Biography
Born William Allen Dorsey in March 1949 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, he entered the world as the son of an unmarried teenager before adopting his stepfather’s last name. An accident in the hospital shortly after delivery left him permanently without sight. From toddlerhood he sang along with records and radio broadcasts at home, later adding church performances to his routine. An aged piano purchased by his mother became the instrument on which he taught himself to play. Although he briefly enrolled at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, racial mistreatment prompted his departure, yet he kept developing his voice. A traffic collision in the mid-1970s caused further injury, after which he resumed singing and spent a short period in Louisville, Kentucky. Returning to Pittsburgh, he achieved modest local notice in the mid-1980s by appearing at a North Oakland nightclub, where he served as an opening act for John Lee Hooker. Additional shared bills during that era featured touring performers such as Robert Cray and John Hammond Jnr. when they reached the city. Private engagements formed the bulk of his work, supplemented by occasional collaborations with bandleader Harold Betters, until he eventually elected to earn his livelihood performing on Pittsburgh sidewalks. His combative temperament repeatedly sparked confrontations with pedestrians and police, resulting in multiple legal encounters and short jail terms. Street performances occurred either a cappella or with pre-recorded tracks played through battered portable gear he transported himself. Dorsey remained active into the early 2000s, his story documented in detail by Pittsburgh journalist Bill O’Driscoll, whose article supplied the foundation for this account. (NB: Not to be confused with the saxophonist of the same name who played with the Sabby Lewis and Jimmy Tyler bands in the late 40s-early 50s.)