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Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-Australian singer and musical theater actress, and vocal coach.
Fields was a backing vocalist for touring American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as working as a session recording vocalist, she worked with artists including Ike & Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Humble Pie, Barbra Streisand, Elkie Brooks, Neil Diamond, Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Bob Seger, America and the Rolling Stones. After emigrating to Australia in 1982, she took up citizenship. She recorded or toured as a backing singer for Australian artists Richard Clapton, Australian Crawl, Cold Chisel, Jimmy Barnes, James Morrison, John Farnham, and New Zealand artists Tim Finn and Split Enz.
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. By late 1965, Fields left the revue along with fellow Ikettes Jessie Smith and Robbie Montgomery. 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." Fields later relocated to Los Angeles after leaving the revue.
In 1966, the trio signed to Mirwood Records and became the Mirettes. They left Mirwood and released their highest-charting single "In the Midnight Hour" (Pop #45, R&B #18) on Revue Records in 1968. By 1970, Fields had left the group and was replaced by former Ikette Pat Powdrill.
Others include: Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Bob Dylan, the Supremes, and for Aretha Franklin – her mentor and inspiration. Notable performances during this time included Wish You Were Here (September 1975) with Pink Floyd, and recording the Rolling Stones' album Exile on Main St. (May 1972). Fields later reflected on her sessions for the latter album, they were at midnight but she wanted money for clothing, "I was more interested in the coat than I was in the Rolling Stones". With King, she sang on four tracks, "Tumbling Dice", "I Just Want to See His Face", "Let It Loose" and "Shine a Light", which she felt "were wonderful songs and they were just right for us... We knew gospel. That's what most people wanted from us, a gospel sound."
Around 1971, Fields, King, and Matthews formed the Blackberries, with Matthews as producer and songwriter as well as vocalist. When backing Ray Charles, the trio worked as the Raelettes. In 1972 Steve Marriott asked them to record and tour with his band, Humble Pie, and produced an unreleased Blackberries LP with Humble Pie as the backing band – they parted company in 1973. Michael Little of Vinyl District reviewed Eat It (April 1973), which showed Humble Pie "at its most eclectic. Each of its four sides emphasized a different aspect of the band, and the concept works." He described the track, "Get Down to It", which "makes maximum use of the band's backing singers" including "the immortal" Fields. Fields and King acted as Barbra Streisand's backing singers (The Oreos) in the 1976 musical film, A Star Is Born (December 1976), and sang on its associated film soundtrack (November 1976). Fields had previously sung on two of Streisand's albums from 1971.
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 Richard Clapton (1983–84), 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).Venetta Fields entries at Australian Rock Database:
Neil Lade of The Canberra Times reviewed Clapton's album, Solidarity (September 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 and Farnham were both guest vocalists with the Incredible Penguins in late 1985, for a cover version of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", a charity project for research on , which peaked at No. 10 on the Australian Kent Music Report in December. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own ARIA Charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974. Note: on-line version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. Fields starting work for Farnham on his Jack's Back Tour in support of his album, Whispering Jack (October 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 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.
In recognition of her achievements, Fields was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame on September 29, 2005.
Credits at AllMusic
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