Suckers for good Southern soul know that the Soul Children always serve heaping helpings. Eventually reduced to a trio (they began recording for Stax Records as a quartet), they consisted of J. Blackfoot (John Colbert), Norman West, and Shelbra Bennett. Of the nine songs here, seven are stunners. For some reason, the two weakest cuts are the first two, which should have been the last two songs on the album.
The strongest of the mighty includes “Midnight Sunshine“, a chiller led by Blackfoot about creeping on another man’s woman around midnight, but avoiding each other in the daylight deep soul magic. “Finder’s Keepers” is a fast, sweaty workout about losing your woman to another man, fronted again by Blackfoot in his gutsy, soulful baritone.
The third, “One Broken Home for Sale” led by Bennett, has one of the catchiest choruses you’ll ever hear: “one broken home for sale, furnished and complete for rent or lease, one broken home for sale, no money down, come and browse around.”
Bennett sings the sucker like she’s lived the words, and West and Blackfoot augment her thrilling vocal with seasoned home-cooked blends. Other treats are “We Got to Get Our Thing Together“, also done by the Dells, and the compassionate “I’m Just a Shoulder to Cry On“.
The Soul Children moved to Epic after Stax went bankrupt, and were relegated to a trio when member Shelbra Bennett decided to quit the business. That left Anita Louis as the sole female vocalist in the group, sandwiched between the reliable, stately Norman West and the soaring, roaring J. Blackfoot.
Their first Epic release, ‘Finders Keepers’, contains a surprising amount of southern rawness, even if, overall, the sound on this disc is far more polished than the group’s Stax output. Nevertheless, the barn burning soul rockin’ opener “Highway” nicely countered (if not head-on attacked) the soft soul stylings emanating from Philly.
It’s mainly due to J. Blackfoot’s gospel-drenched vocal aesthetics that the ballads never succumb to sugary-sweet smooth sailing.
He’s all over the dreamy “If You Move I’ll Fall“, and ads a lot of fire to the duet “Goodbye Is Not the Only Way“, a splendid, mid-tempo groover with some cool orchestration. Then again, the loping “We Got to Get Our Thing Together” is a joint venture, with Anita Louis grabbing her share. Sweetest of all probably is the well-crafted mid-tempo ballad “Midnight Sunshine”, while the sole mis-step on this disc comes in the guise of the hideously contrived disco jam “A Little Understanding“.
Far better is the charting title-track… “Finders Keepers” is straight ahead Southern Soul, riding a gutbucket groove and filled with blaring Muscle Shoals-styled horn riffs.
The LP nonetheless closes on a subdued note, with the sentimental “I’m Just a Shoulder to Cry On” – featuring a great solo spot for Norman West – and the brooding lament of “One Broken Home for Sale“.
Polished at times, yes, but still a stellar slice of latter day Southern Soul.
A1. Highway - 3:09
A2. Goodbye Is Not the Only Way - 3:36
A3. We Got to Get Our Thing Together - 4:08
A4. If You Move I’ll Fall - 5:59
B1. A Little Understanding - 3:17
B2. Midnight Sunshine - 3:28
B3. Finders Keepers - 2:52
B4. I’m Just a Shoulder to Cry On - 4:20
B5. One Broken Home for Sale - 5:20
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