Released February, 1973 Length 6:02
3:54 (7" version) Writer(s) Allen Toussaint | Genre Funk, soul, disco Label Blue Thumb | |
Recorded Pacific Recording,
Wally Heider Recording/ Studio A [?]
San Francisco | ||
"Yes We Can Can" is a 1973 funk classic recorded by the American R&B girl group the Pointer Sisters and released on the Blue Thumb record label.
Contents
The song, written by Allen Toussaint is a socially conscious one, featuring intricate background vocals by three of the sisters while Anita Pointer handled lead vocal duties.
The song is also used in the films The Associate, Big Momma's House, Ali, Maid in Manhattan, and Sunday Driver.
Background
"Yes We Can Can" was originally recorded as "Yes We Can" by Lee Dorsey on his album Yes We Can, released by Polydor in 1970. It was producer David Rubinson suggestion that the Pointer Sisters record the song - Rubinson: "I loved almost everything Allen Toussaint ever wrote" - and "Yes We Can Can" was one of the songs the Pointer Sisters recorded as a demo while they were seeking a label deal.
When the group began recording their debut album in the autumn of 1972 "Yes We Can Can" was one of the first tracks recorded, its basic track being cut at Pacific Recording Studio in San Francisco: the recording locale for The Pointer Sisters sessions was eventually moved to Studio A of Wally Heider Recording Studio in San Francisco and Rubinson is unclear as to whether or not recording for "Yes We Can Can" was also done there.
Released in February 1973, the song became the Pointers' first hit single, reaching number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twelve on the Hot Soul Songs chart.