A previously unreleased recording from the late Mike Finnigan has emerged, offering a powerful preview of a long awaited final statement from one of American music’s most respected behind the scenes figures. My Credit Didn’t Go Through is the first track released from Mike Finnigan, a posthumous, self titled album due on March 20 via Forty Below Records.
Finnigan’s take on My Credit Didn’t Go Through reconnects the song with its deep soul and blues lineage. Written by General Johnson and Greg Perry for The Chairmen of the Board in 1973 and later popularised by Freddie King, the song sits comfortably in Finnigan’s world, where gospel phrasing, blues grit and soul storytelling converge. His performance centres on voice and Hammond B3, the instrument that defined his six decade career and made him one of the most in demand keyboard players in American music.
The album was produced by J.J. Blair, whose long association with artists across soul, country and roots music made him a natural fit for Finnigan’s vision. Sessions were completed with an elite group of players, reflecting the esteem in which Finnigan was held by his peers. Among them are Stephen Stills and Chris Stills, drummer James Godson of Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, bassist Bob Glaub, guitarists Val McCallum and Josh Sklair, and a full horn section that reinforces the album’s classic rhythm and blues foundation.
Work on the album began before Finnigan’s death in August 2021, with the pandemic delaying completion of a project intended to reposition him in the public eye, not as a sideman, but as a commanding blues vocalist and bandleader. That ambition is realised across the album’s eleven tracks, which draw from soul, blues, country and Americana, genres Finnigan navigated effortlessly throughout his career.
Born Michael Kelly Finnigan in Troy, Ohio in 1945, Finnigan initially arrived at music through athletics, attending the University of Kansas on a basketball scholarship.
Music ultimately prevailed, leading him into the late 1960s Midwest club circuit before a rapid ascent into the Los Angeles session scene. By the time Jimi Hendrix entered Electric Lady Studios, Finnigan was already a trusted presence, contributing Hammond organ to Rainy Day, Dream Away and Still Raining, Still Dreaming on Electric Ladyland.
From there, his career reads like a map of modern American music. Finnigan worked extensively with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Taj Mahal, Rod Stewart, Leonard Cohen, Tower of Power, Ringo Starr and Tracy Chapman. His ability to support and elevate other artists made him indispensable, while his own voice remained largely known only to fellow musicians.
Mike Finnigan brings that voice forward. The album moves from Curtis Mayfield’s Fool For You to Little Feat’s All That You Dream, underscoring Finnigan’s blues skewed eclecticism. Smokey Robinson appears on The Way You Do The Things You Do, reconnecting the Motown classic with its gospel roots. The closing track, Merle Haggard’s Sing Me Back Home, is reimagined with a soul sensibility that evokes the emotional gravity of Ray Charles.
The project also carries a family legacy. Finnigan’s son Kelly Finnigan, a respected soul artist in his own right, appears on Let That Liar Alone, creating a rare recorded moment between father and son. Additional contributions come from Joe Bonamassa, Dean Parks, Curtis Salgado and the full Jackshit line up, each adding depth without overshadowing Finnigan’s central presence.
Mike Finnigan Tracklisting
20 Years of B.B. King (With Joe Bonamassa)
My Credit Didn’t Go Through
Don’t Answer The Door
A Fool For You
The Way You Do The Things You Do (With Smokey Robinson)
It Ain’t Fair
She’s Not Just Another Woman
All That You Dream
Lay Around And Love On You (With Dean Parks)
Let That Liar Alone (With Kelly Finnigan)
Sing Me Back Home
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