Scott Finch & Blues O' Delics

Scott Finch & Blues O' Delics - Live Groove! - 2001 - Akarma Records

Veteran neo-psych legend and Hendrix devotee Scott Finch is best known for his cult psych-rock trio Gypsy. Sorely overlooked Stateside, partly due to his relatively sparse recordings, Scott Finch has been a fixture on the Midwest club circuit since the late ’60s. Scott Finch & Blues-O-Delics recorded this triple LP live in Wisconsin and Italy. The great man, with bassist Peter Alt and drummer Dave Braun, perform a number of originals along with a handful of incredible covers by Hendrix, The Allman Bros., Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Neil Young and Eric Clapton, without tripping up on the expected or paling in their shadow. There are many phenomenal tracks on this album featuring some mind blowing licks. Scott Finch is a Grade A musician and it's about time that the man got the recognition that his contemporaries do. This is a truly great recording and VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Check out Scott's Gods And Freaks album.

TRACKS

1.Scotts Boogie - Scott Finch
2.Haze of Mother Nature - Scott Finch
3.The Velvet Groove - Scott Finch
4.Changer - Scott Finch
5.Close to You - Scott Finch
6.Memory Pain - Percy Mayfield
7.Mass Hate - Scott Finch, Peter Alt
8.Dragnet - Scott Finch
9.I'am Still - Scott Finch
10.Fire - Jimi Hendrix
11.All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan
12.The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix
13.Spanish Castle Magic - Jimi Hendrix
14.Spoonful - Willie Dixon
15.Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon
16.House of the Rising Sun - Josh White, Terry Holmes, Nicholas Diablo Ray
17.Southbound - Dickey Betts
18.Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker
19.Louisina Blues - McKinley Morganfield
20.Tomorrow Never Knows - John Lennon, Paul McCartney
21.Born Under A Bad Sign - William Bell, Booker T. Jones
22.Down by the River - Neil Young
23.Groove King - Scott Finch
24.Jeffs Boogie - Jeff Beck, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith
25.Pie in the Sky - Scott Finch, Deirdre Fellner
26.Guitar Solo - Scott Finch
27.Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix

BAND

Scott Finch Guitar, Vocals
Peter Alt Bass, Vocals, Harmonica
Dave Braun Drums, Vocals

REVIEW

What's the closest thing to Jimi Hendrix? Well, most people would say nobody, and I would tend to agree. If there is one artist that I have heard that plays the late great legend's music like he was born to is Scott Finch. He sounds so similar it's scary. In fact, it's like Scott moves over and let's Jimi take over when he plays the man's music. The music that the group plays that is original material will blow you away too. The last studio recording got you into a velvet groove; now this is the Live Groove baby, and man does it smoke!This dude Finch is like parts of Hendrix, Trower, and E.C. all wrapped tight into one body. His guitar doesn't gently weep mind you, it roars like a hungry lion. This is a two-disc set of live material recorded (2001) in the group's home state of Wisconsin, and in Italy, the home of the label that hosts the power trio, Akarma Records.Disc one is an exhilarating combination of originals that leads you into some classic Hendrix tunes that set you up for disc two, which starts off with the blues classic "Spoonful." The originals, like the leadoff track "Scott's Boogie" cranks; it's pure unadulterated rock n' roll with blues oozing out of the center. "Changer" is the most impressive track on disc one and their version of Jimi's "All Along The Watchtower" is mind boggling, to say the least; it gave me chills. I know that Finch can't be from Wisconsin, he has to be from another galaxy that we haven't discovered yet. Peter Alt on bass, harmonica, and lead vocals is remarkable, and Dave Braun manning the drum kit is a real tiger. I know my focus is mainly on Scott Finch, as it should be. I am sure Scott would say that he couldn't do it on his own. There are three individuals that make one great group, and that's what makes the final product so fantastic. They come together to make relentless and powerful music. Scott is humble and appreciative of any support he gets from his fans, and you can count me as one. He always gives me a thank you in the liner notes of his releases, and that is gratefully appreciated by this writer. Thanks for one hell of a ride again guys, I can't wait for the next trip.
© Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, February 2002, © 2002 ProgressiveWorld.net/Keith Hannaleck

BIO

The guitar hero behind a stream of releases on the Italian Comet label, Scott Finch first came to prominence as a member of Gypsy, a heavily Hendrix-influenced, Milwaukee-based band that emerged in the early '90s.Finch himself was the veteran of bands dating back to the early '60s. One early group was Bamboozle, another was simply named Finch, and as the beat-crazed days of the mid-'60s turned into the stoned, hazed days of 1967, Finch's reputation had reached the ears of the industry big boys. High as they were on the raga-rock rage that was seeping out of the American underground, the band was offered the chance to cut an entire album of the stuff. Incredibly, they turned it down. "If we do that," the bandmembers reasoned, "that's all we'll ever be remembered for."A decade later, Finch was less idealistic. Alongside drummer Gregg Slavik, he was a member of White Lie, a band which apparently spent its entire career living up to its name with a vengeance, leaping onto every musical bandwagon it encountered until it finally landed a record deal. The band's one eponymous album did nothing, however, and White Lie broke up. Finch moved on to the Hot Rods, gigging locally around Milwaukee until 1986 brought White Lie drummer Slavik back into the frame. With bassist Joe Steil completing the lineup, Gypsy debuted, again on a wholly local level, with a self-titled cassette which was recorded partially at Finch's own Velvet Sky studios, partially in concert. Much of this cassette was subsequently re-released on Finch's The Velvet Groove CD; a second tape, The Goddess, is featured on the Haze of Mother Nature compilation. Gigging tirelessly, recording ceaselessly, Gypsy uncaged a third album, People from the Darkside, then slammed together a self-compiled best-of for fans who'd missed out on the rest of the experience. Finally, however, the redundancy of bashing their heads against the walls of record company indifference became too apparent to ignore and Gypsy split in 1991. Finch promptly formed a new band, Illegal Smile, with his brother Tom and drummer Bo Conlin. It was one of several projects which would see him simply "trying to record anything that I thought was cool." None lasted long and in 1992, Finch set to work on a solo album, Pipedreams. In just six days, he completed 36 instrumentals, playing drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards himself -- 16 of them appeared on the finished (and again self-released) album. That project out of his system, he reunited once again with Slavik to form the Waltzing Tunas with bassist Mike Kashou and vocalist Peter Alt; when Kashou quit, to be replaced by Mike Haasch, the band changed its name to Bluehand. (Live cuts by both bands complete the Haze of Mother Nature compilation.) Finch hooked up with the Italian Comet label during the late '90s. Initial releases comprised the aforementioned anthologies; since that time, Finch has unleashed a wealth of additional material, including the live set Live Groove!, recorded with his latest band, the Blues-O-Delics, and an ambitious studio concept album (recorded with a re-formed Gypsy), Revelation. © Dave Thompson, All Music Guide