December 24: '60s pop singer Lee Dorsey "Working In The Coal Mine" and "Ya Ya" was born on this date in 1924 ...

... he was 61 when he died from emphysema.
 

Born Irving Lee Dorsey in New Orleans, Louisiana between 1965 to 1969 Lee had 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 he and Allen Toussaint collaborated on an album entitled Yes We Can. the title song was Dorsey's last entry in the singles chart. It was later a hit for the Pointer Sisters under the title, "Yes We Can Can."

The song that launched his career was inspired by a group of children chanting nursery rhymes, "Ya Ya," went to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. He recorded other songs for Fury before the label folded, and Dorsey went back to his car repair business.

He appeared on an album with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, which led to more recordings on his own with ABC Records in the late 1970s. In 1980, he opened for English punk band The Clash on their U.S. tour.
 

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