Gold: Fields of Gold

Sting: Fields of Gold

[purchase]

When I first heard Fields of Gold, I thought I was hearing a traditional English folk song that had somehow escaped my notice. I am no expert, but surely I would have heard someone’s version of a song this good before this? The song features the repetition of alternating lines “fields of barley” and fields of gold” in a way that can be found in many traditional English songs. But there was a reason I had not heard the song before. Fields of Gold is a Sting original, although it shows a strong knowledge of English folk music. This is a side of Sting he had not really shown before. We knew he loved rock and reggae from the sound of his band the Police. On his first solo album, Sting returned to his jazz roots. Since then, he has explored classical music and continued to make his own brand of what must be called pop for lack of a better term. Fields of Gold is the only original folk song of his that I have heard, but it really works. I could hear in my head a more “traditional” arrangement the first time I heard it.

Eva Cassidy: Fields of Gold

[purchase]

In searching for such a version, my first stop was Eva Cassidy’s version. Here we can ignite a whole argument about what is and is not “folk”. Cassidy didn’t care. While she is a revered figure among folk fans, her music is not purely folk. She drew songs from a rich array of genres and sources, and her arrangements were not always what one might consider folk. But if you consider the role that folk music served in society when the songs we are most familiar with were being written, you realize that songs like Froggy Went A’Courting were the pop music of their day. On that basis, any song is fair game, and it is the job of any modern folk artist to make their choice of songs their own. Eva Cassidy did that job brilliantly.

Richard Bennett: Fields of Gold

[purchase]

Still, I wanted to see if I could find an even folkier version without sacrificing either quality or authenticity. Bennett’s Fields of Gold still isn’t what I heard in my head. For that I would need an Irish singer, backed by just guitar and uillean pipes. But Bennett does the next best thing, giving me a small acoustic ensemble, and featuring the cello in the role I assigned to the piper. Bennett’s voice is perfect here. Like Cassidy, Bennett takes his material from a wide range of sources, and he too makes his songs his own.

Fields of Gold has become a standard since Sting wrote it. You can find multiple versions on Amazon by looking either for wedding music or lullabyes. There are also many covers of varying quality and in various genres. So the song may have started life as a Sting original, but I would argue that the place it has taken in our culture now qualifies it as a folk song.

STORMS: STORMY MONDAY

I suppose this should really be a learned discourse on the origins of this oft-covered stalwart of the idiom, but, hell, no, let's cut to the chase and forget the earnest original and celebrate Duane, Gregg and the boys. Is this live track not the most uplifting downbeat song ever? Tacked on with Statesboro' Blues on 'Live at the Fillmore' (1971!), this was my introduction to the Allman Brothers and it remains their pinnacle, something I can listen to for time eternal.

Of course, in their decades long history, 1969 - 2014, give or take the odd recess, they have produced a zillion live albums and a trillion live versions of this old warhorse, but it is this outing I always see as the template, even comparing other artists to it, as if it were truly the original. So, then, what of the song? Penned by T-Bone Walker, it was a hit as far back as 1948, although maybe a decade or so elapsed before Bobby 'Blue' Bland cut the version many see as definitive. Indeed, as I much later learnt, much of the phrasing and a lot of the licks were lifted wholesale by the Allmans.

The lyric is the age old simple lament of the working man, the grind of the week, trajecting through to payday and the celebration of the weekend, grounded with some sunday religion, before it all starts again. Whilst Bland seems more celebratory of the contrast between the highs and lows, poor old Gregg Allman sounds completely dragged down by the repetition of the cycle, his vocal as downbeat a lament as any sharecropper half a century his (then) senior. So the then contrast as his hammond kicks into an unexpected jaunty and jazzevocative statement is all the more pronounced. Has he ever produced a more inspired burst of soloing? (In truth I find it hard to recall any other piece of soloing by him at all, making it all the more remarkable.)

Anyone else come close? Well, any blues legend worth his salt, such as Kings, Freddie, B.B. and Albert, most of the white boys, like Clapton and Beck, as well as wild cards like Eva Cassidy and ? and the Mysterians have all given it space. But I guess my other favourite is the one by Jimmy Smith, maybe no surprise if it is the organ that so appeals to me in the Allmans, Smith being the jazz-blues maestro of the same. Here it is in all its instrumental glory:

Now is Tuesday really just the same after any of these? Hell, I hope not.

Get your Stormy Mondays here, not forgetting where the best one came from.

Honesty and Truth: True Colors

Eva Cassidy: True Colors

[purchase]

This seems to have turned into a week for confessions, which is probably my fault for my choice of the transition song. So you can go back over my posts from last week, and you will find the explanations of my lies in bold. Also, I am not afraid to admit that, when I first heard Cyndi Lauper, I really liked her, and I still do. The entire album She’s So Unusual was quirky heaven. I was eager for more, but the follow-up album was True Colors, and the title song was all over the radio. I was disappointed. Someone seemed to have told Lauper that she had to be normal if she wanted to stay popular, and got her to believe it. Listening to the song True Colors now, I realize that it is a fine piece of songwriting, but Lauper’s original version, for me, is marred by dated production techniques. So I’m glad I found Eva Cassidy’s cover. Cassidy strips the song down to its essentials, and then builds it anew. Along the way, she cuts loose without overpowering the song, and finds a passion in it that I never knew was there. I will praise Lauper’s writing again, but Eva Cassidy made me realize that Lauper may not have the best voice for this song. Give it a listen, and see what I mean.

Summertime: Woodstock

Summertime is music festival season. It’s one of the first things I think of when I think of summer. So, the week must not go by without this song, Joni Mitchell’s tribute to the greatest music festival of them all. I was much too young to attend, but I could feel Woodstock’s effects in my house. My oldest brother was 14, and he was determined to go. But my parents had their way, and he stayed home. For four years after, he would remind them of this horrible thing they had done to him. Finally, in 1973, they let him go to Watkins Glen as an apology. It wasn’t the same, but it finally ended the subject in my house.

It seems that every few years there is a reassessment of what the Woodstock festival meant. This also happens to the song. As you will hear, the song can be done in a variety of styles, and it works. If you think about the stylistic variety of the artists who played at Woodstock, this makes perfect sense.

Credit Where Due Department: Susan and I often trade e-mails when either of us has an idea for a post involving Joni Mitchell. In this case, I had the original idea, but Susan provided the songs and the (non)- release information for the Stevie Wonder track, so this post is actually a collaborative effort. Thank you, Susan. I put it into its present form, so any mistakes are mine alone.

Star Maker Note: This week sort of accidentally became cover songs week. However, the last day will be devoted to original songs. This post, which has both, is our transition to All Originals Saturday.

Joni Mitchell: Woodstock

[purchase]

Of course, Joni Mitchell wrote Woodstock, and this is her original recording of it. The song is a beautiful ballad, with just Joni singing and playing the electric piano. It sound like nothing else Mitchell had done at the time, and there is no rhythm part. The song just floats, emphasizing its wistful qualities.

Crosby Stills Nash and Young: Woodstock

[purchase]

Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young got hold of the song, and completely transformed it. In their hands, it became a rock anthem, and a huge hit. For the longest time, I thought that they wrote it, and I was shocked at how Joni Mitchell had “ruined” it, when I first heard the version above. Live and learn.

Stevie Wonder: Woodstock

[Never officially released]

Joni Mitchell would record Woodstock again for her live album, Miles of Aisles. This time, she rearranged it for a full band. Stevie Wonder zeroed in on the bass line in that version, and turned the song into a funk workout. This version was supposed to be released on a Joni Mitchell tribute album called A Case of Joni. Eventually, that album became A Tribute to Joni Mitchell. Different songs were added, and a number of songs, including this one, were dropped.

Eva Cassidy: Woodstock

[purchase]

Eva Cassidy recorded the song for just voice and acoustic guitar, and Woodstock became a folk song. It works beautifully. If you knew a little about Joni Mitchell’s early sound, but had never heard her original, you might think that this is how it originally sounded.

History: Woodstock

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him where are you going?
And this he told me
I'm goin' on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm gonna to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm gonna camp out on the land
I'm gonna try and get my soul free...

Joni Mitchell: Woodstock [purchase]
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Woodstock [purchase]
Eva Cassidy: Woodstock [purchase]


Maybe it is just the time of year, or maybe it's the time of man?

A history song from the patron saint of our rapidly-growing blog community here at Star Maker Machine, and one which, like my previous entry on this theme, has much to do with the history of folk music, and of music in general. Where Acadian Driftwood taught us about the relationship between geography and folkways, this song provides entry into the myriad ways in which folk is about people -- specifically, how countercultural movements use both song itself, and the gathering of the clan around song, as a way to focus, clarify, reinforce and reflect values back to the community which the music claims to speaks of, to, and for.

But you don't really need me to tell you about the historical relevance of Woodstock, do you? With a cover from CSNY, who were there. (Joni was not.) And another from Eva Cassidy, because her version is so soulful.


Max Yasgur on his farm.