Arthur "Artie" Fields (April 13, 1922 – October 14, 2009) was an American bandleader,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and jazz trumpeter. Fields was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, United States. After his family moved to Ann Arbor,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and then later to Dearborn, Michigan, he attended

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a public high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and began playing music locally. In the late 1950s, he led an orchestra at Detroit's

Fortune Records Fortune Records was an American family operated, independent record label located in Detroit, Michigan from 1946 to 1995. The label owners were Jack and Devora Brown, their son Sheldon Brown recorded for the label. Original releases tapered off ...

. In 1967, he opened Artie Fields Productions in the old Alhambra Theater at 9428 Woodward Avenue in Detroit as well as Top Dog Records, located in the same building. Fields recorded songs in the 1970s for several American pop bands, as well as other recording artists, including the

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

, the Ohio Players, the

Detroit Emeralds Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, the Fantastic Four, Don Rondo, and

Larry Santos Larry Santos (born June 2, 1941, in Oneonta, New York) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. Santos wrote songs for several American pop bands in the 1960s, including the 1963 hit " Candy Girl" for The Four Seasons which reached number 3 o ...

. He also recorded the vocals for the 1973

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

#1 hit single " Midnight Train To Georgia". Fields wrote and recorded the

1968 World Series The 1968 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1968 season. The 65th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the National League ...

Champion Detroit Tigers theme song "Go Get Em, Tigers" (sung by Don Rondo and Kris Peterson). Fields also wrote and recorded the famous

Ziebart Ziebart International Corporation is a privately owned corporation based in Troy, Michigan, and is the worldwide franchisor of the Ziebart brand of automotive aftermarket stores. Services offered by Ziebart stores include rustproofing, paint se ...

"It's Us, Or Rust" jingle (sung by Don Rondo). Fields died in

West Bloomfield, Michigan West Bloomfield Township, officially the Charter Township of West Bloomfield, is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan, within the Detroit metropolitan area. It is one of the most expensive places to live in Oakland ...

on October 14, 2009, at age 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Artie 1922 births 2009 deaths American bandleaders American male songwriters Record producers from Michigan Musicians from Detroit Songwriters from Michigan People from Ann Arbor, Michigan People from Dearborn, Michigan People from Southfield, Michigan 20th-century male musicians Cass Technical High School alumni