Before I begin I must send a word of thanks to the legend that is Jools Holland who has been responsible for two of the best gigs I have seen. The first was at Harrogate Conference Centre just pre-Covid when I went along to see his annual pre-Christmas Rhythm and Blues show; the second was this offering at Howard Assembly Room in Leeds. Mr Holland was not playing but, had it not been for his television programme, Later, I would not have made the trip into Leeds to see Robert Finley, who featured on the show last November.
Judging by his name, you could be forgiven for thinking that Mr Finley was a bank manager or, if you knew he was a musician, perhaps the cellist in a string quartet. In fact he is a black American blues and soul singer, guitarist and master of his craft. As a fan of this genre, I couldn’t believe that I had never come across his work before; he is 72 years-old so, whilst not an exact contemporary of people like Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Wilson Pickett, he was near enough for his career to have overlapped theirs for quite some time. It was not until I researched him for this article that I found out he only performed semi-professionally at first, and then took a break from music, resuming the profession seriously in 2016 when he released his first album, Age Don’t Mean A Thing. All I can say is that the world was deprived of a brilliant performer for far too long. You will see later – no pun intended, for once – that it is only a matter of luck that we can witness his performances now.
The brilliant musicians in the band.
He was born in Bernice, Louisiana where he taught himself to play the guitar by going to see local gospel groups, sitting on the front row where he could watch the musicians’ fingers. He joined the US Army, ostensibly as a helicopter technician, and was sent to Germany where he was co-opted into the army band as a guitarist. On discharge he became a part-time busker to augment his wages as a carpenter, a career he had to abandon in 2015 when his eyesight deteriorate so much that he was declared legally blind. He was helped by a charity, Music Maker Relief Foundation, formed to help aging blues musicians, who heard him busking in Arkansas and got him on package tours supporting other acts. In 2019 he entered America’s Got Talent where he made the semi-finals, singing Get It While You Can, a version of which we were treated to in this concert. To see his performance on AGT, please go to https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=06a5c6fbedc9f216&sxsrf=ANbL-n4wa_r-FnnuJIlAmWB0zI5dlmSR3g:1778423407722&q=robert+finley+get+it+while+you+can&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLVT9c3NEw3y8uyzDGKV4Jw04zMUkyLq5K0BH1LizOTHYtKMotLQvKD8_PSF7EqFeUnpRaVKKRl5uWkViqkp5YoZJYolGdk5qQqVOaXKiQn5gEAE__2T1gAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjq3ei7966UAxUAXUEAHYFlLEYQri56BAg-EAo&cshid=1778425589183&biw=562&bih=956&dpr=2#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8e548b40,vid:2P76OJJOGhc,st:0 There were not as many in the audience at Howard Assembly Room but the noise and the love were just as evident. By the way, the woman in the video is his daughter, who helps him on stage, and is no mean singer herself.
Daughter, Christy Johnson, singing an emotional song called My Father’s Keeper, leaving not a dry eye in the house, including the four in this photo – and the two of the photographer.
As well as his daughter, he was backed by a brilliant English band, who you can see on this clip from the aforementioned Later with Jools Holland, singing one of the slower, more soulful songs we were treated to. It was only a three piece on the evening but still as powerful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBs_46N0G90
In addition to the music we were regaled with reminiscences, all of which were related in a humorous manner, even though some of them were far from funny as, being the son of a share cropper he had a hard childhood, not even being able to get a formal education as he had to work on the farm rather than attend school. The only respite was on Sunday when the family would go to church and join in the singing.
Sadly, the British leg of his tour has now ended, although he returns at the end of August for two gigs in London with The Black Keys. For a full list of venues throughout the world, and to find out more about the man himself, please go to https://robertfinleyofficial.com/ and, should you get half a chance, please do try to catch one of his gigs – you can thank me after.
Now, you know I can’t write a review without finding something to complain about, and surprisingly, this is no exception. The great Mr Finley is obviously not in the first flush of youth, a fact he kept banging on about all evening, reminding us of how mortality catches up with everybody sooner or later. I can’t argue with him but it didn’t add to the carefree enjoyment of the concert hearing this from somebody who is four years younger than I am! Cheers mate. While everyone is hopefully going online to book a ticket for your shows I will be making a reservation with Pure Cremations.
To see what other treats Howard Assembly Room has in store, please go to https://www.operanorth.co.uk/event-tag/har/
Feature image from Howard Assembly Room. Photographs by Stan Graham
Tyke It To The Limit 