There’s an old saying in showbiz: “Don’t quit your day job.”

Some people heed this advice, not because they don’t have talent, but rather because it’s dangerous for an artist to rely entirely on the beneficence of the entertainment gods. Like the Greek gods of old, the entertainment gods are capricious and fickle.

Lee Dorsey had talent, but the Louisiana native was a late bloomer. After a two-year stint in the Navy and a one-fight stint as a boxer, he opened an auto repair shop. At the end of a long, oily day he’d trade his dirty coveralls for a shiny suit to sing in nightclubs, which eventually brought him to the attention of local record labels. He finally recorded his first single in 1958, at the age of 34. It did not go well. And neither did the follow up.

Luckily, Dorsey lived in New Orleans, a tight-knit musical community, and either through performances or connections met a man named Allen Toussaint, R&B royalty. Dorsey had co-written a song called “Ya Ya,” based on a children’s nursery rhyme, and Toussaint took him into the studio to record it. Despite scoring a Top 10 hit with “Ya Ya,” he and Toussaint moved on to other projects and Dorsey’s subsequent records failed to make an impact. But he didn’t have to worry — he still had his auto shop.

Toussaint liked Dorsey (and his voice) and in 1965 suggested they reunite. This led to a couple of big hits on the R&B chart, but the public reaction to their next collaboration, a Toussaint song called “Working In The Coalmine,” was entirely unexpected. Neither man had ever spent any time in a coalmine, but even with a successful recording career, Dorsey still came to the studio after working on cars all day. He certainly knew what it meant to put in a long, hard day of manual labor. When he sings “I’m so tired,” he knows tired.

Released as a single in July of 1966, “Working In The Coalmine” picked its way into the US Top 10, establishing itself as Dorsey’s signature song. He experienced ups and downs prior to this success, and would rise and fall again over the following years, but he never had cause for concern. A secure job awaited him. There would always be cars to fix.

So get ready to slip down… with Lee Dorsey.