Mike Finnigan

American keyboard player (1945–2021)

Rock
R&B
jazz
blues

Occupation(s)Session musicianInstrument(s)Keyboards, vocals

Musical artist

Michael Kelly Finnigan (April 26, 1945 – August 11, 2021) was an American keyboard player and vocalist, his speciality being the B3 Hammond organ. Working primarily as a freelance studio musician and touring player, he played with a wide variety of musicians in pop, rock, blues and jazz.

Life and career

Finnigan was born in Troy, Ohio, and attended the University of Kansas on a basketball scholarship.^[1]

Finnigan toured with and sessioned for Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Sam Moore, Crosby Stills and Nash, Dave Mason, Buddy Guy, The Manhattan Transfer, Taj Mahal, Michael McDonald, Maria Muldaur, Peter Frampton, Cher, Ringo Starr, Leonard Cohen, Tower of Power, Rod Stewart, David Coverdale, Tracy Chapman, Los Lonely Boys, and Bonnie Raitt.

Finnigan recorded Early Bird Cafe with the Serfs in the late 1960s, with Tom Wilson producing. The Serfs were the house band at a nightclub in Wichita, Kansas at the time. He then toured and cut an album with Jerry Hahn, The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood released in 1970. He recorded two solo records in the 1970s, one with Jerry Wood. He later collaborated with two other Columbia artists, Les Dudek and Jim Krueger, with whom he formed the DFK Band (Dudek, Finnigan, and Krueger) in 1978. Subsequently, his work featured on a CD by the Finnigan Brothers (NashFilms Records), a collaboration with his younger brother Sean and founding member of Bread, Robb Royer.

Finnigan was twice a winner of a Blues Music Award (formerly W.C. Handy Award) for his work with Taj Mahal as a member of the Phantom Blues Band.^[2]^[3] He was always active politically and was, for several years, a regular contributor to the weblog Crooks and Liars.^[4] In 2013 and 2014, he was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Pinetop Perkins Piano Player' category.^[5]^[6]

Personal life

He was married for 50 years to Candy Finnigan, an intervention counselor who appeared on the television show Intervention. They have two children: a daughter, Bridget, and a son, Kelly.^[7] Finnigan was an active blogger, with a fondness for liberal/progressive causes and commentary.^[8]

Death

Finnigan died from liver cancer on August 11, 2021, in Los Angeles at the age of 76.^[1]

Partial discography

1969: The Serfs – The Early Bird Cafe, Capitol Records
1968: Jimi Hendrix – Electric Ladyland
1970: Jerry Hahn – The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood
1971: Tommy Bolin – Whirlwind^[9]^[10]
1971: Big Brother and the Holding Company – How Hard It Is
1972: Finnigan and Wood – Crazed Hipsters
1974: Dave Mason – Dave Mason
1976: Mike Finnigan – Mike Finnigan, Warner Bros. Records
1977: Peter Frampton – I'm in You
1977: Dave Mason – Let It Flow
1978: Ben Sidran – A Little Kiss in the Night
1978: Les Dudek – Ghost Town Parade
1978: Mike Finnigan – Black & White, Columbia Records
1978: Jim Krueger – Sweet Salvation
1979: The Dudek Finnigan Krueger Band – Special Tour Sampler
1980: Cher – Black Rose^[11]
1982: Crosby, Stills & Nash – Daylight Again
1983: Crosby, Stills & Nash – Allies
1984: Stephen Stills – Right By You
1988: Crosby, Stills & Nash & Young – American Dream
1993: I Mother Earth – Dig
1993: Buddy Guy – Feels Like Rain
1994: Crosby, Stills & Nash – After the Storm
2000: Tracy Chapman – Telling Stories
2000: David Coverdale – Into the Light
2004: The Mooney Suzuki – Alive & Amplified^[12]^[13]
2005: Taj Mahal – Taj Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band: Live in St. Lucia
2006: The Phantom Blues Band – Out of the Shadows
2006: Keb' Mo' – Suitcase
2007: Zen Blues Quartet – Again and Yet Again
2007: Joe Cocker – Hymn for My Soul
2007: The Phantom Blues Band – Footprints
2008: The Eclectic Beast Band – Living the Music
2010: Various Artists: The Imus Ranch Record II – "Part Time Love" (with the Phantom Blues Band)
2010: Mike Finnigan – Mike Finnigan [reissue], Wounded Bird Records^[14]^[15]
2010: Willie Basse – Break Away
2011: Finnigan and Wood – It's Only a Rock and Roll Show (recorded 1971, previously unreleased)
2011: Trampled Under Foot – Wrong Side of the Blues
2011: The Phantom Blues Band – Inside Out
2012: Bonnie Raitt – Slipstream
2013: Eric Burdon – 'Til Your River Runs Dry
2013: Kara Grainger – Shiver & Sigh
2014: Trampled Under Foot – Badlands
2014: Dave Mason – Future's Past^[16]^[17]
2014: Hilary Scott – Freight Train Love^[18]
2016: Annika Chambers – Wild & Free^[19]
2017: Danielle Nicole – Cry No More, Concord Records^[20]
2018: Jay-Bee & the Ultratone Allstars – Life Ain't Got No Shortcuts
2020: The Phantom Blues Band – Still Cookin'
2022: L.A.X. LaRue-Alexander

References

^ ^a ^b Writers, CelebrityAccess Staff (2021-08-11). "Legendary Keyboardist & Session Player Mike Finnigan Dead At 76". CelebrityAccess. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
^ "Past Blues Music Awards (2001) – 22nd W.C. Handy Blues Awards". Blues.org. Archived from the original on 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
^ "Past Blues Music Awards (1994) – 15th W.C. Handy Blues Awards". Blues.org. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
^ Amato, John. "Crooks and Liars". Crooks and Liars. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
^ "Blues Music Awards Nominees – 2013 – 34th Blues Music Awards". Blues.org. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
^ "2014 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Winners". Blues.about.com. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
^ "Intervention's Candy Finnigan – the last drink's on her". Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
^ "Mike Finnigan". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
^ "Whirlwind – Tommy Bolin – Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Whirlwind – Tommy Bolin – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Black Rose". Cherworld.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Alive & Amplified – The Mooney Suzuki – Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ Tim Sendra. "Alive & Amplified – The Mooney Suzuki – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Mike Finnigan – Mike Finnigan – Releases". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Mike Finnigan : Mike Finnigan". Discogs.com. 1976. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Future's Past – Dave Mason – Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ Thom Jurek. "Future's Past – Dave Mason – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
^ "Hilary Scott – Freight Train Love". No Depression. 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
^ Gunther, Marty (17 February 2017). "Annika Chambers – Wild And Free | Album Review". Bluesblastmagazine.com.
^ "Cry No More". 28 February 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2021.