Arthur Fields (August 6, 1884 – March 29, 1953) was an American singer ( baritone) and songwriter.

Biography

He was born Abraham Finkelstein in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, but grew up mainly in

Utica, New York Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot ...

. He became a professional singer as a youngster. Around 1908, he toured with

Guy Brother Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorpo ...

Minstrel Show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

, and helped form a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

act "Weston, Fields and Carroll". His first hit as a songwriter was "On the Mississippi" (1912), which he wrote the music for with Harry Carroll and

Ballard MacDonald Ballard MacDonald (October 15, 1882 – November 17, 1935) was an American lyricist, who was one of the writers of Tin Pan Alley. Born in Portland, Oregon, he was a charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ...

supplied the lyrics. In 1914 he wrote the lyrics to "

Aba Daba Honeymoon "Aba Daba Honeymoon" is a popular song written and published by Arthur Fields and Walter Donovan in 1914, known through its chorus, "Aba daba daba daba daba daba dab, Said the chimpie to the monk; Baba daba daba daba daba daba dab, Said the monk ...

", which was revived for the 1950 M.G.M. film '' Two Weeks With Love'' and thus got a renewed popularity which brought Fields large royalty incomes during his last two years. From 1914 onward, he 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 "Hunting the Hun" is the name of a war song that was popular during World War I. It was performed by Arthur Fields, music by Archie Gottler and words by Howard E. Rogers. It was published by Kalmar Puck & Abrahams in New York in 1918. "Hun" ...

" war song. His 1919 recordings with bandleader

Ford Dabney Ford Thompson Dabney (15 March 1883 – 6 June 1958) was an American ragtime pianist, composer, songwriter, and acclaimed director of bands and orchestras for Broadway musical theater, revues, vaudeville, and early recordings. Additionally, for ...

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 brothers

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

and Irving Kaufman, billing themselves as "The Three Kaufields". Fields also often appeared on records under

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s, for example as "Mr X." on Grey Gull Records and related labels. In 1926 he recorded with

Oreste Migliaccio Oreste Migliaccio (1882–1973) was a jazz pianist, composer and prominent band leader. His band Oreste and his Queensland Orchestra were popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Migliaccio was born in Naples, Italy in 1882. He immigrated to the United St ...

& His Queensland Orchestra. His last records were made in the early 1940s. Among Field's most prolific partnerships was the one with band leader and pianist Fred 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 also

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

together as Rex Cole's Mountaineers. Retiring to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

in 1946 he also worked in radio on WKAT

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

. He suffered a stroke early in 1953 and was killed in a fire at Littlefield Nursing Home in

Largo, Florida Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000. Largo was first incorporated in 1 ...

a little later the same year.Arthur Fields's death certificate
Phonostalgia.com, Accessed 12 June 2013

Selected songs

*"On the Mississippi" (1912) *"

" (1914) *" Over There" (1917) *" Tom, Dick and Harry and Jack (Hurry Back)" *"

" (1918) *"

Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 that gives a comic perspective on military life. Berlin composed the song as an expression of protest against the indignities of Army routine shortly after being ...

" *" When Yankee Doodle Learns to "Parlez Vous Français"" (1918) *" Oui, Oui, Marie" *"The Shoes We Have Left Are All Right" *" Good Morning Mr. Zip Zip Zip" *"How Ya Gonna Keep'em Down On The Farm" (1919)

References

External links

*
Arthur Fields online biography by Tim Gracyk

Arthur Fields recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

.
Song ''Any Old Place the Gang'' from ''archive.org''Arthur Fields cylinder recordings
from the

UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive The Cylinder Audio Archive is a free digital collection maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara Library with streaming and downloadable versions of over 10,000 phonograph cylinders manufactured between 1893 and the mid-1920s. The ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

Library. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Arthur American Jews Blackface minstrel performers Vaudeville performers Victor Records artists Vocalion Records artists Accidental deaths in Florida Deaths from fire in the United States 1884 births 1953 deaths 20th-century American singers