Hit And Run Records is reissuing two little-known sides from Dallas, TX,
by Eddie Finley who released only two known singles. One billed as simply
Eddie Finley, "Sad Honored Night" (a stunning deep soul ballad which you would do well to find a better
one) and the other as Eddie Finley & The Cincinnati Show Band., "Treat Me Right Or Leave Me Alone". In fact Garry commented on Richard Marks release notes that the flip to
that was "possibly one of the greatest deep soul couplings ever released". I think I'd 'challenge' him on that as personally, I believe that
this coupling is even better!
It is not known for sure which was first as the Rapturea catalogue
numbering sequence is different but the latter is dated as 1970 on Discogs
and 1971 on 45Cat (which is generally more reliable).
Rapturea had a sister label Hosanna which was exclusively gospel
recordings and Eddie Finley's two singles are two of only a few secular
recordings on Rapturea. The flip side of "Sad Honored Night" was an instrumental "Heavy Hips" by The Creations Band whilst the flip to
"Treat Me Right Or Leave Me Alone", "Clean Up Man" is a raw early 70s funk tune.
The last copy of "Sad Honored Night" listed on Popsike went for almost
$3,000
and I could only find two listings for his other 45 with one selling for $1,250. Both sides of the Eddie Finley & The Cincinnati Show Band single have featured on
compilations by Now-Again Records but, as far as I'm aware, "Sad Honored
Night" hasn't so this is a very welcome release for us mortals who have no
way of acquiring the record otherwise.
"Sad Honoured Night" is actually a misnomer as what Eddie actually sings
is Sad Autumn Night", so it is a label misprint and, as Garry notes, what
chance did the single have with so little attention to detail?
This is what deep soul aficionado John Ridley at
sirshambling writes about Eddie Finley:
On the obscure Rapturea label from Dallas, TX comes the screaming
Eddie Finley. I’ve absolutely no idea which disc was issued first
but I’ll take them in numerical order. Sad Honored Night is the sort
of deep soul that the heavy hitters go for. No concessions to
sweetening or a pretty melody, this is as raw and as tough as they
come. Eddie’s voice is cracked with emotion and he breaks into an
almost uncontrollable passion as the song reaches its climax.
Treat Me Right Or Leave Me Alone is very much in the same vein, but
without quite the same authority or intensity. The “wah wah” guitar
rather distracts attention, but Eddie is still a notch or two above
most other vocalists when it comes to the sheer force of his of
fervour and excitement. Just check out those screams! In your face
just doesn’t cover this sort of soul music. The very funky flip (not
the Jimmy “Bo” Horne song) has found favour with some devotees of
the genre.
Finley performed often with the unrecorded Apollo Commanders (a
Dallas band). The Cincinnati Show Band who back Finley on his
Rapturea records were actually from Cincinnati, as members Allen
Perry and Larry Lesley (formerly of the New Dapps) relocated to
Texas in the early 70s. The CSB would later become the Conspiracy
(with a 45 on True Soul from Little Rock, AR) to some extent.
An update to the last paragraph because, as of 2003 (I've no idea
when the above was written), there is a compilation "The South Dallas Funk Festival' 1970" which includes several recordings by The Apollo Commanders, two of
which feature Eddie Finley, released by those good fellas at
Now-Again.
You can buy from your favourite purveyor of vinyl or direct from Hit And Run by sending £12 + £3 P&P (UK only and good for 3 records) via PayPal (Friends & family) to hitandrunsoul45@gmail.com
| Rating: | 9.5 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Deep Soul |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | 7" |
| Label: | Hit and Run |
| Cat No: | HR 1536 |
| Date: | 11/03/2022 |
| Key/BPM: | N/A |
| Value: | £12 + £3 P&P (UK) |
No comments:
Post a Comment