Robert Finley ★★★★ Sharecropper’s Son EASY EYE SOUND. CD/DL/LP
Satisfying third from the 66-year-old bluesman from Winnsboro, Louisiana. Producer Dan Auerbach keeps it pleasingly simple on the second album he has recorded with Robert Finley, foregrounding the bluesman’s expressive vocal – from gruff tenor to soulful falsetto – over 10 songs, mainly autobiographical, including two adlibbed live in the studio. With Finley is a top-notch band – guitarist Kenny Brown and bassist Eric Deaton who previously played with Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside; Memphis Boys Bobby Wood and Gene Chrisman on keyboards and drums respectively – keeping the heat turned up high. Make Me Feel Alright is a joyous call and response; Souled Out On You a heartbreaker with deep feeling; Country Child, meanwhile, is pure Hill Country hypnotic boogie. “Always had old folks saying that boy ain’t gonna be no good,” Finley sings on that song. They couldn’t have been more mistaken.
Lois Wilson