Search - Lee Dorsey :: Ya Ya: Definitive Collection

Human music from the early 60's.

nadav haber | jerusalem Israel | 04/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lee Dorsey's music has something that immediately attracts and appeals. It may be his smooth delivery, the groove, the bluesy New Orleans R&B melodies, the great piano and horn section, the human feeling... Whatever it is - I loved Lee Dorsey when I first heard him on LP 12 years ago, and I love it now, listening and dancing to his songs with my little daughter.
This is a great compilation, great song selection and remastering. The tunes that catch on quickly are "Ya-ya", "Do-Re Mi", "Ride Your Pony", "work", and "Working in the Coal mine". After a few more times, the rest of the songs catch up with these.
This is fun music, groovy and happy. For some reason I wanr my daughter to grow up listening to this stuff rather than what she might hear on MTV."

Guaranteed to make you feel good!

nadav haber | 05/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lee Dorsey is 100%, true, straight from the heart entertainment. There's no one like him. Old folks and children like him, too!"

Some Of The 60s Happiest Hits

nadav haber | 07/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In addition to being a mechanic, Irving Lee Dorsey - born on Christmas Eve in 1924 in New Orleans - also did a bit of boxing and served a stint with the Marines before launching his singing career with the small Fury label in 1961. When he was almost 37 years old!



Ya Ya was quite a debut, climbing to # 1 R&B and # 7 Hot 100 that November. Early in 1962 the follow-up Do-Re-Mi made it to # 22 R&B/# 27 Hot 100. But after that the hits dried up, and when Fury folded Dorsey moved over to the Amy label where he came under the guidance of Allen Toussaint and Marshall Schorn. The combination worked as Dorsey, now 41, saw Ride Your Pony reach # 7 R&B and # 28 Hot 100 in August 1965.



Early the next year Get Out Of My Life, Woman peaked at # 5 R&B and # 44 Hot 100, followed by his second most successful single, Working In The Coal Mine which topped out at # 5 R&B/# 8 Hot 100 in September. Three months later the comical Holy Cow b/w Operation Heartache went to # 10 R&B and # 23 Hot 100.



In May 1967 My Old Car just made the Hot 100, settling in at # 97, followed that November by Go-Go Girl (# 31 R&B/# 62 Hot 100). Then the well dried up for over a year before he found another hit, the title of which perhaps indicated a new musical direction - Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On) - which levelled off at # 33 R&B and # 95 Hot 100 in July 1969.



In 1970 Dorsey switched to Polydor where, in 1970, he cut a concept LP entitled Yes We Can, which was also, like his hits with Amy, produced by Toussaint. From that album Yes We Can - Part 1 made it to # 46 on the R&B singles charts in November. That cut is not included in this cmpilation, nor is his final charter which came eight years later in 1978. Now 54, and with ABC, Dorsey's Night People struggled to the # 93 spot on the R&B charts.



A lifetime smoker, Dorsey died of emphysema one month before his 66th birthday on December 1, 1986.



None of his songs will ever fit into the "classic" category. But you know, it's hard to find a Sixties retrospective compilation without at least ONE Dorsey hit included. This CD will give you just about all of them."