Lenny LaCour (born Leonard James LaCour Sr., April 27, 1932, Bayou Brevelle,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States) is an American record producer, songwriter and performer, particularly active from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s.Dik De Heer, with Gary Meyers and Eric LeBlanc
Biography of Lenny LaCour
including citation reference of

Robert Pruter Robert Douglas Pruter (born July 1, 1944) is an American writer, mainly on soul and rhythm and blues music, and on sports. He was the rhythm and blues editor of '' Goldmine'' magazine from 1985 to 2006. Career In 1969, he was hired as an assist ...

, "The Lenny LaCour Story". In ''

Now Dig This ''Now Dig This'' is the third and last album by the rock/pop trio The Elvis Brothers. Released in 1992 by Recession Records, the album represented a return to the original line-up. The band had undergone some personnel changes and then broken u ...

'', Issue 151 (October 1995), pp. 6-8. BlackCat Rockabilly Europe. Retrieved 2011-12-18. "Bayou Brevelle" is inaccurately identified as "Bayou Bredelle". Se
Explore Historic Natchitoches
Retrieved 2011-12-23. He is particularly notable as the producer of the principal recordings of singer

Harvey Scales Harvey Scales (September 27, 1940 – February 11, 2019) was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and producer. Scales had been active in the music industry since the 1960s, and composed songs for groups such as The Dells, The Dramatics, a ...

History

LaCour was born in 1932 in Louisiana, where his parents were corn and cotton farmers on the Isle of Brevelle. The location, near the

Cane River Cane River (''Rivière aux Cannes'') is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 3, 2011 formed from a portion of the Red River that is located in Natchitoches Pa ...

, later became well known as the site location for the film ''

Steel Magnolias ''Steel Magnolias'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Academy Award winner Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts. The picture is a film adaptation ...

''. Lenny LaCour's career in music initially commenced as a performer and songwriter, based in Chicago. LaCour's Creole heritage enabled him to move freely between Chicago's black and white nightclubs during the early 1950s. "There were only two people doing that," LaCour has said. The other was

Leonard Chess Lejzor Szmuel Czyż (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago blu ...

, owner of

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

. In 1952, he auditioned for Leonard Chess, who rejected him, stating in the presence of

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

and LaCour that

did not produce white artists. Waters is reported to have said, "Mr. Chess, he's got a whole lot of soul in his voice." From 1952 to 1956, LaCour released several singles on the Chicago-based All American,

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

and

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

labels. As described by Dik De Heer:

LaCour's break came in 1956, when he won a Chicago jingle contest for
Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemist ...
, the soda bottling subsidiary of
Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...
. Under the name of
King Creole ''King Creole'' is a 1958 American musical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the 1952 novel '' A Stone for Danny Fisher'' by Harold Robbins. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, the film stars Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, ...
, he performed a series of TV and radio spots for Orange Crush and soon singles of "Rock 'n' Roll Romance" were distributed with every Crush sixpack. This project was tied into a recording contract with Frank McGovern's Academy Records label, recording under his given name, Lenny LaCour.''

"Rock 'n' Roll Romance" was LaCour's biggest hit, described by LaCour as "the only million seller not to be on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

".Dave Hoekstra,
"Almost Famous"
''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'', February 6, 2003. Retrieved 2011-12-22. The record is highly collectible; LaCour no longer owns a personal copy, having sold all of his own copies to a record collector. LaCour trademarked the name "King Creole" in 1952, and has asserted that a chance meeting with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

was the inspiration for the title of the Presley movie ''

King Creole ''King Creole'' is a 1958 American musical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the 1952 novel '' A Stone for Danny Fisher'' by Harold Robbins. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, the film stars Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, ...

''. In 1958, LaCour established his own publishing company and, in 1959, he started his first record label, Lucky Four Records, where LaCour was the songwriter, arranger, producer and main artist. He recorded under the name "Big Rocker". He also produced other groups, most notably the

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

groups the

Swinging Hearts Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

and The Uniques. Other labels that LaCour founded in Chicago were Score Records, Busy Bee Records and Dynamic Sound Records.Uncredited
Profile of Lenny LaCour
; Too Darn Soulful; includes photos of Lenny LaCour. Retrieved 2012-01-16. In 1964, LaCour moved to

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, where he founded Magic Touch Records and, subsequently, Dynamic Sound Records. labels, letting Lucky Four Records in Chicago become defunct. In Milwaukee, LaCour had more success recording local acts than in Chicago, particularly in relation to

, who co-wrote and released "

Love-Itis Love-Itis is a song written by Harvey Scales and Albert Vance (with Rudy Jacobs also initially acknowledged as a co-writer), originally recorded by Harvey Scales and The Seven Sounds. The song was later recorded and popularized by The Sonics, M ...

" and was the later co-writer of "

Disco Lady "Disco Lady" is a 1976 single by American singer Johnnie Taylor that went on to become his biggest hit. It spent four weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and six weeks on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in the U.S. It was also the first sing ...

". In 1969, LaCour produced the band, Filet of Soul (previously known as Attila and The Huns), which was a white band that mixed soul and psychedelic music. In the late 1970s, LaCour returned to Chicago, and resurrected the Magic Touch label. He thereafter released a number of unsuccessful disco records on Magic Touch. LaCour continues to operate the label. The success of LaCour and his artists was hampered by the fact that LaCour was unable to obtain a national distribution contract for his records. He expected that, if the song were popular locally, national distributors would come to him. Such national distribution generally did not occur..

Cashbox Magazine ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

, 2006. Cache of December 26, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-20. LaCour is also credited with encouraging the career direction of

Eddie Blazonczyk Eddie Blazonczyk, Sr. (July 12, 1941 – May 21, 2012) was a Grammy award-winning polka musician and founder of the band The Versatones. He was inducted into the International Polka Hall of Fame in 1970, and was a 1998 National Heritage Fell ...

. Lacour initially recording Blazonczyk as a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

artist known as Eddie Bell, but encouraged Blazonczyk to return to polka music, at the age of 22. Blazonczyk has said "I took his advice, and never regretted it." In 2008, the album ''Walkin' The Bullfrog'' (Night Train International) was released, which provided a career overview of Lenny LaCour's solo recordings.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LaCour, Lenny 1932 births Living people Songwriters from Louisiana Record producers from Louisiana