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Frank Fields

Frank Nomer Fields (May 2, 1914 – September 18, 2005) was an American double bass player who was involved in many R&B, rock and roll and jazz recordings made in New Orleans. He was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana. In the 1930s, he played with local jazz groups and with bandleader Claiborne Williams. After serving in the US Navy during World War II, he joined Dave Bartholomew's band as bass player, and became one of the key session musicians at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans, along with guitarist Ernest McLean, drummer Earl Palmer, pianist Salvador Doucette, and saxophonists Lee Allen and Red Tyler. Fields played on many of the seminal rhythm and blues and early rock and roll records made in New Orleans, including Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" (recorded in 1949), and many of Domino's later hits; Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" (1955) and his later records on Specialty; and recordings by Professor Longhair, Smiley Lewis, Shirley & Lee, Lloyd Price, Huey "Piano" Smith, Ray Charles and many others. Fields was several years older than most of the other regular musicians. Tyler described him as "about the most steady bass player I've ever worked with.... He plays correct, nothing fancy, very strong and dominant in his bass playing." He worked as a television repair man at the same time as maintaining his career as a musician.…

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Article summary

Frank Nomer Fields (May 2, 1914 – September 18, 2005) was an American double bass player who was involved in many R&B, rock and roll and jazz recordings made in New Orleans. He was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana. In the 1930s, he played with local jazz groups and with bandleader Claiborne Williams. After serving in the US Navy during World War II, he joined Dave Bartholomew's band as bass player, and became one of the key session musicians at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studios in New Orleans, along with guitarist Ernest McLean, drummer Earl Palmer, pianist Salvador Doucette, and saxophonists Lee Allen and Red Tyler. Fields played on many of the seminal rhythm and blues and early rock and roll records made in New Orleans, including Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" (recorded in 1949), and many of Domino's later hits; Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" (1955) and his later records on Specialty; and recordings by Professor Longhair, Smiley Lewis, Shirley & Lee, Lloyd Price, Huey "Piano" Smith, Ray Charles and many others. Fields was several years older than most of the other regular musicians. Tyler described him as "about the most steady bass player I've ever worked with.... He plays correct, nothing fancy, very strong and dominant in his bass playing." He worked as a television repair man at the same time as maintaining his career as a musician.…

Key claims

  1. date of death: 2005 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "2005". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1294363702

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.