"The Oreos"
If you know the music of Barbra Streisand from the 70s, then you know the voices of Clydie King and Venetta Fields. Their contributions as Barbra's backup singers on three of her albums from that decade helped Barbra enjoy success during her brief foray into the world of rock music. King and Fields were in the studio in early 1971 when Barbra recorded "Stoney End," her biggest single of that period, along with several other cuts from the Stoney End album such as "Hands Off the Man," "No Easy Way Down" and "Time and Love."

Following the enormous success of the Stoney End album, Barbra released Barbra Joan Streisand in late 1971. Venetta Fields and Clydie King were back with Barbra, and their distinctive stylings are presented on such tracks as "Where You Lead" and "Space Captain." And when it came time to perform for presidential candidate George McGovern in April of 1972, Barbra brought her singers along to the Los Angeles Forum. They performed on stage with Barbra (and on the subsequent Live Concert at the Forum album) during several numbers, most notably "Sweet Inspiration/Where You Lead."

In 1976, we got our first up-close look of the King/Fields/Streisand dynamic. Barbra's favorite session singers were cast in "A Star Is Born" in familiar roles. Along with Barbra, Clydie and Venetta were known as "The Oreos." Their performances with Barbra, particularly on "Queen Bee" and "Woman In the Moon" were some of the many delightful highlights of this breakout Streisand film.

In an interesting side note, Venetta Fields and Clydie King performed as a hybrid version of "The Oreos" following their appearance in "A Star Is Born." Together with singer Sherlie Mathews, the trio billed themselves as The Orioles and sang backup on "Luna Sea," a 1977 country rock album by the group, Fiirefall..


Venetta Fields
Venetta Fields has resided in Australia since the 1980s, so it was only natural that Barbra would call on her to perform during her "Timeless" concerts in Sydney and Melbourne. Venetta and Barbra reunited during riveting renditions of "The Main Event" in each of those cities. Those of us who know of the musical history between these two performers were particularly delighted when Barbra first introduced Venetta Fields to her Australian audience at her opening night performance of "Timeless" in Sydney: "This is Venetta Fields. We worked together on "A Star Is Born" 25 years ago. We were called 'The Oreos' "

Fields has an impressive resume, even if you don't count her work with Streisand. She has performed with the likes of Ike & Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and Neil Diamond. During the 1980s, Fields founded the singing group known as "Venetta's Taxi" while continuing her career as a back-up singer. It was around this time when Fields discovered the theatre. She performed in several Australian musical productions ("Chess" and "Big River") along with a few dramatic turns ("The Crucible" and "The Racing Demon").

Today, Venetta Fields lives in Queensland, Australia. She works as a song writer, vocal coach, and vocal performer. She currently has an album in release called At Last.

Watch a Venetta Fields solo performance on the Australian television show "RocKwiz."


Clydie King
Discovered in 1956 by song writer Richard Berry and later championed by noted record producer Phil Spector, Clydie King was the quintessential girl group singer from that period. Her own group, "Little Clydie and the Teens" and several solo albums paved the way for Clydie's more successful career as a backup singer. King partnered up with other session artists, most notably Venetta Fields and Sherlie Mathews and sang backup for some of the most iconic performers of all time such as Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, The Rolling Stones and Linda Ronstadt. Clydie King was even a member of Ray Charles' back-up group, The Raeletts.

King worked tirelessly as a back-up singer well into the 2000s. Today, Clydie King is in retirement.

Watch a Clydie King solo performance from the 1965 television show "Shindig!".