Emmett Finley – S/T

It still stymies me the quality reissues that remain to be dug up vs. some of the completely rote roster rock that finds its way back to the shelves each RSD cycle. Still, there are some out there doing the good work and UK label Big Potato has had a few such entires in their stable over the years. Case in point is this 1971 eponymous LP from Emmett Finley. The songwriter’s sole album mixes shaggy, late ‘60s folk and blues touches with a preference for gospel harmonies. His Neil Young and (at times) Roger Daltry timbres and guitar flash should have made him a household name at the time, but Finely seemed to be in his own way more than anything. The record was released on Poison Ring Records, a small imprint run by Trod Nossel Productions. The label had some odds and ends in their stable, but nothing that quite lived up to the quality of Finley’s record.

The record attracted the attention of CBS Records, and Finley got so far as to get into talks with the label about recording a follow-up. He’d never complete the deal, though, walking away to study classical guitar under Leonid Bolotine, but he’d not pursue it as a recording interest. I’d first heard of Finley through the Sad About The Times comp that Anthology put out a few years back, but coming across the full album was definitely a case in stumbling on something that was too good to be hidden away. It seems that Finley himself has returned to his rock roots, discussing his years prior to and during the recording of the album on his own site in the past few years. This official reissue seems like the natural conclusion to that process. It’s a lost gem that’s got a lot of built in appeal, not only for the folk and AOR crowd, but for the fusion heads as well. There’s a feeling that had he continued, the sound would certainly have crossed into proggier waters. It’s great to see this one get a new life on LP.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.