“The Session Man: Nicky Hopkins” Documentary Film Available On Demand
November 4, 2024
I was introduced to Nicky by his new wife Linda, who was a friend of mine in San Francisco. It was 1972, and I was asked to join Nicky and his recording company of elite English musician friends, including George Harrison, Klas Voormann, Mick Taylor, Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, Chris Spedding, Ray Cooper, Andy Fraser, and Harry Nilsson.
As a session player Nicky had played on all of their records over the years. We recorded at Apple studios on Saville Row in London for a couple of months, and then at Mick Jaggers’ home, Stargroves, in the English countryside. It was an experience of a lifetime and the memories are never lost when hearing the music. Nicky was a kind and loving friend who took me under his wing and showed me the true value of being a professional musician and recording artist early in my career. He is a legend in the annals of rock history, recording keyboards for so many of the great musical artists of our time. — Prairie Prince
The Session Man, a 90-minute documentary feature film, tells the story of Nicky Hopkins, the highly gifted and prolific session pianist, and unsung hero. The Session Man will be released in North America on November 5, 2024 on TVOD/PPV on Amazon Prime and on additional major platforms.It will also be available on DVD in late 2024.
Nicky not only played with The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, he also played on solo albums of all four members of the Beatles in the early part of a stellar career that spanned over 30 years. During that time, he contributed to over 250 albums and a vast number of single releases.
Nicky’s legendary piano riffs and wonderful musical motifs helped ordinary tracks become extraordinary and iconic. So many of them remain popular today. The generations that followed the Golden Era of Rock And Roll soon discover those iconic tracks that made Nicky Hopkins a legend amongst his peers – tracks like Revolution by The Beatles, Like A Rainbow, Sympathy For The Devil and Angie by the Rolling Stones, Jealous Guy by John Lennon from his Imagine album and You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker.
Nicky’s story is told in the film by Albert Lee, Antonia Cipollina, Arthur Rochester, Benmont Tench, Bill Wyman, Billy Nicholls, Bro Paul Brown, Chris Kimsey, Chris Welch, Chuck Leavell, Dave Davies, Glyn Johns, Graham Parker, Gray Levett, Greg Phillinganes, Harry Shearer, Helen O’Hara, Jack Casady, Jim Keltner, Joe Tansin, John Goddard, Jorma Kaukonen, Julian Dawson (Nicky’s biographer – author of And on Piano… Nicky Hopkins), Keith Richards, Merrell Fankhauser, Mick Jagger, Mike Hurst, Mike McCartney, Moira Hopkins (Nicky’s widow), Morgan Fisher, Nils Lofgren, Paddy Milner, Pete Edmonds, Pete Sears, Pete Townshend, Peter Frampton, PP Arnold, Rory Kaplan, Sarah Sleet (CEO of Crohn’s & Colitis UK), Shel Talmy, Slim Jim Phantom, Terry Reid and Tom Speight.
The Session Man’s narrator, Bob Harris, former presenter of the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test, had no hesitation at the end of the film in confirming that, “Nicky Hopkins’ contributions made him rock and roll’s greatest session man.”