Lou Courtney

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 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 The 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. Courtney Left Pop-Side In 1968 And Released Singles On Various Other Labels Including Verve "Do The Horse" 1968 Buddah "Let Me Turn You On" 1969 And Hurdy-Gurdy "Hot Butter 'N All" 1971 . However He Failed To Reach The Charts Until He Joined Epic Records In 1973 When Working With Producer Jerry Ragovoy He Had Further R&B Chart Entries With "What Do You Want Me To Do" And "I Don't Need Anybody Else" Both Self-Penned Songs. He Also Released An Album I’m In Need Of Love And Appeared On Bonnie Raitt's 1974 Album Streetlights Which Ragovoy Produced. He Formed A Band Buffalo Smoke Who Released Several Singles Including A Funk Version Of "Stubborn Kind Of Fella" And An Album On RCA Records In 1976. In 1978 Courtney Briefly Became A Member Of The 5th Dimension Replacing Danny Beard And Featured On Their Motown Album High On Sunshine. Subsequently He Has Made Occasional One-Off Live Appearances. In 2016 It Was Reported That Courtney Was Living In New York City Following A Stroke. Discography Chart Singles
YearSingle Chart Positions - US Pop US R&B
1967 "Skate Now" 7113 "Do The Thing" 8017 "You Ain't Ready" -46 "Hey Joyce" -43
1973"What Do You Want Me To Do" -48
1974"I Don't Need Nobody Else" -67 Albums
Skate Now - Shing-A-Ling Riverside 1967 I’m In Need Of Love Epic 1974 Buffalo Smoke RCA 1976 read less