric piano on this one). Buffalo Smoke would go on to have a disco hit in 1978 with a cover of Marvin Gaye\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Stubborn Kind of Fellow\u2019. It was during that year that Lou Courtney would join a later version of the Fifth Dimension, during the period when Marilyn McCoo<\/strong> and Billy Davis Jr.<\/strong> were out having hits on their own.
\nI haven\u2019t been able to track down anything on him after that point, other than a few mid-70s sessions as a backing vocalist on other people\u2019s albums (Bonnie Raitt, Michael Boothman<\/strong>). The trail goes cold.
\nWhere is Lou Courtney?
\n<\/em>Though \u2018I\u2019m In Need of Love\u2019, (highly regarded by modern soul fans) has been reissued, and several early tracks have appeared on compilations over the years, most of his finest work is available only to those willing to head out into the field and dig for vinyl.
\nThis is nothing less than a crime.<\/strong>
\nCertainly there are countless soulies and crate diggers out there (myself included) who cherish his records, but Courtney\u2019s was no ordinary talent, and is deserving of commemoration. I can offer up this mix, but I suspect that it\u2019s so much \u2018preaching to the choir\u2019. Someone out there (Numero, Sundazed) ought to get to work on something (maybe a disc of his own recordings and a disc of his work with other artists?).
\nI hope you all dig the sounds, and if you\u2019re still out there Lou, know that your music is still loved.<\/p>\n

See you all next week.<\/p>\n

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

+ I wanted to represent something from all of the labels Courtney recorded for, but have as yet been unable to get vinyl copies of the Philips, or Buddah sides. The versions here were digital copies I found online, so the sound quality may be a touch substandard. My apologies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Lambert went on to write a number of huge hits, including \u2018She\u2019s Gone\u2019 (Hall & Oates<\/strong>), \u2018Baby Come Back\u2019 (Player<\/strong>), \u2018Night Shift\u2019 (Commodores<\/strong>) and \u2018It Only Takes a Minute Girl\u2019 (Tavares<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

**The Webs were one of the few acts besides Courtney to appear on the Popside label<\/p>\n

***The song also appears as an instrumental (by \u2018Mr C & Funck Junction\u2019<\/strong>) on the flipside of \u2018Hot Butter\u2019n\u2019All\u2019)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!<\/strong> The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.<\/strong> They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).<\/strong> Click here to go to the ordering page.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funky16Corners Radio v.61 – Focus On Lou Courtney Playlist Professional Lover (Imperial 45) I Watched You Slowly Slip Away (Philips 45)+ Skate Now (Riverside 45) Do The Thing (Riverside LP version) You Ain\u2019t Ready (Riverside 45) I\u2019ve Got Just the Thing (Riverside 45) If the Shoe Fits (Popside 45) It\u2019s Love Now (Popside 45) I […]<\/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":true,"_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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[129,11,17,14,24,12,18],"tags":[163,166,169,164],"class_list":["post-5670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-funky16corners","category-funk","category-funk-45","category-funky16corners","category-northern-soul","category-soul","category-soul-45","tag-funk","tag-funky16corners","tag-northern-soul","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-1ts","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670","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=5670"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6726,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5670\/revisions\/6726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}