Lou Courtney
| Lou Courtney | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Louis Russell Pegues |
| Also known as | Louis Pegues Lew Courtney |
| Born |
August 15, 1943 Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Genres | Soul, pop, funk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1962–1980s |
| Labels | Imperial, Riverside, Pop-Side, Verve, Epic, RCA, others |
| Associated acts | Buffalo Smoke The 5th Dimension |
Lou Courtney (born Louis Russell Pegues, August 15, 1943) is an American soul singer and songwriter who had several hit records in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a performer and writer.
Born in Buffalo, New York, he graduated from Hutchinson Central Technical High School in 1962. As Lew Courtney, he first recorded for Imperial Records the same year. He also worked in New York City as a songwriter, using his birth name, Louis Pegues, and wrote for Chubby Checker as well as Mary Wells' 1964 hit "Ain't It the Truth". With Dennis Lambert, he co-wrote the pop songs "Find My Way Back Home" for the Nashville Teens, "Do the Freddie" for Freddie and the Dreamers, and "Up and Down" recorded by the McCoys. He also worked as Lorraine Ellison's recording director, and produced Betty Mabry's first single, "The Cellar".
In 1966, he signed for Riverside Records, and as Lou Courtney recorded the first in a series of dance-based songs. His first chart hit came with "Skate Now", which reached number 13 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 71 on the Hot 100 in 1967, and was followed by "Do the Thing" (#17 R&B, #80 pop). He released a series of singles on Riverside and its subsidiary Pop-Side label in the late 1960s, including two more R&B chart hits, "You Ain't Ready" and "Hey Joyce"; several tracks later regarded as classics on the British Northern soul scene such as "Me & You Doing the Boogaloo" and "If the Shoe Fits", together with an album, Skate Now - Shing-A-Ling. His recordings covered ballads and mainstream soul tracks, as well as funk. Most of his songs of the period were co-written and produced with Robert Bateman, who had previously been the co-writer and co-producer of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" at Motown.
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