Robert Finley

The blues and soul late bloomer hails Al Green’s 1972 classic Love And Happiness.

In 1972, I was working as a maintenance man in Houston, mainly fixing up apartments. I was also playing talent shows and local clubs, but it was just a hobby, at weekends, for fun. I wanted to make a living from it, but it’s all about being in the right place at the right time.

In the clubs, I was singing blues, mostly my own songs. I’d use punchlines to make people laugh, so if the audience didn’t like the singing, I’d at least get their attention. I’d heard Al Green on jukeboxes and on the radio, and I just fell for his style of singing, in falsetto, and I found that the more I sung in falsetto, the more audiences reacted. Don’t get me wrong – I love singing baritone or bass, but falsetto sounds more relaxing and touching, because it comes from the heart, and gets into your soul a lot easier. And when you get comfortable in it, there’s no limit to where you can go.

When I heard Al sing Love And Happiness [from the LP I’m Still In Love With You], that’s when he really stuck with me, because love and happiness is what everyone is striving for. When you have captured the audience’s attention, you need to give them something positive, because we have a shortage of love and joy. When you sing, people listen, rather than talking to someone, because they’re always interrupting, or disagreeing with you. So, Al’s words were a great choice, and I loved the way his music told a story – it always had an ending, you could tell what was going on.

I tried to imitate Al, but I wasn’t that good at it. Now that I’m making records myself, one day I might get the chance to sing with him, you never know. You should never quit dreaming, because if you’re satisfied with everything you’ve done, you have no purpose any more.

As told to Martin Aston

Robert Finley’s Sharecropper’s Son – produced by Dan Auerbach – is released on May 21 on Easy Eye Sound.