Mike Finnigan (keyboardist)

Michael Kelly Finnigan (April 26, 1945 – August 11, 2021) was an American keyboard player and vocalist, his specialty 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. Finnigan was born in Troy, Ohio, and attended the University of Kansas on a basketball scholarship. 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 Café 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 also made a guest appearance in the short-lived police procedural musical television series, Cop Rock (1990). In his only acting credit, Finnigan portrayed a singing shift lieutenant in the cold open of episode 7, "Cop-a-Feeliac". After a shift briefing, Finnigan breaks in to song, telling his officers, "Let's Be Careful Out There". The song itself is an homage to a catchphrase popularized by the show Hill Street Blues, created by Steven Bochco, who also produced Cop Rock. 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. He was always active politically and was, for several years, a regular contributor to the weblog Crooks and Liars. In 2013 and 2014, he was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Pinetop Perkins Piano Player' category. 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. Finnigan was an active blogger, with a fondness for liberal/progressive causes and commentary. Finnigan died from liver cancer on August 11, 2021, in Los Angeles at the age of 76. 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 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 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 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 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 2014: Hilary Scott – Freight Train Love 2016: Annika Chambers – Wild & Free 2017: Danielle Nicole – Cry No More, Concord Records 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 2026: Mike Finnigan Forty Below Records "Legendary Keyboardist & Session Player Mike Finnigan Dead At 76". Celebrityaccess.com. 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2021-08-12. “Cop-a-Feeliac.” Cop Rock, created by Steven Bochco, season 1, episode 7, ABC, 7 November 1990. "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. Archived from the original on 2016-11-12. 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". Bluesblastmagazine.com. 28 February 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2021. Official Site for Finnigan and Wood Archived 2018-06-13 at the Wayback Machine Official Site for The Phantom Blues Band Mike Finnigan Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2017) Mike Finnigan discography at Discogs Mike Finnigan at IMDb