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Mike Finnigan


HammondDave

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A guy who does not get enough love on this forum. I found these clips today...

 

Some of you know that Mike played organ on Still Raining Still Dreaming, and a lot of CSN tours... he is also a hell of a singer!

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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I've been a fan of Mike's from way back. He's from next door Kansas.

 

Back in the early 70's we were listening to his Crazed Hipsters album from his band Finnegan and Wood (probably a regional release.)

 

Shortly after that he was playing with Dave Mason and we would cross paths with them on the road in the Midwest. He is a monster blues singer. Dave would give him one feature tune to sing a night and he would burn the house down.

 

[video:youtube]

Moe

---

 

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I have been aware of Mike since I heard him with the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood in 1970. This wasn't long after he was in the Serfs out of Omaha... who basically was the band who recorded with Hendrix.

 

Some of Mike's best material was done with the Hahn Brotherhood. Those who know his work are probably quite familiar with tunes like " Early Bird Cafe" and " One Man Woman". Mike's organ sound during that time was quite unique.... lots of grit and growl. He may have been using one of the more vintage models . It's been awhile since I have heard these tracks.

 

I got to meet him and Bonnie when I was doing a jam night at a club called " Trancas" in Malibu in the early 90's. Neil Larsen used to play there a lot too, and Brian Auger would show up as well. It was quite a time.

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... Some of you know that Mike played organ on Still Raining Still Dreaming ...

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/VQBTieAUumk

 

Amazing! Hell! I never got paid for the session, Man!

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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One of the best examples of why isnt this guy more famous?

 

A couple of his more pop albums were pretty popular in Lawrence, KS in the mid 70s, a self-titled one and Black and White. I still give them a listen once in a while.

 

aka âmisterdregsâ

 

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His clavinet playing on the live version of "Feelin" Alright" with Dave Mason back in the 70's is great as well....

 

 

The guy's a monster..

 

That may be the best version of "Feelin' Alright" I haver ever heard! And maybe the best Clavinet solo as well...

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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His clavinet playing on the live version of "Feelin" Alright" with Dave Mason back in the 70's is great as well....

 

 

The guy's a monster..

 

That may be the best version of "Feelin' Alright" I haver ever heard! And maybe the best Clavinet solo as well...

 

Yeah, the version is a great take on it, but his Clav work totally makes the track.

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One of my favorites with Mike Finnigan, I also have his solo LP somewhere in the house. Great versatile player ...

[video:youtube]

 CP-50, YC 73,  FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122

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His clavinet playing on the live version of "Feelin" Alright" with Dave Mason back in the 70's is great as well....

 

 

The guy's a monster..

 

I knew I stole that vocal harmony from some version. We have a female singer that can cover tenor leads (Billy Joel, Rod Stewart,etc.) and we add the thirds that slide up a half step. As cool as the clavi sounds here, I love doing the piano like the Joe Cocker recording. Its a great place to show off a bit.

aka âmisterdregsâ

 

Nord Electro 5D 73

Yamaha P105

Kurzweil PC3LE7

Motion Sound KP200S

Schimmel 6-10LE

QSC CP-12

Westone AM Pro 30 IEMs

Rolls PM55P

 

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Somebody above mentioned that Finnegan was a badass....

 

He is also tall enough to have been a " badass-ketball player back in the day. Mike must be about 6 ft.8 or so. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that he played some hoops....

 

I was also surprised to see his wife Candy show up as a T.V. personality on the cable reality show" Intervention". I don't watch T.V. that much but I remember her from back in the day, because she was so friendly and outgoing, as was Mike.

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Somebody above mentioned that Finnegan was a badass....

 

He is also tall enough to have been a " badass-ketball player back in the day. Mike must be about 6 ft.8 or so. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that he played some hoops... .

 

Attended University of Kansas on a basketball scholarship...that's pretty serious program...

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Continuing the Rainy Day theme, here's an abridged version, the back half of the song. So many moments in these incredible 4 minutes of history, I'll try to grab a few. The first 10 seconds are off the charts mind boggling, hard to wrap your mind around those amazing few seconds of wah wah riffs.

 

As for Finnegan, starting around 0:45 for the call and answer tradeoffs with Jimi, evolving in the back and forth and resolving around 1:15 into a major bed underlying yet more magical riffs.

 

I could go on and on as countless others have, dissecting Jimi's genius. But a big part of these historic songs are the great supporting players like Buddy and Mike - - in this song, they made Jimi even greater than he already was.

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0E6fLJixUs

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

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... Some of you know that Mike played organ on Still Raining Still Dreaming ...

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/VQBTieAUumk

 

I learned so much technique from watching this clip of Finnigan explains the organ part. Especially his accents with his palm and thumb.

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Saw Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band about the time this was filmed.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Had quick chat with Mike outside the venue while he chilled out pre-gig. Killer player.

A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P

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Total badass. For years, Bill Champlin would always explain organ registrations and licks to me by saying... "Finnegan would do it this way". When I was working on the artist presets for the Kronos V2 CX3 engine, two days after I visited with HammondDave I spent the day with Mike creating sounds and getting schooled. Great guy, and a monster player. Got to see him live a year or so later here on Maui when he came on tour with Bonnie Raitt. His feature, on a Ray Charles tune brought down the house.

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

 

 

 

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Nice 12-bar blues from Mike here:

 

 

Wow!

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Total badass. For years, Bill Champlin would always explain organ registrations and licks to me by saying... "Finnegan would do it this way". When I was working on the artist presets for the Kronos V2 CX3 engine, two days after I visited with HammondDave I spent the day with Mike creating sounds and getting schooled. Great guy, and a monster player. Got to see him live a year or so later here on Maui when he came on tour with Bonnie Raitt. His feature, on a Ray Charles tune brought down the house.

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my!!!

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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One thing I appreciate about him is his choice of notes is always spot on. He knows his space and that is why he is a monster player.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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