Lee Dorsey was born 90 years ago today. A pop and R&B singer during the 1960s, Dorsey’s biggest hits were Ya Ya (1961) and Working in the Coal Mine (1966). Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint with instrumental backing provided by the Meters. Born in New Orleans, Dorsey was a childhood friend of Fats Domino before moving to Portland when he was ten years old. He served in the United States Navy in World War II and then began a career in prizefighting. Boxing as a lightweight in Portland in the early 1950s, he fought under the name Kid Chocolate and was reasonably successful. He retired from boxing in 1955 and returned to New Orleans, where he opened an auto repair business as well as singing in clubs at night. Around 1960, he was discovered by A&R man Marshall Sehorn, who secured him a contract with Fury Records, owned by Bobby Robinson. After meeting songwriter and record producer Allen Toussaint at a party, he recorded Ya Ya, a song inspired by a group of children chanting nursery rhymes. It went to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, sold over one million copies. Although the follow-up Do-Re-Mi also made the charts, later releases on Fury were not as successful. Dorsey returned to running his auto repair business, but also released singles on the small Smash and Constellation labels in 1963 and 1964. He was then approached again by Toussaint, and recorded Toussaints song Ride Your Pony for the Amy label, a subsidiary of Bell Records. The song reached no.7 on the R&B chart in late 1965, and he followed it up with Get Out Of My Life, Woman, Working in the Coal Mine — his biggest pop hit — and Holy Cow, all of which made the pop charts in both the U.S. and the UK. Dorsey toured internationally, and also recorded an album with Toussaint, The New Lee Dorsey in 1966. In 1970, Dorsey and Toussaint collaborated on the album, Yes We Can. The title song was Dorseys last entry in the U.S. singles chart. It was later a hit for the Pointer Sisters under the title, Yes We Can Can. With declining sales, Dorsey then returned to his auto repair business. In 1976, Dorsey appeared on the album I Dont Want to Go Home by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, which led to more recordings on his own with ABC Records, including the album Night People. In 1980, he opened for English punk band, The Clash, on their U.S. concert tour, and also toured in support of James Brown and Jerry Lee Lewis. Dorsey contracted emphysema and died on December 2, 1986, in New Orleans at the age of 61. Here, Dorsey performs “Working In The Coal Mine” in this British video.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:02:51 +0000
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