News & Events
"The Session Man" Film
The Session Man is a documentary film, written and directed by Michael Treen, that tells the story of Nicky Hopkins, the highly gifted and prolific session pianist and unsung hero.
Nicky Hopkins 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.
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.”
You can see more details on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11353994 or on the film's official website www.thesessionmanfilm.com
Plaque unveiled at Nicky's childhood home
To further enhance the memory of Nicky Hopkins (once described by the Rolling Stones as ‘The greatest rock and roll piano player in the world’), on 19th October 2019, a plaque was unveiled on the house where Nicky lived as a child.
Scholarship created in Nicky Hopkins' name
Funds were recently raised by John Wood to create a scholarship to London’s Royal Academy of Music in Nicky’s name, as he was an alumnus of this seat of musical learning.
And on Piano… Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock’s Greatest Session Man
Published by Desert Hearts 9th May 2011, the UK version is a handsomely bound hardback book, generously illustrated with wonderful personal photographs, many never before published, in both black and white and colour, and with forewords from Bob Harris & Klaus Voormann.
And on Piano …Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock’s Greatest Session Man
A beautifully presented paperback copy of the book, with many additional black and white photographs, published in March 2011. The American version was launched with a celebrity panel at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, TX, with the Faces’ Ian McLagan and Rolling Stone sideman Chuck Leavell in attendance. Backstage Books through Plus One Press. Foreword by Klaus Voormann.