Venetta Fields

Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941¹) is an American-Australian singer, musical theatre actress, and vocal coach. She began her career singing in church and local gospel groups in Buffalo, New York, before gaining prominence in the 1960s as an Ikette with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. After leaving the group in 1965, she co-founded the Mirettes in 1966¹ and later became a founding member of the vocal trio the Blackberries. Fields went on to establish a prolific career as a session and touring backing vocalist, working with artists including Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Bob Seger. After emigrating to Australia in 1982, she became an Australian citizen and continued her career there, performing and recording with artists such as John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Cold Chisel, Australian Crawl, and Tim Finn.

Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-Australian singer, musical theatre actress, and vocal coach. She began her career singing in church and local gospel groups in Buffalo, New York, before gaining prominence in the 1960s as an Ikette with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. After leaving the group in 1965, she co-founded the Mirettes in 1966 and later became a founding member of the vocal trio the Blackberries. Fields went on to establish a prolific career as a session and touring backing vocalist, working with artists including Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Bob Seger. After emigrating to Australia in 1982, she became an Australian citizen and continued her career there, performing and recording with artists such as John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Cold Chisel, Australian Crawl, and Tim Finn.

Life and career

Career in Australia

As a member of Boz Scaggs' backing band, Fields toured Australia in 1978 and 1980. While in the country in the latter year she contributed backing vocals to Marc Hunter's (ex-Dragon) solo album, Big City Talk. Back in the US she provided backing vocals for So Lucky (1981), by Renée Geyer – the Australian artist was then working in California. Fields decided to relocate permanently to Australia in 1982 because she wanted to "get away to somewhere where I could start again." She performed with Australian singer-songwriter Richard Clapton (1983–84). Neil Lade of The Canberra Times reviewed Clapton's album, Solidarity (1984), and described its final track, "New World", as "slow and softly lulling. A song of peace and hope... and Clapton's voice is at its tuneful best. And the backing vocals of Vanetta [sic] Fields add a powerful and echoing dimension to what may be just the album's finest song." In the mid-1980s in Melbourne, Fields formed a new group, Venetta's Taxi, with a line-up including vocalist Sherlie Matthews, guitarist Michael den Elzen and Chong Lim on keyboards, while also performing regularly as a backing vocalist for local and touring artists. During this period Fields coached singing, including Karen Knowles and Colette Mann, at Tony Bartuccio's Dance Academy in Prahran. She took vocal workshops at the Victorian College of the Arts. Fields was a vocalist with the Incredible Penguins in late 1985, for a cover of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on little penguins, which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report in December. In 1986, she formed and toured her own show, Gospel Jubilee; the line-up of the band of the same name was Joanne Campbell, Joe Creighton, Chong Lim, Sherlie Mathews and Fellon Williams. Fields started work for Farnham on his Jack's Back Tour in support of his album, Whispering Jack (1986). Debbie Kruger of Variety magazine caught the show at the State Theatre in March 1987, "Midway through the show, Farnham left the stage, and backing singer Venetta Fields sang three songs which kept the audience warm but eager for more of their hero." Fields continued to work with US artists when they toured her adopted country until 2000, including George Benson, Dionne Warwick, Streisand, Thelma Houston and Randy Crawford. She also recorded or toured as a backing singer with Australian artists Jimmy Barnes, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, James Morrison and Mark Gillespie and as a long-term touring and session harmony vocalist for John Farnham (1986–95). In January 1989, Fields made her musical theater debut as Alice in the Australian production of Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. She followed with other stage appearances, including two plays for the Melbourne Theatre Company – Racing Demon (1991) and The Crucible (1991) – Blues in the Night (1992), Chess (concert version), and as Ruby in the Buddy Holly show Buddy the Musical. She released her solo album At Last in 1999¹.

Later years

Fields lives in Bendigo, Victoria. She no longer tours or records with visiting artists. Fields is active as a vocal coach with several students, including 2005 Australian Idol winner Kate DeAraugo, singer-songwriter Cody Simpson and 2011 Australia's Got Talent finalist Bree De Rome.

Accolades

In 2002, Fields received the Australian Gospel Singer of the Year award. In 2005, Fields was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements.

Selected discography

Albums

1976: The Dupars Featuring Venetta Fields – Love Cookin' - We Rockin (Grit Records) 1999: At Last (Drumlake Pty. Ltd.)

Backing vocal credits

1969: Quincy Jones – The Lost Man (soundtrack) 1970: Neil Diamond – Gold: Recorded Live at the Troubadour 1970: Fever Tree – For Sale 1970: Paul Butterfield – Live 1970: Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered 1971: Barbra Streisand – Stoney End 1971: Barbra Streisand – Barbra Joan Streisand 1971: Graham Nash – Songs for Beginners 1971: Paul Butterfield – Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin 1971: Spirit – Feedback 1972: The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St. 1972: The Doors – Full Circle 1972: Tim Buckley – Greetings from L.A. 1972: Steely Dan – Can't Buy a Thrill 1972: Freddy Robinson - At the Drive-In 1973: Humble Pie – Eat It 1973: Diana Ross – "Touch Me in the Morning" 1973: Joe Walsh – The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get 1973: Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon Tour 1973: Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee – Sonny & Brownie 1974: Humble Pie – Thunderbox 1974: Joe Cocker – I Can Stand a Little Rain 1974: Gene Clark – No Other 1974: Tim Buckley – Look at the Fool 1975: Humble Pie – Street Rats 1975: Joe Cocker – Jamaica Say You Will 1975: Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here 1975: The Doobie Brothers – Stampede 1975: Elkie Brooks – Rich Man's Woman 1975: Bonnie Raitt – Home Plate 1976: Steve Marriott – Marriott 1976: Neil Diamond – Beautiful Noise 1976: Steely Dan - The Royal Scam 1977: Alice Cooper – Lace and Whiskey 1977: Leonard Cohen – Death of a Ladies' Man 1977: Steely Dan – Aja 1978: Dr. John – Hollywood Be Thy Name 1978: Bob Seger – Stranger in Town 1978: Burton Cummings – Dream of a Child 1978: Chuck Girard – Take It Easy 1978: Neil Diamond – You Don't Bring Me Flowers 1978: Jean Terrell – I Had to Fall in Love 1979: Elkie Brooks – Live and Learn 1979: Burt Bacharach – Together? 1979: Neil Diamond – September Morn 1980: Boz Scaggs – Middle Man 1980: Syreeta - Syreeta 1982: Tim Finn – Escapade 1984: Richard Clapton – Solidarity 1984: Jimmy Barnes – Bodyswerve 1988: John Farnham – Age of Reason 1989: Richard Clapton – The Best Years of Our Lives 1990: John Farnham – Chain Reaction Credits at AllMusic

References

External links

Buffalo Hall of Fame article on Fields Humble-Pie.net: The Blackberries & Humble Pie

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