New Lee Fields album

"Soul legend Lee Fields has re-teamed with The Expressions for new album Emma Jean, out June 3 on Brooklyn’s Truth & Soul Records. Coming at a time when many new artists are trying to emulate the soul and swagger of the 1960s, Mr. Fields showers us with authenticity on the 11-track set, highlighted by first single “Magnolia.” Hear the refreshed cover of the JJ Cale track that embodies the late, great American singer-songwriter and the Tulsa Sound he helped create. Listen to Magnolia below.

Since releasing his first album in 1969, Fields has continued to make music for the last 45 years. And having been on the road, touring non-stop for the better part of the last decade, it's evident that Fields has hit an elevated stride both as a recording artist and live performer. His soul stirring live show is set to return to Austin’s SXSW Music Conference and Festival this month.

Emma Jean is the follow up to Fields’ widely praised first two Truth & Soul albums—2009’s My World and 2012’s Faithful Man. Lee Fields & The Expressions have forged a distinct soulful sound and a grown style with this album. They’ve pushed their sound in new directions, moving from being content as contemporary soul music royalty and instead delving into and exploring its next steps.

There's a sharper wisdom in the songwriting--from the having loved, lost, and learned vibe of “Don't Leave Me This Way,” backed by crooning guitar and wailing horns, to the sophisticated arrangements and studio acumen that's pared with Lee's straightforward sincerity in “Just Can't Win.” Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys wrote “Paralyzed,” and having Emma Jean mixed and partially recorded at his Nashville studio, country soul and bluesy rock are immediately noticeable. It brings a different kind of strut to the album, but Fields--born and raised in North Carolina--is right at home with the Southern soul sound. In fact, it feels like a natural progression: an organic, refreshingly pure next step.

Like past releases from this matchless pairing of Fields' warm-and-raw growl and The Expressions' switched-on and sharp musicianship, Emma Jean takes soul music in a familiar but updated direction. "He's 63 years old,” notes the album’s producer and co-owner of Truth & Soul Leon Michels, “he's so focused, and has been working non-stop - he's singing the best he ever has."

Shirley Nanette

Out soon on Truth & Soul, who say: "In the early seventies, Hanc Swarn and Shirley Nanette collaborated to form Never Coming Back. Swarn had been on the road for five years, lending his guitar-backing talent to Earl Grant and his band.

While on tour, he wrote some tunes that were ultimately released on the "Never Coming Back" album. Al Nanette approached Hanc about putting together a record with Shirley, who was also keen on getting in to the studio. Luckily, Swarn already had songs to bring to the session. 

With the support of some talented local musicians, the album was recorded - mostly in one or two takes - in little over a week. Unfortunately, the album saw little exposure. Truth & Soul & Magnetic recordings is proud to present the re-issue of this long forgotten gem that was released in 1973 by Satara, a tiny label in Portland, Oregon. Only 500 copies were originally released. 

Needless to say, this tremendous effort by Nanette, who continues to sing and perform in Portland, has touched the hearts of many who’ve recently heard the album for the first time."

Single out now (listen below), album out on CD/LP, ships Feb 4. Audio preview of the album at T&S site.

Lee Fields live! This saturday

Lee Fields and the Expressions, live. Via Brooklynvegan

Lee Fields and the Expressions are set to play their first-ever show in NZ on this coming Saturday 11th January, at the Powerstation in Auckland. It promises to be a dynamite night of super soul! See here for more info. Opening act is Tyra Hammond (ex Opensouls). DJ support comes from Stinky Jim.

Lee Fields made his recording debut back in 1969, and since then, his career has had its ups and downs. A quiet spell in the 80s saw him get into real estate. "It taught me a lot, because I couldn't afford to get people in to work on the houses, so I had to do it myself, and figure it out." Fields became a pretty good handyman, fixing up houses. 

"The rough times make you appreciate the good times. When you have a period where things don't go your way, and you remain steadfast and strong and determined, when the up times come along again, every moment is appreciated - particularly opportunities like coming to New Zealand!"

In the late 90s he hooked up with a group of young musical cats in Brooklyn who were avowed funk fans (like Gabe Roth), and recorded two albums, for Desco Records and Soulfire Records.

Many of the musicians involved with those labels went on to form the backbone of both Daptone Records, and Truth And Soul Records, the latter of which is Fields' current label. He recorded and released the album My World with them in 2009, and followed that up with Faithful Man in 2012. He joins a raft of great soul singers like Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones, who are getting discovered by a new audience.

"When I speak of soul music, a lot of people use the term in regard to the genre or the style, but when I use the term, I think of the spirit. So when I sing, I try to get as close as I can to the inner self, the place where you go within yourself where words cease, there's no words to describe that zone."

And how does Mr Fields keep on keepin' on, at the ripe old age of 63?

"Everything's allowed, but moderation is good for you," he laughs. "I don't smoke, and I try to be moderate with things like alcohol. I don't knock people who do smoke, or drink, or whatever, I ain't got no problem with it. But in my case, I decided to do things more or less in moderation some years ago, and I think that it's one of the contributing factors. I've still got a lot of energy on stage, and I want it to stay that way."

[Interview quotes: Lydia Jenkin, NZ Herald Timeout Dec 21, 2013.]

Soul Fire 7" box set

From Truth and Soul Records: Available Black Friday Record Store Day special "Soul Fire box set" in stores November 29.

"Truth & Soul is proud to present The Soul Fire Box Set for Record Store Day, 2013. Soul Fire Records, started in 1999 by Phillip Lehman, produced some of the funkiest modern recordings to ever make it to 45.

Many of those 45’s from the Soul Fire catalog are nearly impossible to find today, and if and when they do come up for sale, they fetch top dollar. Soul Fire closed its doors in 2003 when Phillip stepped away from the music business to pursue other ventures.

He left the studio to Jeff Silverman & Leon Michaels, who then started what today is known as Truth & Soul Records. This box set contains some of the rarest sides from the Soul Fire catalog, 8 7” vinyls, liner notes from Phillip himself, and a Soul Fire sticker, all packaged in a woven silkscreened collectors box. Limited to 1000 pieces for Record Store Day."

BUY AT TRUTH & SOUL

Here's the latest podcast from the T&S Records posse...

Lee Fields live in AK, Jan 11 next year

Lee Fields and the Expressions are set to play their first-ever show here on Saturday 11th January 2014, at the Powerstation in Auckland. This promises to be a dynamite night of super soul! Presale tickets start Nov 5, see here for more info.

From the press release:

"There aren’t too many artists making soul music today who had a release in 1969; Lee Fields, however, is one such artist—or maybe he’s better labelled a phenomenon.

Since the late sixties, the North Carolina native has amassed a prolific catalogue of albums and has toured and played with such legends as Kool and the Gang, Sammy Gordon and the Hip-Huggers, O.V Wright, Darrell Banks, and Little Royal. With a career spanning 43 years, releases on twelve different record labels, and having toured the world over with his raucous-yet-tender voice, it’s mind-blowing that the music he’s making today with Brooklyn’s own Truth & Soul Records is the best of his career.

With a catalogue that ranges from James Brown-style funk to lo-fi blues to contemporary Southern soul to collaborations with French house DJ/producer Martin Solveig, Lee Fields has done it all. Today, with The Expressions–Truth & Soul’s house band, Lee Fields continues to evolve, enmeshed into the group’s sweeping, string-laden, cinematic soul sound. Their first full-length together, My World, released in June 2009 on Truth & Soul, was called “one smoking mother of an old-sound soul record” and a “throwback done right” by Pitchfork.

While drawing comparisons to groups like The Moments, The Delfonics, The Stylistics, and–of course–James Brown, My World has been able to create a space of its own due to the group’s desire to interpret and further the formulas of good soul music rather than parrot and imitate them.

“In a curious case of musical evolution, the older Fields becomes, the closer he gets to perfecting the sound of soul that he grew up with as a young man,” so said music writer, scholar, and DJ Oliver Wang about Fields in a piece for NPR in July 2009. The latest LP from Lee Fields and The Expressions, titled Faithful Man, is the next step towards this perfection. A step that may find Fields& The Expressions, finally being bestowed the contemporary soul music crown."

One less Lady

Lady dropped their gorgeous debut album back in March, on NYC label Truth and Soul - the duo of Nicole Wray and Terri Walker made for a sweet soul combination. They set out touring to promote the album, alongside label mates Lee Fields and the Expressions. They've recently released a remix ep of their tune Good Lovin, with mixes by DJ Spinna, T&S, Ticklah and Oh No.

But at some point mid-year Terri Walker quietly dropped out of the band and returned to her solo career. I noticed this recently when I saw that the social media posts on Twitter and Instagram only featured pics of Nicole. The label updated the artist page for Lady on their website to remove all mentions of Terri. It was like her contribution to the album got wiped, even tho its audibly there for all to hear. Weird. So, what happened?

Nicole Wray has just done an interview with Wax Poetics, where she talks about Terri's departure, and plans for a new album... excerpt below...

When exactly did the split happen?
I want to say it happened maybe four or five months ago. We really didn’t say anything about it because we were kind of hoping that we could keep it going, but unfortunately things happen in the world and in our lives and we gotta keep it moving.

You said that you and Terri never set out to do Lady forever. So you kind of knew this would happen eventually?
No, we did not set out to do this forever. We’d done a lot of interviews and we were excited, but, honestly, she knew I had my own thing going and I knew she had her own thing going. Eventually, I’m sure, one of us was going to take off and do some other things outside of Lady, and that’s what happened....

Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?
I just want to let them know I thank them for their support even through the ups and downs that we’ve had this year with Terri leaving and me staying on-board. I appreciate it. We—our label and management—didn’t send out a press release saying anything. We just tried to go really smooth. But I do realize that we have to talk about it, because people want to know. I want fans to keep their ears and eyes open, because we’re coming and this next album is going to be super exciting, and the sound is going to change a little bit.

Before I wrap up, you said that your team didn’t release a press release about Terri leaving. Was it because you were uncomfortable talking about it?
I think we all were uncomfortable. I think at the time that it happened, everybody was like, “Oh my God, what are we going to do?” because we’re kind of in the middle of things. It wasn’t a panic, but I think we were just trying to roll with the punches, as it was a new group. I think both of us have diehard fans regardless of if we stay together or part, and I don’t think that we really wanted to entertain a bunch of drama for no reason. So instead of a press release, I would just talk to people who would interview me and ask me about it and move forward.