Unsung
Session Heroes:
Rockument's collection of songs featuring one of the most important session musicians in rock, by Tony Bove |
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Nicky Hopkins started with Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages, which also included Jimmy Page (another session hero and founder of Led Zeppelin). He played with the Cyril Davies All Stars, one of the first British rhythm & blues bands (Nicky plays piano on the Country Line Special album, now out of print). In 1965, he played piano on nearly every song of the Who's debut album, The Who Sings My Generation (My Generation [Deluxe]). He played keyboards for the top British bands of the Sixties including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, and Kinks, and on solo albums by John Lennon, Jeff Beck, and others. He also helped define the San Francisco sound, playing on Jefferson Airplane and Steve Miller Band albums, and even briefly joined Quicksilver Messenger Service. For more information about Nicky Hopkins, try this Web site tribute page. PlaylistYou
can purchase this music from
This was the beginning of a new sound for the venerable S.F. acid rock band. Founder Gary Duncan (guitar) had left the band with inspirational leader Dino Valenti (a.k.a. Chet Powers). Nicky Hopkins joined the group, which was now John Cipollina (guitar), David Freiberg (guitar and bass), and Greg Elmore (drums). The song is an electric, somewhat psychedelic version of a popular folk song. See the John Cipollina Homepage fan site. See also the Official Quicksilver site.
Nicky Hopkins duels on piano with Keith Moon on drums, while Pete Townshend plays guitar, John Entwhistle plays bass, and Roger Daltry sings. This song defines the way Nicky's piano would "peek out" from behind the rock group's sound. Nicky Hopkins plays throughout the album, adding "color" to songs like "My Generation" and "The Ox" and the James Brown cover song, "Please, Please, Please". Check out the Who official Web site.
Nicky Hopkins plays both piano and the melodica solo. He started playing with the Kinks on the Face To Face album and also played on other Kinks tunes such as "Waterloo Sunset". Shel Talmy, the Kinks early producer, helped find gigs for Nicky Hopkins and his pal, Jimmy Page, another session hero (and founder of Led Zeppelin), and also produced Nicky's first solo album, Revolutionary Piano of (1966).
Nicky adds more than color to this track. His signature rhythm part is evident, building up, dueling with Charlie Watts on drums, providing a distinctive backbeat. Brian Jones plays some of his best slide guitar on this song. Nicky Hopkins played on quite a few Stones songs, starting with "Cool Calm Collected" and including "Gimme Shelter", "She's a Rainbow", "Child of the Moon", "You Got the Silver", and "Sway". Nicky also accompanied the Stones on tour during this period. Check out the Rolling Stones Web Site for official news of the band.
Nicky's piano provides the essential backbone and rhythm for this haunting tune, sung by Grace Slick. Lead guitar is Jorma Kaukonen, with Jack Cassady on bass, Paul Kantner on rhythm guitar, and Spencer Dryden on drums. Check out this Jefferson Airplane fan site and Rockument radio shows -- Monterey Pop Songs and Scenes: San Francisco Psychedelic Garage Pop -- that also feature Airplane tracks.
The
quintessential Nicky Hopkins piano riffs add color to this anthem
of the Sixties. This is the live version played at Woodstock, in
which Grace Slick announces Nicky joining the band for this number.
Nicky also played on the studio version on the Volunteers
album (buy it from
Nicky delivers the absolutely definitive best rock 'n' roll piano solo in the middle of this popular Beatles single (the most popular single of all time -- the flip side of "Hey Jude"). Nicky was brought in especially for this piano overdub. George Harrison was later to return the favor by playing on Nicky Hopkins' solo album Tin Man Was a Dreamer (1973). Check out Rockument's Beatles section, with anecdotes, links, song information, and even posters.
The ultimate session song. Nicky leads the backing band that consists of Eric Clapton and George Harrison on guitars, Paul McCartney on bass and Ringo on drums. Jackie Lomax was a Liverpool singer-songwriter and an early friend of the Beatles. At this time, the Beatles had just finished the White Album and were looking for other artists to produce for their new Apple Records label. Jackie Lomax's album, produced mostly by George Harrison, was part of a series of records that included James Taylor's first album, Doris Troy's first album, and George Harrison's solo effort Wonderwall Music, all on the Apple Records label.
Nicky played, sometimes uncredited, on many John Lennon solo songs, including "Imagine", "Crippled Inside", "How" and "Oh Yoko". There is a very poignant scene in Imagine: John Lennon - The Definitive Film Portrait in which John demonstrates to Nicky the piano notes for "Imagine" and asks him to double-up on John's piano playing to give it a fuller sound.
Nicky's piano adds grandeur to this Pete Townshend tune from Townshend's Lifehouse project, which was later abandoned and the tracks used for the Who's Next album. This piano part is by far one of the best in the history of rock music -- serious Who fans know it by heart. Check out the Who official Web site.
Nicky's magnum opus with Quicksilver, and the song he is most remembered for. I don't know who Edward was, or why he was grinding shirts madly, but this song is essentially a duel between Nicky (on piano and organ) and John Cipollina on guitar. There's another version of this song on George Harrison's Wonderwall Music album (on Apple Records), which contains bonus tracks including "Edward" with George Harrison on lead guitar. See the John Cipollina Homepage fan site. See also the Official Quicksilver site.
This beautiful piano song was recorded just before Nicky left the group to resume his session activities. He was replaced by Mark Naftalin. See the John Cipollina Homepage fan site. See also the Official Quicksilver site.
A beautiful love song by Nicky Hopkins with the Jeff Beck Group, featuring session heroes Jeff Beck on guitar, Ron Wood (future Rolling Stone) on bass, and Tony Newman on drums. There are numerous fan pages devoted to Jeff Beck, including this one, which is quite good and has links to many others. Also check out the Yardbirds Official Site (Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton in the original Yardbirds).
More Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins started out playing with the Cyril Davies All Stars and with other musicians in the group Sweet Thursday, which released an album in 1969 called Sweet Thursday. Jon Mark (who wrote half the songs) is the focus of the band, which included Alun Davies, who later played with Cat Stevens (here's a review of the album). Nicky Hopkins' other solo albums include:
For more information about Nicky Hopkins, try this Web site tribute page.
Another Unsung Session Heroes show: Ry Cooder
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Thirty
Years of Maximum R&B
Woodstock:
Three Days of Peace & Music (25th Anniversary Box Set)
Jamming
with Edward
Revolutionary
Piano of
Tin
Man Was a Dreamer
