"Fields of Gold" by Sting (Cover)

[Glennwillow]

This is my cover of the well known song by Gordon Sumner (Sting), "Fields of Gold." The guitar is my Collings OM1A with dread depth body, D'Addario EJ16 (PB, light) strings. I am playing the guitar on capo 5 essentially in Em, same pitch as Sting (he played it in Asus2, essentially Am, no capo). Since I am playing this song solo, I phrased the song quite a bit more and took more than a few liberties with the beat and tempo, perhaps similar to the way Eva Cassidy played this song.

Back in 2004 I recorded this song as a multi-track piece for an album for my father's 82nd birthday, and back then I played it much more like Sting did it. Here it is after uploading an mp3 to Soundcloud...


But as I have aged, a song like this one seems to impact me more, and I couldn't help slowing it down and feeling the lyrics more.

I hope you like this... Thanks so much for listening!

- Glenn

[larryjoh814]

Once again, you set the bar high. Pretty soon you'll have an entire set of fine tunes on Show and Tell.
It would be great if you could find a venue like I have, where I play once monthly, and it's a listening audience for the most part. The same folks come back each time at La Costa Coffee Roasting and sometimes request the songs you play so well.
Get out there, man, you have a product that must be shared.

[Rogerblair]

Great job, Glenn. Again, your energy carries the song when it might falter otherwise. Another "singers song", in my opinion. The Collings sound works well...strong and crystalline.

This another one that Eva Cassidy did such a marvelous job with.

Roger

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by larryjoh814

Once again, you set the bar high. Pretty soon you'll have an entire set of fine tunes on Show and Tell.
It would be great if you could find a venue like I have, where I play once monthly, and it's a listening audience for the most part. The same folks come back each time at La Costa Coffee Roasting and sometimes request the songs you play so well.
Get out there, man, you have a product that must be shared.

Hi Larry,

Thank you so very much for your generous comments! I'm really glad you approve of the way I performed this song, particularly when you are doing this kind of thing live. Good for you!

San Diego would be a great place to play. The downtown area there is so alive!

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen and comment!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

Great job, Glenn. Again, your energy carries the song when it might falter otherwise. Another "singers song", in my opinion. The Collings sound works well...strong and crystalline.

This another one that Eva Cassidy did such a marvelous job with.

Roger

Hi Roger,

Thank you for your insightful comments, Roger! I'm very pleased that you liked this. It is a singer's song; it's a tough one to sing on key and the vocal jumps are always a challenge. Instrumentally the song is fairly straightforward and not all that complicated.

And when I think of singers, Eva Cassidy certainly jumps into my mind, particularly the way she played and sang this song. She had such an incredible voice that you could somehow listen right through into her heart.

Thanks for listening and commenting, Roger!

- Glenn

[bickb]

My favourite song! Top stuff, Glenn. The intro was really nice aswell.

Next up message in a bottle?

[Kerbie]

Outstanding, Glenn... one of my very favorite Sting tunes! I like that and I love that OM1A. Very well done. I've thought about doing that as an instrumental, but haven't followed through. Maybe I should...

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by bickb

My favourite song! Top stuff, Glenn. The intro was really nice aswell.

Next up message in a bottle?

Thank you Rick! I'm very pleased that you liked this!

I'm going to have to think about "Message In A Bottle" and how to do that acoustically. Hmmm...

Thanks again, Rick!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Outstanding, Glenn... one of my very favorite Sting tunes! I like that and I love that OM1A. Very well done. I've thought about doing that as an instrumental, but haven't followed through. Maybe I should...

Thank you Kerbie!

I always appreciate your comments! You are such a reliable listener!

I also thought the OM1A sounded very good on this piece. And it's been a while since I've played it. And then I'm always reminded of how good it sounds!

There are a lot of instrumental versions of "Fields of Gold" on YouTube. Pete Huttlinger has a nice video up on this,... and there are others. Good luck! It has a very recognizable melody so it's a good one to do.

Thanks again, Kerbie!
- Glenn

[riorider]

Brilliant, Glenn - another of my favorite tunes, both the original and especially Eva's version. And now I add yours. I was immediately "captured" - "enchanted" - "mesmerized" (great word but harse sounding!) - by your introduction.

I've played an OM1 (not A) in a good acoustic shop once... that guitar still haunts me, no matter how many other incredibly good guitars I have owned and played. I (still) think the mahogany gets "out of the way" of the voice and provides a solid, simple, elegant foundation for accompaniment. (hence the "mahoganut" in my signature....!!). I'll admit easily that rosewood adds bloom and depth - but for vocal accompaniment mahogany is my favorite.

And you combine great playing with focused and intense feeling into a great production. Thanks - once again - for sharing!!

Blessings,
Phil

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by riorider

Brilliant, Glenn - another of my favorite tunes, both the original and especially Eva's version. And now I add yours. I was immediately "captured" - "enchanted" - "mesmerized" (great word but harse sounding!) - by your introduction.

I've played an OM1 (not A) in a good acoustic shop once... that guitar still haunts me, no matter how many other incredibly good guitars I have owned and played. I (still) think the mahogany gets "out of the way" of the voice and provides a solid, simple, elegant foundation for accompaniment. (hence the "mahoganut" in my signature....!!). I'll admit easily that rosewood adds bloom and depth - but for vocal accompaniment mahogany is my favorite.

And you combine great playing with focused and intense feeling into a great production. Thanks - once again - for sharing!!

Blessings,
Phil

Hi Phil,

Thank you so much for the very kind words, Phil! I'm extremely gratified and humbled, really, to be included with Sting and Eva Cassidy among your favorite versions of this song, "Fields of Gold."

That comment makes my day! So thank you!

Regarding the Collings OM1, I truly understand your comments about mahogany and the OM1, in particular. The version I am playing is a custom dread-depth version made for Griffin Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, CA. I was down there for a wedding in 2009 and played this guitar, walked away from it to my wife's protests (she thought I should buy it right then and there), and then when I got home, I called them up and purchased it.

I don't want to derail this thread away from "Fields of Gold" too far, but if you are interested in another recording on this same guitar, this thread featured this same Collings OM1ADB. Notice how much clear bass this guitar has, even on capo 2.

And thank you for your comments on the "Fields of Gold" intro. I don't know how obvious it is, but I changed the arrangement to add what are for me some unusual voicings to the song, starting at 0:29 going until about 0:39, as just one example. These chords are, as best I can make out, first an Em7addb5, and then a Cadd9addb5. I borrowed (or stole) these voicings from Tommy Emmanuel, taken from his intro to his piece, "It's Never Too Late," (see 0:20-0:30 for Tommy's intro) which he plays with a Travis pick on capo 2. I'm not using a Travis pick and I am playing different strings, so it doesn't sound like a dead-on copy, but Tommy was the inspiration behind this choice.

I used these chords because I was trying to find some voicings that made it easier to sing the verses. This combination of voicings really helped me and added kind of an ethereal sound to the intro, the ending, and the beginnings of each verse, at least for me.

Thanks again, Phil, for your generous comments!

- Glenn

[Nailpicker]

Very nice Glenn. An incredibly professional sounding production. I actually like it better than Sting's.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Nailpicker

Very nice Glenn. An incredibly professional sounding production. I actually like it better than Sting's.

Hi Nailpicker,

Great to hear from you! And what a lovely thing for you to write! I am very honored that you liked this version so well! I am so glad!!!

- Glenn

[reeve21]

I really liked both versions, Glenn!

The recent version is one of your most emotionally compelling vocals.

Thanks for sharing them both!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by reeve21

I really liked both versions, Glenn!

The recent version is one of your most emotionally compelling vocals.

Thanks for sharing them both!

Hi Bob,

Thanks for taking the time to listen. And I very much appreciate your comments.

Regarding my performance of the song on video being emotionally compelling, I don't think I realized quite how emotionally invested I was in the performance of this song until I watched the video playback.

I think it's just age and experience; at this stage of my life I really do find myself looking back a lot and thinking about all that has happened. My wife and I have been very fortunate over the 47 years we've been married. I'm very grateful and thankful for that.

Thanks so much for commenting, Bob!

- Glenn