The Session Man

The Session Man – available on digital 4^th May 2026

 The avalanche of ‘rockumentaries’ of recent years have tended to concentrate on the million plus selling rock artists, and within, often just the front men and women of those colossally successful bands. The backroom boys and girls rarely get much more than a mention, even when their contributions have been considerable. Nicky Hopkins was one such piano playing backroom boy and this documentary aims to put it straight.

With unobtrusive narration from Bob Harris, we are taken through Nicky’s amazingly varied career, his CV like a roll call of rock’s major players from the early 1960’s to his untimely death, aged just fifty, in 1994. Nicky is thought to have played on around two hundred and fifty LPs, many of them essential recordings in the rock canon.

After attending the Royal College of Music, Nicky appeared to land on his feet, getting work with David ‘Lord’ Sutch’s backing band, The Savages, The Cyril Davies All Stars and many more, often playing sets on stage in cinemas before the film came on. His stint with Cyril Davies sold out the Marquee many times over in the early 60’s and brought him to the attention of the wider rock business.

The Crohn’s disease which was to dog him into later life struck in May 1963 and necessitated a stay in hospital, Nicky losing considerable weight and putting him out of action work-wise, for some time. His striking gaunt looks come from this painful period, but once recovered enough to work, he was playing enthusiastically once more.

Received wisdom has it that rock and roll basically consists of guitars, drums and voices, but piano or organ can add textures and colours to this new and exciting musical form. Enter Nicky Hopkins, as Dave Davies explains, playing the harpsichord or piano on many Kinks tracks, over six LPs. His work with The Who is touched on, as is that with The Beatles, but his considerable contribution to The Rolling Stones’ staggering run of successful LPs is the most interesting part of the documentary. His flighty piano run in ‘She’s A Rainbow’ and doomy opening chords to ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ are both a case of once heard, never forgotten. He eventually racked up appearances on fourteen Stones LPs, more than some past members of the band.

We learn that Nicky’s reputation gained him work in the USA, with such heavyweight counter-culture artists as Jerry Garcia, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane, eventually playing with the latter at Woodstock. He is one of the few musicians who worked with all four former Beatles in their post Beatles lives. The list just goes on and on.

The fond memories and complimentary words from luminaries such as Albert Lee, Keith Richards, Peter Frampton, Dave Davies and many more come thick and fast, a real celebrity love-in, but what seems to be missing here is a little more about the man. We learn about his early interest in music, his teenaged attendance at the Royal College of Music, his two marriages, his suffering at the hands of Crohn’s disease and his drug and drink addiction, but little about his life outside of the music business. His widow Moira aside, there are no words from non-musical friends or his relatives about his life. Perhaps music was his whole life, or he simply preferred to keep work and private life separate. The winding course from rock and roll piano journeyman to hugely respected musician with an unmatchable CV is fascinating, but frustratingly distant.

Scenester

21/4/26