Size: 103,6 MB
Time: 44:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Blues/Gospel mix
Art: Front
1. I Wanna Thank You (4:41)
2. Praise Him (7:01)
3. Holy Ghost Party (3:23)
4. His Love (7:16)
5. Helping Hand (3:48)
6. Can't Take My Joy (4:10)
7. On The Battlefield (5:55)
8. I Am A Witness (8:34)
Robert Finley has always wanted to do a gospel album, yet like his previous melding of blues, soul, R&B, and gospel, he’s not content to stick too closely to the pure genre. Finley works again with Dan Auerbach on his fourth album for Easy Eye Sound, and essentially gets free rein on Hallelujah! Don’t Let The Devil Fool Ya.
True to his mantra, Finley walked into the studio without any prepared material. His artistry has been honed as a street musician, playing for tips and improvising songs spontaneously. For this session, all he needed was the group of musicians assembled by Auerbach and a few words to spark him. Those musicians are Malcolm Cato (drums), Finley and Barrie Cadogan (guitar), Tommy Rennick (bass), and Ray Jacinto (keys). The words he needed were simply Auerbach saying, “Okay, Robert. Sing something.” Finley’s response was, “It’s scripture. The good Lord said, If you open your mouth, I’ll speak for you.”
Come on now, that sounds too simple. Well, almost. Although they recorded the session in just one day, Auerbach felt that the core call-and-response element of gospel music wasn’t nearly strong enough. He reached out to Finley’s daughter, Christy Johnson, her father’s touring companion, to see if she could provide the missing feeling. That proved to be the right call, with Cindy jokingly adding that it took her two days instead of her dad’s one.
The results make for a record that is hard to peg. Surely, there’s gospel, sometimes raw like Mississippi Fred McDowell and his wife, Annie Mae McDowell. At other times, it is spacey and evokes strains of Afro-futurism. Suffice it to say, this is anything but a traditional gospel record; instead, it’s haunting and penetrating grooves that echo Dr. John and Taj Mahal. It’s difficult seeing James Cleveland, for example, endorsing this brand of gospel. Just the same, that all works in Finley’s favor as it is not that far removed from his three previous critically acclaimed albums. /Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine
True to his mantra, Finley walked into the studio without any prepared material. His artistry has been honed as a street musician, playing for tips and improvising songs spontaneously. For this session, all he needed was the group of musicians assembled by Auerbach and a few words to spark him. Those musicians are Malcolm Cato (drums), Finley and Barrie Cadogan (guitar), Tommy Rennick (bass), and Ray Jacinto (keys). The words he needed were simply Auerbach saying, “Okay, Robert. Sing something.” Finley’s response was, “It’s scripture. The good Lord said, If you open your mouth, I’ll speak for you.”
Come on now, that sounds too simple. Well, almost. Although they recorded the session in just one day, Auerbach felt that the core call-and-response element of gospel music wasn’t nearly strong enough. He reached out to Finley’s daughter, Christy Johnson, her father’s touring companion, to see if she could provide the missing feeling. That proved to be the right call, with Cindy jokingly adding that it took her two days instead of her dad’s one.
The results make for a record that is hard to peg. Surely, there’s gospel, sometimes raw like Mississippi Fred McDowell and his wife, Annie Mae McDowell. At other times, it is spacey and evokes strains of Afro-futurism. Suffice it to say, this is anything but a traditional gospel record; instead, it’s haunting and penetrating grooves that echo Dr. John and Taj Mahal. It’s difficult seeing James Cleveland, for example, endorsing this brand of gospel. Just the same, that all works in Finley’s favor as it is not that far removed from his three previous critically acclaimed albums. /Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine
Hallelujah! Don't Let The Devil Fool Ya mc
Hallelujah! Don't Let The Devil Fool Ya gofile