LOU COURTNEY: "HEY JOYCE"- POP-SIDE#4594 (1967) HEAR

$

43

LABELS CONDITIONS: Strong VG

REMARKS: NORTHERN SOUL MONSTER RECORD!!! LOU COURTNEY INITIAL IMPACT WAS IN THE MID 60s THRU THE 70s!!...CHECK POPSIKE FOR $$$!!!

THIS IS WHAT I CALL A R-E-V-I-E-W!!

Unless you’re one of those cats that goes home on Friday and curls up on the couch with a pint of ice cream and the TV remote. That’s cool too. No matter how you slice it, it ain’t work. In that spirit, I bring you a funk 45 that much like the previous entry (see McCall, Toussaint) is a banger of the first order. My crates at home are filled with all kinds of quality funk and soul. Truth be told, not every 45 is a killer. Most of them are good (dare I say great), but to be honest, though many of them create a funky vibe, or deliver a memorable hook, few are packed with enough energy to peel back your toupee and spill your cocktail at the same time. “Hey Joyce” by Lou Courtney is such a record. Not unlike his later masterpiece ‘Hot Butter’n’All’, ‘Hey Joyce’ is a record that sounds like it was engineered for absolute, maximum impact, between the ears, on the dancefloor and in that special, magical otherworld where record collectors gather for the kind of figurative pissing contest where “who’s got the “heavier” crates” is the game of the day. It is a quantifiably powerful record in ever way, from its opening (and middle-ing) drum breaks, the chants of “Hey Joyce you’re my choice!” to Lou Courtney’s soul-solid screams, to the background singers “sockitome”s. The ka-razy thing, is that this funk masterwork was crafted in the year nineteen-sixty and seven, making it something of a benchmark record (not that it was in any was the “first” funk 45, but that among early funk 45s it is so solid as to be able to compete with anything from funk’s prime era). As I said, the cut opens with a drum break, before slowing down a little to let the horns, bass and guitar drop in briefly, before it all screeches to a halt so that Lou and his tinkytonk piano can open the proceedings with the “Hey Joyce” chant. Lou opens the verse with a “HAH!” and spins his tale of desire/lust until the femme back up singers join him in the chorus, while he screams like a guy who just caught his wang-dang-doodle in his zipper. When the tune gets to the middle, and everything drops out to give the drummer some, it’s a really abrupt transition (sounds like a tape splice), which makes it all the cooler, giving it a slightly Frankenstein-ian edge, like they’d just harvested a really tasty drum break and couldn’t help but stitching onto their monster. The background singers come out of the break with the aforementioned ‘Sockitome’s, then Lou jumps in with a one of those sexy grunts from the “James Brown Blueprints of Funk” primer, following it up with a request that the object of his desire work it on out to the Broadway. While it may seem to some that the description above is one great big spaghetti heap of blazing hyperbole, one need only click on the link and listen to the song to know that I’m a man of my word. As the kids say, ‘Hey Joyce’ is the shiz-nizzle...or whatever it is they say. It’s important to know that Lou Courtney built himself up a pretty substantial pile of tasty 45s in the late 60’s, including the stuff that preceded ‘Hey Joyce’ on Riverside (a label not often cited for it’s great soul sides), and the stuff that followed it on Verve, Hurdy Gurdy and Buddah, as well as his more sophisticated sounds on Rags and Epic. If you’re lucky enough to find a copy of his Riverside LP ‘Skate Now/Shingaling’ grab it, as it’s a killer. As far as finding your own copy of this gem, prepare to crack open your piggy banks, as it’s on the pricey side. Thanks to it’s inclusion as a sample on DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's ‘Brainfreeze’ mix, thousands of beatheads who never knew who Lou Courtney, Eddie Bo or Tony Alvon & The Belairs were, suddenly had to have their 45s, driving the prices high, and the availability low.

WEB REMARKS: "During the British Invasion years, he and his writing partner Dennis Lambert* wrote songs that were recorded by Freddie & the Dreamers, Leslie Gore and the Nashville Teens among others. On the soul side of things, Courtney went on (often with Robert Bateman) to write for Mary Wells, Lorraine Ellison, Gloria Gaynor, Dee Dee Warwick, the Webs** and Henry Lumpkin.
Though 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’s 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.
I’ve gone on in this space before about ‘journeyman’ 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.
Much like another favorite of mine – Chuck Edwards – 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.
Between 1966 and 1968, Courtney recorded an LP (‘Skate Now and Shingaling’, 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 ‘Me & You Doing the Boogaloo’ (try not dancing when you hear this one), pop-edged soul like ‘If the Shoe Fits’ and Motown influenced fare like ‘It’s Love Now’.
His Riverside/Popside discography demonstrates that Courtney was an important transitional artist, bridging the gap between soul and funk. There’s not better example of this than the crate digger’s fave ‘Hey Joyce’ (its famous break sampled by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist) It’s 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.

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* We offer a money back + shipping costs guarantee on our records (unless otherwise noted) if you feel the LP was not graded properly (If Grading is the reason the return shipping cost will not be included in the refund). In other claims we will issue a full refund upon its return, once our mistake has been verified. We have available the insurance option.

Record Grading: Standard guidelines for grading records comes down to a subjective judgment that may vary from person to person. We grade records and LP covers visually AND (when possible) play-tested. We make every effort to give full disclosure (remember that the LP has at least 12 tracks and the grading may vary between each other)  and your satisfaction is guaranteed. Don't assume that our vinyl determination of "Very Good+" is the same as yours!

RECORD OR COVER GRADED VG or LESS WILL BE "SOLD AS IS"

MINT: Unplayed, still sealed.
 

NM RECORDS: are shiny, with no visible defects, they might have one or 2 minor superficial scuff and they should play without any noise. Writing, stickers or other markings cannot appear on the label, nor can any “spindle marks” from someone trying to blindly put the record on the turntable. Major factory defects also must not be present; a record and label obviously pressed off center is not Near Mint. If played, it will do so with no surface noise. (NM records don’t have to be “never played”; a record used on an excellent turntable can remain NM after many plays if the disc is properly cared for.)

NM COVERS: have no creases, ring wear or seam splits of any kind.

picture sleeves should look as if they never housed a record. This is a great reason to remove your 45s from their picture sleeves and keep them separate. Just keeping the 45 inside the sleeve will cause damage than can reduce the grade of the sleeve. 

VG++ (Excellent) RECORDS: Barely noticeable play wear and background noise. May have surface scuffs and/or superficial marks, which will be inaudible or indiscernible from the background, no scratches. Very nice, flaws noted.

VG++ COVERS: Artwork is still as close to perfect as can be. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear! Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show white (where the artwork pasted slick was) meaning, slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs can make this grade.  

VG+ RECORDS: may show some slight signs of wear, including light scuffs or very light scratches that do not affect the listening experience. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are OK. Minor signs of handling are OK, too, such as telltale marks around the center hole, but repeated playing has not misshapen the hole. There may be some very light ring wear or discoloration,

but it should be barely noticeable.

VG+ COVERS: should have only minor wear. A VG+ cover might have some very minor seam wear or a split (less than one inch long) at the bottom, the most vulnerable location. Also, a VG+ cover may have some defacing, such as a cut-out marking. Covers with cut-out markings can never be considered Near Mint.

VG+ PICTURE SLEEVES: might show some very light creasing where it is obvious that a record once resided (or still does reside). A VG+ picture sleeve might have some very minor seam wear or a split (less than one inch long) at the bottom, the sleeve’s most vulnerable location. 

VG RECORDS:  have more obvious flaws than their counterparts in better shape. They lack most of the original gloss found on factory-fresh records. Groove wear is evident on sight, as are light scratches deep enough to feel with a fingernail. When played, a VG record has surface noise, and some scratches  may be audible, especially in soft passages and during a song’s intro and ending. But the noise will not overpower the music otherwise. Minor writing, tape, or a sticker can detract from the label. Many collectors who have jukeboxes   will use VG records in them and not think twice. They remain a fine listening experience, just not the same as if it were in better shape.

VG COVERS and PICTURE SLEEVES: will have many signs of human handling. Ring wear  in the middle or along the edges of the cover where the edge of a record would  reside, is obvious, though not overwhelming. Some more creases might be  visible. Seam splitting will be more obvious; it may appear on all three sides,  though it won’t be obvious upon looking. Someone might have written or stamped  a price tag on it, too.

RECORDS GRADED VG OR BELOW WILL BE "SOLD AS IS"

Items are to be paid within 5 days (if not paid by that time it will be subject for relisting) of auction close and will be shipped within 48 hours of receipt of payment. Paypal is the preferred method of payment.  
Carlos A. Flores 25830 Crippen Dr. Land O' Lakes, FL  34639

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