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 was born in Buffalo, New York in 1941, into a religious family. Her early musical training was from regular gospel performances at church.[1] Her inspiration was Aretha Franklin. Fields singing career began with the Templaires, a group she formed with members of her church, followed by the Corinthian Gospel Singers.[1]
Fields left home at 19 to join the Ike & Tina Turner Revue as an Ikette, a decision she made without initially informing her religious family.[1] As she later recalled, she "stole away into the night" and left a note, only contacting her mother a month later, who ultimately told her, "Well, if that's what you want to do."[2]
Transitioning from church singing to rock and roll proved challenging. "I went from being a gospel singer right into rock and roll," she said, noting the difficulty of adjusting while touring the Deep South during the era of the Civil Rights Movement.[2] Performing under segregation, she remembered that "we could only play to our own race," and described the period as one of hardship, adding that audiences "didn't have much money coming out of the cotton fields, so we were very, very poor."[2]
In 1965, the Ikettes released the Top 40 hit "Peaches 'N' Cream" (Pop #36, R&B #28) and "I'm So Thankful" (Pop #74, R&B #12) on Modern Records.[6] By late 1965, Fields left the revue along with fellow Ikettes Jessie Smith and Robbie Montgomery.[4] Fields later recalled "I was an Ikette for five years. It was a rough job, but it was a very good experience. It's just like a school. You go from grade 1 to 2, not from 1 to 8. And when you graduate you have to leave. There is such a thing as staying too long; when you start getting stagnant and stifled by what you're doing. We almost stayed too long."[1] Fields later relocated to Los Angeles after leaving the revue.[1]
In 1966, the trio signed to Mirwood Records and became the Mirettes.[4] They left Mirwood and released their highest-charting single "In the Midnight Hour" (Pop #45, R&B #18) on Revue Records in 1968.[7] In 1969, the trio sang background for the soundtrack The Lost Man, produced by Quincy Jones.[8] By 1970, Fields had left the group and was replaced by former Ikette Pat Powdrill.
They formed the vocal trio the Blackberries at the suggestion of Steve Marriott of Humble Pie.[9] As session singers, Fields and her collaborators contributed to major recordings, including the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St. (1972), on which Fields and King performed on tracks such as "Tumbling Dice", "I Just Want to See His Face", "Let It Loose" and "Shine a Light."[10] Fields later reflected on the sessions, noting they took place late at night, but she was "more interested in the coat than… the Rolling Stones."[11] She also emphasized the group's musical approach, stating that "we knew gospel… that's what most people wanted from us, a gospel sound."[11]
Marriott subsequently recruited them to record and tour with Humble Pie, producing an unreleased Blackberries album backed by the band before they parted ways in 1973.[12][13] Their contributions were noted on recordings such as Eat It(1973), where their backing vocals were prominently featured.[14][15] The trio also performed with Pink Floyd on the Dark Side of the Moon Tour in 1973, and contributed vocals to the album Wish You Were Here (1975).[10][16]
In 1976, Fields and King appeared as backing vocalists (credited as the Oreos) for Barbra Streisand in the musical film A Star Is Born, and performed on its accompanying soundtrack.[10] Reflecting on the experience, Fields said, "I learned so much from her," and described her career progression in academic terms: "I think I got my master's degree with Ike and Tina Turner and I'm getting my bachelor's degree now." Streisand, she recalled, replied, "No honey, you're getting your PhD."[2]
Fields also remembered Streisand's hands-on approach during production. Initially resisting a wig—"It reminded me of my Ike and Tina Turner days"—she eventually accepted after Streisand said, "I really like the wig… you can wear your hair any other way for the rest of the movie."[2] Fields added that Streisand "treated me like a little doll," but "kept her eye on me and kept me under her wing."[2]
Career in Australia
As a member of Boz Scaggs' backing band, Fields toured Australia in 1978 and 1980.[17] While in the country in the latter year she contributed backing vocals to Marc Hunter's (ex-Dragon) solo album, Big City Talk.[18] Back in the US she provided backing vocals for So Lucky (1981), by Renée Geyer – the Australian artist was then working in California.[19] Fields decided to relocate permanently to Australia in 1982 because she wanted to "get away to somewhere where I could start again."[11]
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."[20]
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.[2] 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.
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.[23]
Fields started work for Farnham on his Jack's Back Tour in support of his album, Whispering Jack (1986).[24]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."[24]
↑"Moore on Pop". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol.48, no.25. November 19, 1980. p.54. Retrieved June 8, 2016– via National Library of Australia. Note: Fields is incorrectly given as Vanetta.
12Lade, Neil (September 24, 1984). "Canberra Living: Rock Music". The Canberra Times. Vol.59, no.17, 893. p.13. Retrieved June 9, 2016– via National Library of Australia.
↑Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara; Paul McHenry (2002) [1987]. "Incredible Penguins". The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN1-86503-891-1. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2010. Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
John Farnham Band (1986–95):Holmgren, Magnus; Reboulet, Scott; Albury, Lyn; Birtles, Beeb; Warnqvist, Stefan; Medlin, Peter. "John Farnham". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
Chong Lim:Holmgren, Magnus. "Chong Lim". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
Joe Creighton:Holmgren, Magnus; Creighton, Joe. "Joe Creighton". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
Black Sorrows:Holmgren, Magnus. "Black Sorrows". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
Richard Clapton Band (1983–84):Holmgren, Magnus. "Richard Clapton". hem.passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on January 10, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
↑Lade, Neil (October 8, 1984). "Canberra Living: Rock Music". The Canberra Times. Vol.59, no.17, 907. p.13. Retrieved June 9, 2016– via National Library of Australia.
