Rolling Stone magazine might have gotten something right when they called keyboardist Nicky Hopkins the “most important session musician in classic rock.”
Don’t know the name?
Well, even if you are only a casual rock fan, you’ve likely heard Nicky Hopkins’ piano playing plenty. From a score of Rolling Stones songs to classics by The Who, to that iconic beautiful piano backing Joe Cocker on “You Are So Beautiful,” ending piano trilling lead on The Beatles’ “Revolution,” and doubling up on piano with John Lennon on “Imagine,” Hopkins was the preeminent virtuoso when it came to tickling the ivories.
His life was cut short in 1994 at age 50, due to complications of Crohn’s disease, which plagued Hopkins for most of his life. That and everything that came before is in the new documentary about the man — The Session Man.
Hopkins was classically trained at The Royal Academy of Music in London and played in a few bands at the beginning of the 1960s. He found his way into session work through a budding reputation of solid playing and recommendations by early rock producers like Glyn Johns and Mike Hurst.
He was discovered playing at the famous Marquee Club by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Hopkins went to play on a staggering 14 Stones albums. Beyond the Glimmer Twins, he played on records by the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks, Steve Miller, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, and scores of others.
In addition to Johns, Hurst, Jagger Richards, we get insights in The Session Man from Pete Townshend, Dave Davies, Albert Lee, Benmont Tench, Nils Lofgren, Bill Wyman, Peter Frampton, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Graham Parker, P.P. Arnold, the keyboardist’s widow, Moira Hopkins, and other musicians, producers, journalists, and associates.
We learn about infamous Hopkins’ studio sessions, his joining The Jeff Beck Group (a great Woodstock story emerges from this), and his move to LA and immersion in the Mill Valley music scene. We also learn extensively about Crohn’s disease and it effects on Hopkins’ life and career.
What was most notable though for me was the interviews with Hopkins himself, footage I had never seen, taken some time in the 1990s, but really informative coming from the man himself. The Session Man, narrated by Bob Harris, the soft-voiced former presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test, is the definitive statement on one of the most elusive, intriguing figures in rock and roll.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
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