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Arthur Fields | |
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| Born | Abraham Finkelstein (1888-08-06)August 6, 1888 |
| Died | March 29, 1953(1953-03-29) (aged 64) |
Arthur Fields (néAbraham Finkelstein; August 6, 1888[1]—March 29, 1953) was an Americanbaritone and songwriter.
Born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania asAbraham Finkelstein, Fields grew up mainly inUtica, New York. He became a professional singer as a youngster.
Around 1908, he toured withGuy Brother'sMinstrel Show, and helped form avaudeville act "Weston, Fields and Carroll".
His first hit as a songwriter was "On the Mississippi" (1912), which he wrote the music for withHarry Carroll andBallard MacDonald supplied the lyrics. In 1914 he wrote the lyrics to "Aba Daba Honeymoon", which was revived for the 1950 M.G.M. filmTwo Weeks With Love and thus got a renewed popularity which brought Fields large royalty incomes during his last two years.
From 1914 onward, Arthur Fields recorded with many bands and for many labels and had a varied career in the recording industry. In 1918, he was popular for his performance of his "Hunting the Hun" war song. His 1919 recordings with bandleaderFord Dabney may be the very first recordings of a white singer backed by a black band. For a period Fields also formed a vocal trio with brothersJack andIrving Kaufman, billing themselves as "The Three Kaufields". Fields also often appeared on records underpseudonyms, for example as "Mr X." onGrey Gull Records and related labels. In 1926 he recorded withOreste Migliaccio & His Queensland Orchestra.[2] His last records were made in the early 1940s.
Among Fields' most prolific partnerships was the one with band leader and pianistFred Hall, with whom Fields made plenty of records and co-wrote several songs, often with comic titles like "The Shoes We Have Left Are All Right", "You're My Little Rhapsody in Blue", and "I Can't Sleep in the Movies Anymore". Hall and Fields alsobroadcast together asRex Cole's Mountaineers.
Retiring toFlorida in 1946 he also worked in radio onWKATMiami.
In October 14, 1942,Eli Oberstein's Hit Records released record #7023, featuring the songs "Der Fuehrer’s Face" and "Gee, But It's Great to Meet a Friend From Your Home Town" misappropriating Arthur Fields' name. Fields, 54 years old, sued both Oberstein and the unknown artist, asking for an injunction on the sale of said records.[3]
On March 11, 1953, Fields suffered a stroke and was forced to move to the Littlefield Nursing Home with his wife.
On March 29, the place was set on fire and, according to the Tampa Bay Times in an article published two days later,[4] 33 people died, including Fields, 64 years old, who was unable to escape.
Some of the songs listed here were composed by Fields in partnership with other composers.
