Review: Robert Finley ‘Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya’

Review: Robert Finley ‘Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya’

By Hal Horowitz

The lines between gospel, soul, blues, rock and funk have always been blurry. Stars such as Aretha, Tina Turner, Mavis Staples, Sam Cooke and dozens more honed their talents in church before moving onto superstardom in more secular arenas. That’s the path soul/bluesman Robert Finley has also taken on his previous four albums, all of which included at least one rearranged gospel song.

The now 71-year old singer/songwriter/guitarist got a late start on his music career, releasing his debut in 2016 at the age of 62. Nine years later we welcome ‘Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya’, his fifth recording out October 10. Like the previous three, it’s helmed by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, appearing on his Easy Eye label.

Finley jumps into the gospel ring as each of these eight tunes pays lyrical tribute to a higher power. But the music, which emerged in a single day of impromptu studio jams, is bathed in tough, swampy funk and gritty soul. Finley’s gruff vocals and lyrics are entirely improvised, the backing players latch onto his soul/funk groove, and the resulting 45 minutes is more an invitation to get-down and par-tay than attend a stodgy Sunday service.

If you didn’t know this was a gospel set, songs like “Can’t Take My Joy” with its breathless, chugging riff, backing vocals (from Finley’s daughter and granddaughter) and almost psychedelic vibe don’t seem like they would be welcome at any holy gathering. Rather, this might have been grabbed from a 70s James Brown session if he had recorded in Mississippi.

Finley, puts down his guitar to focus exclusively on vocals. He grunts, roars and hollers lyrics that seesaw between exhortations to revelry (“I came here to have a good time”), and religious ones (“I’m going to go to the altar, kneel down and pray”). It’s that balance between the sacred and worldly that creates this music’s often sensual, always gripping, power.

Selections like “I Am a Witness” open with a tasty lick that the band, which often includes horns, digs into like a dog chomping on a steak. And if you ignore the lyrics, it’s easy to forget the strong spiritual side here. Even scorching ballads such as “His Love” and the smoother “Praise Him,” which might have been a Teddy Pendergrass or O’Jays deep track, seem more like classic 70s soul hits than anything appealing to a higher power… until you read the words.

The tapping rhythm that pushes “Holy Ghost Party” (even the title connects the frisky get-down approach with its churchy concepts) and near free-form, mind-expanding playing seem grabbed from the Chambers Brothers’ “Time Has Come Today” era. Other connections reference that 60s band who also combined their devout and non-spiritual sides.

The mood gets funky for “On the Battlefield” as harmonica joins the fun, bringing even more lubricant to this already greasy festival.

But it’s Finley’s gutsy, gravelly vocals– similar to those of Taj Mahal– Ray Jacildo’s pealing keyboards, and Auerbach’s stabbing guitar, that push these inspired jams into the red. Even though three titles clock in at over seven minutes, nothing seems extended.

Finley’s stirring, unrehearsed performance would make any preacher jealous and the driving, often percussive rhythms get under your skin and into your bones in a way that’s transcendent and physical.

It’s impossible to stay seated as the appropriately titled ‘Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya’ builds to an intense climax comparable, and often better than, any fervent backwoods revival.

Somebody say “Amen”!

Watch “I Wanna Thank You”