[3] He served in the United States Navy in World War II and began a career in prizefighting, boxing as a featherweight in Portland in the early 1950s.

[4] He returned to New Orleans in 1955, where he opened an auto repair business as well as singing in clubs at night.

[5] These efforts were unsuccessful, but around 1960 he was discovered by A&R man Marshall Sehorn, who secured him a contract with Fury Records, owned by Bobby Robinson.

[2] It went to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

Dorsey returned to running his repair business,[2] but also released singles on the Smash and Constellation labels in 1963 and 1964.