New Orleans Soul Music

Inspired by children chanting a nursery rhyme, Lee Dorsey, Clarence Lewis, Morgan Robinson, and Morris Levy wrote the song “Ya Ya.” It went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B Singles Chart in 1961.  There have been numerous covers, including those by Tony Sheridan, Mouse and the Traps, Lee Michaels, Ike & Tina Turner, and Steve Miller, among others. The song was on the soundtracks of the films American Graffiti and The Wanderers.

Dorsey was born in New Orleans and was a childhood friend of Fats Domino. Dorsey served in the U.S. Navy. In the early 1950s, he had a career as a boxer. He had other hit records with “Working in the Coal Mine” and “Yes We Can Can.”

Here are the lyrics to “Ya Ya” by Lee Dorsey:

“Oh well I’m uh
Sitting here la la
Waiting for my Ya Ya a hm ahm
Oh sitting here la la
Waiting for my Ya Ya uh
It may sound funny
But I don’t believe she’s comin’ home
Oh baby hurry don’t make me worry
Oh yah baby hurry don’t make me worry
Oh you knew that l love you
Oh how I love you oh
Sitting here la la
Waiting for my Ya Ya a hm ahm
Oh sitting here la la
Waiting for my Ya Ya uh
It may sound funny
But I don’t believe she’s comin’ home

Oh baby hurry don’t make me worry
Oh yah baby hurry don’t make me worry
Oh you knew how l love you
Oh how I love you oh
Sitting here la la
Waiting for my Ya Ya a hm ahm
Sitting here la la
Waiting for my Ya Ya uh
It may sound funny
But I don’t believe she’s comin’ home

Oh baby hurry don’t make me worry
Oh yah baby hurry don’t make me worry”

For More Golden Oldies Music                

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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