Fields’ dream finally realized in his 60s Singer’s had soul since 1969, but is only now getting recognition
Lee Fields and The Expressions At: Interstellar Rodeo When: Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Where: Heritage Amphitheatre, Hawrelak Park Tickets: Various prices, single-day ticket $100 adults, at sixshooterrecords.com,
Lee Fields has been in the soul music game since 1969. But only in the last five years or so has the singer been getting the recognition many believe he deserves. Ceaselessly compared to James Brown in his early days, the 63-yearold Fields has come into his own on relatively recent records such as My World (2009), Faithful Man (2012), and his most recent, Emma Jean, all released on Brooklyn-based Truth & Soul Records and recorded with soul band The Expressions. Fields will be at Interstellar Rodeo this Saturday at 5:30 p.m., but before his West Coast tour we reached him at home in Plainfield, N.J., where we talked about his life, his career as a real estate mogul and more. Q: You just came back from a European festival tour. Who were you sharing the bills with? A: In Liverpool we shared the stage with some hip-hop groups and some folk groups. It was very diverse.
Q: Did you ever perceive it as a threat? A: No music is a threat. It’s like a man and his wife or a man and his girlfriend. If you’re doing the right thing you have no reason to feel inadequate. I welcome all kinds of music with open arms. I feel like as long as I do what I do with energy and focus I don’t have anything to fear. And ... keep the faith. You have to have faith in a higher power.
Q: Well, your experience is bearing this out. You’ve stuck to your guns and now you’re seeing the greatest success of your career. A: Yes, I kept faith that if I continued to believe, that the doors would open. I waited 40 years for this band!
Q: Back in the ’80s, when your music career was flagging and you and your wife started buying real estate, did you lose faith a little bit? A: No. You see, God points the person in the right direction. In the ’80s, I thought I was veering away from music, but the desire was always there, to get back on the stage. I was on the stage, but not as much — a show here and a show there, sporadically. But I went with the spirit. It said, “Hey man, you’ve got a family. You’ve got these kids, this is not their dream. You have to provide.” So I did what I had to do. I went into real estate. But the music was always there. My faith was always there as well. Real estate worked out OK, and all of a sudden I’ve popped right back on the scene! Ha!
Q: You have four kids?
A: Yeah, three by blood. But I raised my nephew and I count him as mine as well. My nephew’s mother was slain when he was about seveny ears old. Her husband killed her and killed himself. So we took him in and raised him. As a matter of fact, I just talked to him the other day. He’s out in Virginia doing well. I’m so proud of him. What he witnessed was such a deep emotional thing the doctors thought ... he wasn’t going to be functional. But he’s functioning just as well as any other human being ... !
Q: Did he actually witness the killing?
A: Yeah. If you see him today, he’s one of the nicest guys in the world. But it wasn’t easy. There was a time we felt maybe the doctors are right, maybe he’s not going to fit in with society. He seemed ... like he was in another world. Whatever case it is, if you take a child in, raise the child just like the child is your own.
Q: Did that incident affect your music? A: Absolutely. I had no idea something that tragic could happen in my family. I thought it was something you just read about. We all are subject to any given thing that can happen in the world. It made me stronger and more selective about the words I choose for my songs. I feel like I’m at liberty to sing just about anything. But it’s all in the way you do it. It’s not what you sing about. All things are allowed but not all things are good for us. It’s the way we write the song that makes the song of quality or lesser quality. ... it’s up to the artist to do it in a tasteful way.
Q: That brings us to the new album. I wanted to ask you about Magnolia, the JJ Cale song, and why you decided to cover it.
A: I was born in North Carolina and raised on country and western music. … In North Carolina at the time, soul music was only played on the weekends. I grew to love country and western and rock and everything else. I’d always admired JJ Cale because I think he’s one of the greatest songwriters of his era. So when Leon (Michels, who plays sax in The Expressions) said “Let’s do Magnolia!” I said “Why not,” and that was exciting!