AMG Review of Working in a Coalmine: The Very Best of Lee Dorsey

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Music Club's Working in a Coalmine: The Very Best of Lee Dorsey contains a few songs that don't normally make it on Dorsey collections, from both his Bell recordings and late-'60s/early-'70s funky Allen Toussaint-produced recordings. "Hoodlum Joe," "Messed Around (And Fell in Love)," "People Sure Act Funny," "Can I Be the One?," and "If She Won't" all don't regularly make it on Dorsey collections, which means this is something more for collectors than the neophyte who the title suggests this is aimed at. On that level, it's a neat item to pick up, even if does contain the usual suspects that any Dorsey fan has many times over. If it's viewed as an introduction, however, it falls short -- for that, get Wheelin' and Dealin' first, then move to this to fill in some holes later.