Lee Dorsey, Yes We Can/Night People (Raven, 2005)
First released in 1970, Yes We Can represented a comeback of sorts for Lee Dorsey. The ex-boxer and ex-Marine had had hits as early as 1961 with "Ya Ya" (which was covered by John Lennon on his Walls & Bridges LP) and had spent years singing the songs of Allen Toussaint ("Working in a Coal Mine" and "Holy Cow") but his record company went broke and left Dorsey's career foundering. Polydor Records resuscitated his career in 1970 with this funky album which is united with 1978's Night People in this new TwoFer from Australia's Raven Records.
The earlier album is the better of the two, and starts things off in a good direction with arrangements (and songs) by Toussaint. "Yes We Can -- part one" is the first track and sets the tone for the album as a whole: popping bass (by George Porter), lots of percussion and solid drumming (from Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste), nifty horn charts (by Toussaint) and Dorsey's flat vocals over top. There's plenty of insidious wah-wah guitar played by Leo Nocentelli who completes the famous New Orleans' band The Meters! That's right, The Meters provide backup for the whole Yes We Can album. The sound was borrowed by Robert Palmer for his mega-hit Sneakin' Sally Though The Alley album in 1974. Palmer also borrowed some of the tunes, and the musicians too! "Riverboat," "Yes We Can -- parts 1 & 2," and "Occapella" and the aforementioned "Sneakin' Sally" are all highlights of Dorsey's album. And he does a fine swampy rendition of Joe South's "Games People Play" too, on which Porter's bass is the star!
Raven provides two songs from non-album singles to divide the two albums. These songs (both Toussaint originals) hail from 1971 and are interesting and historic tracks. "When Can I Come Home?" is a bluesier offering than most of Dorsey's work, and his voice is a bit too thin to carry the blues off convincingly, although the groove is certainly there. "On Your Way Down" is described in the liner notes as "a sinister sounding cautionary tale of paranoia and retribution" and would become even more sinister when Little Feat covered it on their Dixie Chicken album. Dorsey gives it his all, and the band really settles in. Dorsey's influence would be felt through the later '70s via the covers of his material by the Pointer Sisters, Robert Palmer and Little Feat, but although he released three albums they didn't make much of an impression. He spent much of this time in his day job, working on cars.
1978's Night People came out in the disco era, The Meters had split up, and although Allen Toussaint would produce and provide all the songs, it was a different time. Dorsey has more of a soul sound, with strings, and his mellifluous vocals float high, almost Al Green-like. It's funky, but in a different way than the early album was. He and Toussaint made his sound fit in with what was happening in music at the time. It's professional, polished, and Dorsey sings well, but it just doesn't have the fire of the earlier album. "Say It Again," "Soul Mine," and the title track are the standouts.
This was to be Dorsey's last album. Although he opened for The Clash on their North American Tour of 1980, he didn't record again. He died in 1986. Thanks go to Raven for making his music available.
