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Mr. Lee Fields, the real thing

North Carolina-born Lee Fields is a true, old-style rhythm and blues showman who, along with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, is now front and centre as one of the spearheads of the Brooklyn-led soul music revival.

To many music fans, soul music never went away. Just like the different sub-genres of jazz, it’s been waiting to be explored and revisited. With the release of their new long-playerMy World, it seems Lee Fields & The Expressions have been doing some exploring themselves.

Fields has been around since the mid-1970s, when he self-released a bunch of seven inch singles, now highly sought after among Northern Soul DJs. With a vocal style that respectfully approaches James Brown, he was quickly nicknamed “Little J.B.” by fans and detractors alike.

His 1995 album Coming To Tear The Roof Down (Ace Records) was full of good intentions, but marred by atrocious production and bad synth sounds. It is the Lee Fields album of which we should not speak, unlike Fields’ singles on the now-defunkt [sic] Desco label. Backed by the Soul Providers (the Truth and Soul and Daptone labels both originate from here) and collected on 1999’s Let’s Get A Groove On these tunes are very old-school, mostly jammed over a funky groove — like the brilliant “Hey Sallie Mae (Get Off My Feet)”. His next long-player, 2002’s more urban sounding Problems (on Soul Fire Records) is also excellent, if a little raw and undernourished in places. One song from that release, “Honey Dove”, has been re-worked for My World.

Lee Fields was a musical oddity up until now, a man out of time and place. But working with the modern crop of soul producers has paid off — Leon Michels (former Dap-Kings member and leader of El Michels Affair) and Jeff Silverman have perfected the art of having one foot in the past and the other in the present. My World is a smooth collection of mid-tempo crooners that nods to Curtis Mayfield, Sly and the Family Stone and even the Four Tops. And it’s helped along by a fantastic band which includes Homer Steinweiss (drums) and Tommy Brenneck (guitar) who are current members of the Dap-Kings and involved in so many other great projects (just Google them!)

Collectors of Truth and Soul label releases may already have a few of these songs as they were released as singles and compiled onto the fabulous Fallin Off the Reel collections. But nothing beats immersing yourself in a full album of this great material.

I bought it in two formats — digitally (via Emusic) and on vinyl (via Conch Records in Ponsonby). Mr. Fields has now taken pride of place in my record pile, next to Mr. Redding, Mr. Brown, Mr. Mayfield, Miss Aretha and of course Miss Sharon Jones.

Lee Fields’ roots may be in the southern deep-soul genre, but musically, My World slaps the diamond cufflinks on and brings him into the city. Where Problems merely hinted at a more urban sound, My World confirms where Lee Fields is at — sophisticated soul without losing the unmistakable raw edge of his powerful vocals. Now if we can just get him to perform here…

Video: Lee Fields & The Expressions “Love Comes and Goes”