The Finchley Boys - Everlasting Tributes (Remastered, 2CD Deluxe Edition) (1972/2016)

In the mid 1960s Champaign became the epicenter of a regional music explosion and a Mecca for professional musicians. In March of 1968 the Finchley Boys lineup was established that led the way in blues-oriented and original progressive music. George Faber , Larry Tabeling, J. Michael Powers, and Garrett Oostdyk took their innovative sounds and dynamic stage show to new fans in virtually every college campus, concert hall, and teen center in Illinois. Other Midwestern states followed – Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri and Ohio – and then on to New York, Toronto and San Francisco. One of their most highly-acclaimed shows, reported on the front page of the Chicago Tribune as the concerts breakout performance, was as one of the top acts at the Kickapoo Creek Rock Festival. Joining them were Canned Heat, B.B. King, Delaney and Bonnie, and other music legends on that Memorial Day weekend in 1970.

Known for their great live shows and theatrical antics – including a live boa constrictor five years before Alice Cooper made it famous – the Finchley Boys were considered ahead of their time. They started recording in the fall of 1968 and throughout 1969. Those songs would not be heard until 1972 with the release of Everlasting Tributes. By 1983, already a top collector's item, the album would be bootlegged on vinyl and then CD. Several songs were culled from the recordings and added to various compilation albums and CDs. The popular album was bootlegged again on CD twice in 2004.

Over the years, there have been several legitimate requests to re-release Everlasting Tributes and this year the band has agreed to allow a re-mastered vinyl release on ANAZITISI Records in Europe and a CD by Parasol Records in the U.S. These new releases, along with lots of buzz on the Internet, created a passion to put the band back together. No one could think of a better venue to bring back the Everlasting Tributes line up, for the first time since 1970, than the place they started – Champaign, Illinois.