Lee Fields & The Expressions

Nicknamed “Little JB” due to his resemblance to James Brown in both looks and vocal style, Lee Fields is one of the most respected figures in soul music, one who recorded and released his first single at the tender age of 18 and hasn’t looked back to this very day. Throughout the 1970’s he was a cult hero who never hit it big but was hugely acclaimed by all those who knew him, however, that’s not quite enough to show for a decade’s worth of toil and he took most of the 1980’s off from music. Unbeknownst to him however, his work was being exposed to a whole new audience of young people during his time off. He might not have been creating music during the decade, but in a move that almost seems too good to be true; his music went through something of a renaissance due to it being discovered by the early generations of hip-hop producers.

In the pre-internet era, beat makers had to trawl through record shops seeking out classic soul and funk tracks to sample, and his music was discovered by many artists of the day impressed by the sheer force of his music. His career gained a much needed second wind as a result, and he mounted a comeback in the 1990’s.This came to a head when he signed to Desco Records later in the decade and released the barnstorming funk album “Let’s Get A Groove On”. Ever since then, him and his backing band The Expressions have continued to record and release acclaimed studio albums and play awe-inspiring live shows all over the world. He’s one of the unsung heroes of rhythm and blues, and for that, Lee Fields comes highly recommended.