We live in complicated times. Our political system is in laughable disarray, as is our justice system, and with so much trouble abroad and on the homefront, sometimes it can feel like the world really is going to shit. For Louisiana bluesman Robert Finley, some of life’s most complicated issues are also the most personal, and those are the ones he chooses to sing about. Issues like age (“it don’t mean a thing”) and love are important to Finley, but mostly in the context of sexual relationships. Even at the age of 63 and facing the gradual loss of his vision, Finley’s libido is going strong and his sexual appetite is the subject of most of his songs. Listen to his music and you’ll think he’s a dirty old man, but maybe we all need to be a little more open about our carnal desires, no matter what the age.
Though he’s been playing his own style of “roots soul” for decades, Robert Finley is just now seeing the release of his debut album, the appropriately titled Age Don’t Mean A Thing, which comes out September 30th via the venerable Mississippi label Big Legal Mess (Fat Possum). If there’s one song that embodies Finley’s romantic notions, it’s the southern soul ballad “It It Possible to Love 2 People”, which we are excited to premiere today on Glide Magazine. If the title doesn’t give it away, the sensual, sax-laden tune finds Finley pondering the possibility of loving two women at the same time and making it work. In the song, Finley even consults with a doctor and a psychiatrist, who both tell him he’s lucky he “ain’t already dead” all while accompanied by a soulful arrangement of Memphis-style horns. It’s hard to say if Finley’s question is answered by the end of the song, but you get the sense that he’ll keep right on loving those two women.
Reflecting on the song and the question itself, Finley says optimistically, “A lot of people tell me that it is possible. A lot of people can relate to it. You might care a little more for one than the other, but it’s possible. It’s a special situation when you got kids by two women and a real man take care of his kids. I knew a guy who had kids by two sisters and he took care of all of them. When you start singing about it, and bringing it out into the open, people nod their heads. Hell of a situation. I just sing about life and reality.”
LISTEN:
Robert Finley’s debut album Age Don’t Mean A Thing is out September 30th via Big Legal Mess (Fat Possum). To order the album and find out more visit biglegalmessrecords.com.
Photo Credit: Aaron Greenhood, Music Maker Relief Foundation
