Irving Lee Dorsey (December 24, 1924 – December 1, 1986) was an American

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and R&B singer during the 1960s. His biggest hits were " Ya Ya" (1961) and " Working in the Coal Mine" (1966). Much of his work was produced by

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

, with instrumental backing provided by the Meters.

Career

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dorsey was a childhood friend of Fats Domino. He moved to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Oregon when he was ten years old. He served in the United States Navy in World War II and began a career in prizefighting. Boxing as a featherweight in Portland in the early 1950s, he fought under the name Kid Chocolate and was not successful, fighting only one time and being knocked out in the second round. He returned to New Orleans in 1955, where he opened an

auto repair An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or mor ...

business as well as singing in clubs at night. His first recording was "Rock Pretty Baby/Lonely Evening" on Cosimo Mattasa's Rex label, in 1958. This was followed by "Lottie Mo/Lover of Love", for the small Valiant label in late 1960 (picked up by ABC Paramount in 1961). These efforts were unsuccessful, but around 1960 he was discovered by A&R man

Marshall Sehorn Marshall Estus Sehorn (June 25, 1934 – December 5, 2006) was an American A&R man, songwriter, music publisher and entrepreneur who played an important role in the development of R&B and popular music in New Orleans between the 1950s and 1970 ...

, who secured him a contract with Fury Records, owned by Bobby Robinson. After meeting songwriter and record producer

at a party, he recorded " Ya Ya", a song inspired by a group of children chanting

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

s. It went to number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1961, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Although the follow-up "Do-Re-Mi" also made the charts, later releases on Fury were not successful. Dorsey returned to running his repair business, but also released singles on the Smash and Constellation labels in 1963 and 1964. He was approached again by Toussaint, and recorded Toussaint's song "Ride Your Pony" for the Amy label, a subsidiary of

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

. 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 US 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 Dorsey's last entry in the US singles chart. It was later a hit for the

Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...

under the title, " Yes We Can Can". With declining sales, Dorsey returned to his auto repair business. In 1976 Dorsey appeared on the album '' I Don't Want to Go Home'' by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, which led to more recordings on his own with

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

, including the album '' Night People''. In 1980, he opened for English punk band The Clash on their US concert tour, and also toured in support of

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and Jerry Lee Lewis. Dorsey developed

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

and died on December 1, 1986, in New Orleans, at the age of 61.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

* ''All Ways Funky'' (1982) * ''Holy Cow! The Best of Lee Dorsey'' (1985) * ''20 Greatest Hits'' (1991)

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsey, Lee 1924 births 1986 deaths Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans American baritones American soul musicians 20th-century African-American male singers Bell Records artists Fury Records artists Smash Records artists Ace Records (United States) artists Sue Records artists Deaths from emphysema Singers from Louisiana United States Navy personnel of World War II African Americans in World War II African-American United States Navy personnel