- Lee Dorsey
Lee Dorsey (
December 24 1924 –December 1 1986 [http://wm08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difwxqe5ldhe~T1 All Music Guide biography] ] ) was anAfro-American pop/R&Bsinger during the 1960s. Much of his best work was produced byAllen Toussaint withinstrumental backing provided byThe Meters .Career
Born Irving Lee Dorsey in New Orleans,
Louisiana , Dorsey moved to Portland,Oregon when he was ten years old. He served in theUnited States Navy and began a career in prizefighting.Boxing as alight heavyweight in Portland in the early 1950s, he fought under the name "Kid Chocolate" and was quite successful.Dorsey met
songwriter /producer Allen Toussaint at a party in the early 1960s, and was signed to the Furyrecord label . Thesong that launched his career was inspired by a group of children chantingnursery rhyme s - "Ya Ya" went to number seven on theBillboard Hot 100 in 1961. He recorded othersongs for Fury before the label folded, and Lee went back to his car repair business.Toussaint later came back on the Amy label and began to work with Dorsey once again. From 1965 to 1969 Dorsey put seven songs in the Hot 100, the most successful of which was "
Working In The Coal Mine " in 1966. It was to be his second and last Top Ten song. In 1970 Dorsey and Toussaint collaborated on analbum entitled "Yes We Can"; the title song was Dorsey's last entry in the singles chart. It was later a hit for thePointer Sisters under the title, "Yes We Can Can ".Dorsey appeared on an album with
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes , which led to more recordings on his own withABC Records in the late 1970s. In 1980, Dorsey opened for English punk bandThe Clash on their U.S. tour.Dorsey contracted
emphysema and died in New Orleans in 1986, at the age of 61.Dorsey's songs have been covered by artists as diverse as
Petula Clark ("Ya Ya Twist," a 1962 French version of "Ya Ya") andDevo ("Working In The Coal Mine").He is referenced in the
Beastie Boys ' songlyrics for "Sure Shot " - "...everything I do is funky like Lee Dorsey."=Discography=
Albums
* "Ya Ya" (1962)
* "Ride Your Pony" (1966)
* "The New Lee Dorsey" (1966)
* "Working in the Coalmine" (1967)
* "Yes We Can" (1970)
* "Night People" (1978)Chart singles
* "Ya Ya" U.S. #7 (1961)
* "Do-Re-Mi" U.S. #27 (1962)
* "Ride Your Pony" U.S. #28 (1965)
* "Get Out Of My Life, Woman" U.S. #44 UK #22 (1966)
* "Confusion" UK #38 (1966)
* "Working in the Coal Mine " U.S. #8 UK #8 (1966)
* "Holy Cow" U.S. #23 UK #6 (1966)
* "My Old Car" U.S. #97 (1967)
* "Go-Go Girl" U.S. #62 (1967)
* "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)" U.S. #95 (1969)ee also
*
List of soul musicians
*List of R&B musicians
*List of people from New Orleans, Louisiana
*List of performers on Top of the Pops References
External links
* [http://wm08.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difwxqe5ldhe~T1 Lee Dorsey biography] at
Allmusic website
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6844844 Mini biography and photo @ Findagrave.com]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.