CLASSIC COUNTRY. ROCK N' ROLL Says Local Musician Junior Fields: 'I Sing What I Can Do' BY SUSAN USHER Music is the constant, like a rib bon .woven through the fabric of Junior Fields' life. It's never far away. He "sang a few songs" for the grand opening of his compact disc business this past summer in Shal lotte. And he performs about once a month in the "social quarters," not the big room, of the Shallotte Moose Lodge. And he'll be singing Saturday af ternoon at the N.C. Oyster Festival. Fields' one-hour show will feature a mix of classic "older" country tunes as well as the rock and roll from the 1950s and "60s he once played while fronting for Bill Haley. "I'm country." he says matter-of factly. "I sing what 1 can do." That eliminates some newer tunes with higher pitches. He pre fers to sing in the smooth, low tones best characterized by "l or The Good Times" Ray Price, his No. 1 performer any time. "He's my all-time favorite. I don't go to concerts. But if Ray Price came to town for a concert I'd go to it." "He's my all-time idol, my hero, in music," Fields says, taking a break at the table in back of the mu sic store he and his partner, Susan Herlocker, operate in Shallotte. Mis voice pours rich, low and on the slow side, thin blackstrap molasses. His appearance is also low key and comfortable: blue jeans, an open-necked knit shirt with a thin gold chain barely showing, a heavy gold watch arid few rings. The salt and pepper mustache and beard are trim, hair neatly combed and shoul der length in back. Fields is a native of coal mining country, Man, W.Va.. but has spent most of his time on the Fast Coast, often in the auto body shop busi ness but dabbling in other interests as well. Always, though. Junior Fields re turns to the music he loves with its stories of love and loss, hard times and good times. After getting out of the U.S. Army Engineers in New Jersey, he stayed, building a life that others may have envied. At one time he owned two body shops in different < ?n Shore PROPERTIES. INC. DOWNTOWN SHALLOTTE-PO Box 352, Shallotte, NC 28459 Located in the white two-story colonial home, across from Hardee's 919-754-2224 7 INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY LOT Bulkheaded, yacht basin, septic tank, co. water in restricted home devel. $79,900 am ?? - ? - ' * - ' - ? IB <1 ' SHALLOTTE PT. INLET-lntracoastal Waterway. Approx. 2 acres w/268 water frontage. Will divide Reduced $297,000. OTHER LISTINGS Intracoastal Lots... $49, 900 and up ? River Lots. ..$25,000 and up Residential Lots...$1 1 ,000 and up ? Mobile Home lots. ..$4,000 and up 8 Acres-Residential/Commercial $54,900 Commercial Lots and Acreage. Call VIEW OF ICW-3 BR, 2 baths on 2 lots, large den w/FP and cathedral ceiling loft, large utility. Only $79,800 COPAS SHORES-2-BR, 2-bath cedar siding home. 1350 SF. Cathedral ceiling, skylight, FP, deck $69,900 ON APPROX. 1 ACRE-Brick ranch w/1400 SF, 3 BR. 1 bath, 2 half baths, den w/FP completely refurbished Reduced $59,900 VIEW OF RIVER-Split level 4 BR, 3 baths, 2100 SF. Garage, screened porch, deck. A lot of house for $89,900 LITTLE SHALLOTTE RIVER EST.-90 ft water frontage w/pier. 3 yr old 2 BR, 15 baths, parquet floors. Bargain at $99,900 VILLAGE PT. ESTATES-3 BR, 2 baths, 2-car garage, skylights, fire place, deck Only $93,900 CI993 TH1 HHUNSWICK HI A(.I>N towns, a taxi service and a restau rant. And there was always his mu sic. Weekends he played smoke tilled clubs along the East Coast circuit. Along the way he worked briefly with Bill Haley & The Comets, fronting, warming up the band be fore Haley's shows when he toured two months or so out of the year. Other times Fields played with the same btind. but had to use a differ ent name. "We were 'Junior Fields & The Night Owls,' but everybody knew it was them," he said. In the early 1970s he was help ing the Sunset View Inn build from a show audience of 1 ( K) or so on a good night to major club status fea turing top name country shows. He had the house band, playing front for the likes of Barbara Mandrell early in her career to Grandpa Jones, Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow. "I would take a gamble on any thing that had a chance of making any money," he said of those "wild and young" days. But running on 15 hours of sleep week after week took its inevitable toll. "I had a wife and three children. They had everything they wanted except a father and a husband." It wasn't enough. A second, 17-year marriage brought him to Goldsboro, where he ran a body shop business, and later to the Shallotte area. He teamed with his brother-in-law to learn the electrical business as em ployees of a Greensboro contractor. A declining economy nipped the idea of opening a business of their own. Single again, Fields maintains the paperwork end of a vinyl siding venture handled by another partner, and finds time to serve on the Brunswick County Board of Health, addressing controversial is sues such as a proposed county wide smoking ordinance. Mainly, though, music is his business these days as well as his avocation. W+. ? i 1 % STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER OYSTER FESTIVAL ENTERTAINER Junior Fields will share the music favored by early "baby boomers," classic country hits and the rock '/i ' roll sound that propelled Bill Haley & The Comets into the limelight. {Best Bent-Grass Greens on the Strand! ~! AFTER 12:00 PM, $30 GREEN FEE & CART Annual Memberships $300 Per Person $450 Per Couple ?Group rates available on request ?Local rate $10 greens fee (with Brunswick