Express yourself
Retro soul and blues from veteran singer who has more than paid his dues
I have recently become a fan of George Pelecanos, the author of gritty, down-to-earth crime novels based, invariably, in Washington D.C.
In these excellent novels he cleverly captures the feel of the times by referencing tunes that were contemporary to the era.
In the Derek Strange and Terry Quinn series of detective novels he adds colour, dimension and a real sense place by name-checking music from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Popular and unknown gems from the likes of artists such as The Impressions, William Bell, Solomon Burke, Percy Sledge, Link Wray, Don Covay, Buddy Know et al all get a mention… and in my case added to my George Pelecanos Spotify playist.
In addition to really enjoying the books, Pelecanos’ in depth musical knowledge helps me uncover artists or tunes that have slipped under my radar… for instance I am ashamed to note that, until the book Hard Revolution, I had never heard Wish it Would Rain by The Temptations or Maybe by The Chantels.
So, where, you might rightly think, is this leading us? Well, it is leading us to Lee Fields & The Expressions.
Not only do Fields’ soulful James Brown/Curtis Mayfield vocals fit the bill perfectly, but the whole sound could almost work as a collaborative piece between the two.
Citing influences including The Delfonics, The Stylistics, James Brown, The Moments, Curtis Mayfield, El Michels Affair, Johnny Pate, and The DelLarks, it comes as no surprise that the two are singing from the same song sheet… so to speak.
Born Elmer Lee Fields in 1951 in Wilson, North Carolina, Fields is sometimes nicknamed Little JB for his ‘physical and vocal resemblance to James Brown’. For me, the physical comparisons stand up, but the James Brown vocals are not always in evidence, and this is a good thing as he is a performer and singer in his own right.
Fields developed an interest in music from a young age.
As a teenager in North Carolina he ‘sweated it out on juke joint stages, crumpled dollars hailing at his feet’.
In order to further fulfil his musical ambitions he made the move to New York at the age of 17. It is said that despite his mother, Emma Jean Fields, unsuccessfully trying to dissuade him from going, she eventually gave her son her last $20 for the journey.
In 1969, he released his first single, Bewildered b/w Tell Her I Love Her, on the Bedford label.
He continued to release singles throughout the ensuing decade and although not achieving the status of a ‘great’ or being the name on everybody’s tongue, Lee Fields’ music was of a consistently good standard and with his powerful onstage presence and delivery he was a name that was held in high esteem.
In 1979 Lee Fields released his debut full length album, Let’s Talk it Over. This is a solid album by anybody’s standards. The sound and delivery is very much influenced by James Brown and should have gone on to launch Little JB into the big time.
They say that timing is everything… and in Field’s case this was very much the case, with a great voice, strong album, a major stage presence and the world potentially at his feet, the disco boom hit and the stock of this powerful soul and RnB performer crashed, as clubs and venues forewent live acts in favour of DJs.
Now Fields is a man of ‘deep and abiding faiths’, and part of his bedrock comes from this moment in the 1980s, when his career seemed over. He had never become famous, and the gigs were drying up and he began to think that there would be no more Lee Fields: “I thought I was done,” he said.
“I had almost literally given up”.
Fields developed other ways of supporting his long-time wife he worked in real estate and planned to open a restaurant. He settled into his role, not as Lee Fields but as Elmer, the dependable and steadfast family man who was the foundation for his on-stage alter ego.
“My wife stopped me, man, she told me ‘stick to what you know’.”
Having taken his wife’s words to heart, Lee Fields knuckled down to weather the 80s disco storm and returned in the 90s with three solo albums of deep funk and soul that subscribed 100% to the era’s need for James Brown-influenced rare groove.
These releases brought life and a newfound spark into a career that had been very much on the ropes a decade earlier, and with a surge in the popularity of retro-soul acts led by the likes of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings (an artist Fields had worked with previously) our boy - with his young backing band The Expressions - was back in the fray in a big way.
The 2000s have seen the release of a string of strong and acclaimed releases, including My World (2009), Mr Faithful (2012), Emma Jean (2014) – bearing his late mother’s name - and the latest offering, It Rains Love (2019).
Lee Fields is now knee-deep in a rich vein of blues, soul and funk that quite rightly gives this boy from Wilson, North Carolina, a genuine claim to be the genre’s official flag-bearer.
As is always the case give the band a Spotify and YouTube to see what all the fuss is about, then get along to La Rambleta in Valencia on May 7 and the following night at the Aula de Cultura de Alicante, Fundación Caja Mediterráneo in Alicante.