Review of Lee Dorsey : Yes We Can
Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork.

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Your latest reviews - Lee Dorsey : Classic New Orleans funk from Lee Dorsey, 1970
Lee Dorsey was, and remains, a vastly underrated vocalist - by turns soulful, wry, converstional, playful, and bemused. He first recorded for Ace (a single, 'Rock')in 1957, when he was already 30 years old, and the following year began a longstanding collaboration with producer/writer Allen Toussaint ('Lottie Mo'), but it wasn't until 1961 that he hit big on the Fire/Fury label with 'Ya-Ya', followed by 'Do-Re-Me' and several other singles eventually collected in '62 on an album called "Ya Ya". In 1965 Toussaint signed him to his Amy/Sansu labels, and Dorsey hit his stride with a string of classic singles and two great albums, "Ride Your Pony" and "The New Lee Dorsey", both beautifully remastered and expanded by Sundazed for CD in 2000. Toussaint produced Dorsey's first album for Polygram, "Yes We Can Can" in 1970. It was first reissued on CD in the mid '90s, on a generous set that included bonus singles and outtakes from the 1970 - 72 Polydor period, plus a pair of rare gems recorded for the Challenge label in 1963. The original album, despite a couple of filler tracks, is classic, combining great songs, a mature delivery, and funk backing by the Meters and other N.O. greats. Now Austrailia's Raven has reissued the album again, this time combined with Dorsey/Toussaint's last collaboration, "Night People" (ABC, 1977). Though I miss the earlier edition's bonus material, and "Night People" is a bit uneven, if you can't find the earlier edition of "Yes We Can Can" I recommend this two-fer (along with the two lovingly produced Sundazed CDs, which together collect 47 tracks, nearly every one a joy!) - lyrically more socially concious, with delicious chicken-scratch guitar against a rhythmic acoustic, and the driest drum-kit sound imagineable, this is simmering funk, with many great songs later made famous by others - 'Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley'(Robert Palmer), the devestating 'On Your Way Down' (Little Feat) and the hit version of the title track by the Pointer Sisters. We get what seems like a slightly more prominent bottom-end on Raven's version, tho I'd still like to see a "Deluxe Edition" issued in the States collecting all Polygram material and other available tracks. As for "Night People", it has several gems, but with slicker production (as befits the era) and a couple of banal songs, it really is the bonus item on this set (Dorsey is still in fine shape vocally) rather than the main reason to get it, though I am happy to finally have it. "Night People" even got Dorsey a spot on a Clash tour circa 1980. For now, however, Raven's CD is the most cost-effective way to get the classic "Yes We Can Can" and that album IS essential. The man deserves a posthumous spot in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame - anyone up for a petition?