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Hey there Sorry Staters. How’s it going? Good, I hope.
As per usual, records are coming at us thick and fast here at Sorry State. We’ve bought some good collections with lots of cool and interesting records. I don’t think I am alone amongst the crew when I say there were several that I wanted to buy. Often, I can scratch the itch by giving a record a spin at the store and that’s enough, but every now and then you just can’t say no to something when it crosses your path. Maybe because it’s rarer than rocking horse shit and you might not get another chance, or perhaps because it has special meaning to you, or now is just the right time. Whatever the reason, sometimes you must pull the trigger. That was the case with a collection that Daniel bought recently that had lots of tasty soul and funk titles. Some have hit the floor already and there is more to come. Amongst the records in this collection were two copies (one sealed) of Lee Dorsey’s 1966 album Ride Your Pony—Get Out Of My Life Woman. I had to snag the open copy, and that’s going to be my pick/brag for this week.
Lee Dorsey—Ride Your Pony—Get Out Of My Life Woman. Amy Records. 1966
Surprisingly, I did not own an original copy of this record. I’ve been a fan of Lee Dorsey ever since I first heard his breakout single Ya Ya, probably from the American Graffiti or Porky’s movie soundtracks many years ago. As my journey of musical discovery continued, I began picking up more tracks of his on compilations and the odd 45 that I would find. Labels like Charly in the UK and Line in Germany put out good compilations and reissues of his material and by the beginning of the 00s, Sundazed had joined in and reissued his records too. Picking up some of these over the years, I had my Lee Dorsey fix covered—for the most part. Of course, as most of you can appreciate, the more you get into an artist or band, the more you want to own their original records. Although gaining access to the music hasn’t been tough, finding the original records has become increasingly difficult and expensive. Thus, although I have seen copies for sale and worked at stores that had sold copies, I tended to pass either because the price was out of my budget, or the copy wasn’t that clean, etc. Finally, now in 2022, I feel the time is right to plonk down some dough on a copy.
A quick catch up on Lee Dorsey and his career. He was born in New Orleans, although he moved away to Portland when he was a child. He unsuccessfully tried boxing as a career, served time during the war in the navy, and returned to New Orleans, where he opened an auto repair shop, working on cars during the day and singing in clubs at night. This was during the late 1950s. Around the turn of the decade, he met A&R man Marshal Sehorn who got him signed to Fury records, and with the assistance of another local soon to be legend, Allen Toussaint, on piano, they came up with the breakthrough hit Ya Ya. There followed several singles, some minor hits, but not enough to keep Lee away from his daytime passion of working on cars. Just like Jeff Beck. Anyway, a couple of years later Dorsey got together again with Toussaint and this time everything clicked. Backed up in the studio by up-and-coming group The Meters—yes those guys—the hits came thick and fast. Ride Your Pony, Get Out Of My Life Woman were the two big singles and the title of the album. The New Orleans funk mixed with his lighthearted vocal style swept the nation. Follow up hits included Working In The Coalmine and Holy Cow, and a second LP that centered around these tunes was issued under the title The New Lee Dorsey. These records were released on the Amy label, which was distributed by Bell. At the end of the decade, Lee switched to Polydor, and again with Toussaint at the helm cut the Yes We Can album. The title song was a hit when recorded by The Pointer sisters, who added an extra Can at the end.
Dorsey semi-retired after that and spent most of the 70s working on cars at his shop. He made a guest appearance on a Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes LP in 1976, and this led to an album of his own on ABC called Night People in 1978. That record again had him working with Allen Toussaint, along with other notable New Orleans artists such as Irma Thomas. It’s not a bad record, but the fact that you can find a copy for under $10 should tell you a lot.
Dorsey still had enough “cool” credit in the bank to be asked to support several big names on concert tours in the early 1980s, including opening for The Clash on their 1980 US tour. He also toured with James Brown.
Sadly, Dorsey developed emphysema and passed away in 1986, aged just 61. His legendary status carried on, and as the 80s gave way to the 90s and beyond, any self-respecting DJ, producer, record collector and music enthusiast had to have his records in their collections. Especially as the status of The Meters grew, knowledge that they backed up Lee Dorsey only added to the desirability of his records. Rightfully so.
Anyway, it’s cool to finally own a nice copy of the Ride Your Pony album. I have always found the cover art interesting too. It sports a shot of a diverse bunch of kids set against a New York City backdrop. Although the music was made in New Orleans, and the urban imagery might be out of place, to me it adds to the allure. Particularly because I lived there for a while. Here’s a link to listen to the album. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Until next time.
-Dom