Richard Fields - Give Everybody Some! (1982) [Hi-Res]

Truer words were never said then ones Richard "Dimple" Fields sing on "People Treat You Funky When Ya Ain't Got No Money"; sung to a reggae beat, Fields recites a laundry list of woes that occur when your funds are depleted. Fields wrote most of these selections with Belinda Wilson -- this is good creative stuff, but the album suffers because Fields' light, lazy tenor is not strong enough maintain interest. A prime example is "Butter," about a dancer that refers to a woman's derriere as "butter"; a better lead would have made it significant. Fields does it no justice at all -- he's much better on songs where he can talk or sing, or on ballads; however, the ballad "When Somebody Love Me (The Way I Love You)" is a dozer. "Don't Ever Stop Chasing Your Dreams," has a positive message and made some chart noise, but Fields' voice is unbelievably light, and the song only gets interesting when he stops singing and converses with a five-year-old boy about the lad's goals and dreams. "You Shouldn't Have Made It So Good" and "Goodbye You, Hello Her" are infectious and easy on the ears, but the disco-ish "Let It All Hang Out" is weak. Patrice Rushen joins Fields on "Moody's Mood for Love"; he should have let her sing on more tracks. Fields produced his tracks, but he needed a Motown-ish type producer to wring out the best from him, the musicians, and the vocalists. These tracks -- even the good ones -- are limp and lifeless. ~ Andrew Hamilton