Nicky Hopkins

Welcome to this week’s Musical Tree! This week we are going to delve into the career of one of rock and roll’s greatest session musicians, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins!

The number of songs and major artists that he played with is truly incredible. Talking about Nicky Hopkins brings to mind a personal favorite musical interest of mine – session players that often go unnamed while appearing on rock and roll’s most famous songs. So, let’s pull up a bench to the ol’ piano and get rolling!

Nicky Hopkins was born during an air raid outside of London the evening of February 24, 1944. He began playing piano at the age of three and was initially tutored by a local piano player. I think the lessons were successful! When he was in his teens he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London, which is where Elton John studied. It was also around this time that Nicky Hopkins was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. 

Hopkins first success came in 1963, when he joined Cyril Davies new band, the Cyril Davies (R&B) All-Stars. Hopkins played piano on their first single, ‘Country Line Special’.  You can hear Hopkins piano shine on what would become a modest hit in the U.K. However, he was forced to leave the band soon after the single’s release for a series of life-threatening operations related to Crohn’s disease that left him bedridden for almost 19 months. During this time Cyril Davies died from leukemia and the band was disbanded.

Crohn’s disease would continue to shape his career. Often unable to tour, Hopkins instead focused on performing in the studio and became one of the most sought-after keyboard players of the 1960’s and 1970’s. In 1965, at just 21 years old, Hopkins was fully recovered from his surgeries and began to establish himself as a premier session musician. Producer Shel Talmy invited him in the studio with two bands that year – The Who and The Kinks. Hopkins played on The Who’s debut album ‘My Generation’. He would play on a couple more Who records in the 1970’s, including ‘Who’s Next’ (Getting in Tune, The Song is Over) and ‘The Who By Numbers’. Hopkins was also a key performer on the soundtrack for the movie adaptation of The Who’s album ‘Tommy’ in 1975. He played piano on almost all of the tracks, and was acknowledged for his work in arranging most of the songs. 

Hopkins work with The Kinks would span 4 albums between 1965 and 1968. The last album he played on was ‘The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society’, an album that is critically acclaimed as one the best albums of the 1960’s. Hopkins became angry when Kinks front man Ray Davies took credit for the keyboard playing on the album. Hopkins maintained that about “70 percent” of the keyboard playing was his own. Hopkins never got over his grudge and he did not play with The Kinks again. Despite Hopkins hard feelings, Davies spoke very highly of Nicky in an interview with the New York Times in 1995, saying

“In many ways, I was still in awe of the man who in 1963 had played with the Cyril Davies All Stars on the classic British R & B record, “Country Line Special.” I was surprised to learn that Nicky came from Wembley, just outside of London. With his style, he should have been from New Orleans, or Memphis.

… His best work in his short spell with the Kinks was on the album Face to Face. I had written a song called “Session Man,” inspired partly by Nicky. Shel Talmy asked Nicky to throw in “something classy” at the beginning of the track. Nicky responded by playing a classical-style harpsichord part. When we recorded “Sunny Afternoon,” Shel insisted that Nicky copy my plodding piano style. Other musicians would have been insulted but Nicky seemed to get inside my style, and he played exactly as I would have. No ego. Perhaps that was his secret.”

Hopkins is perhaps best known for his work with the Rolling Stones. When Hopkins was playing in Cyril Davies band at the famous Marquee Club in London the Rolling Stones would often open for them. He appeared on many Rolling Stones albums, starting with ‘Between The Buttons’ in 1967 all the way through ‘Tattoo You’ released in 1981. He appeared on many of the Stones hits and best songs, playing prominent piano on ‘She’s A Rainbow’, ‘We Love You’, ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, ‘Monkey Man’ (one of my personal favorite Nicky piano parts), ‘Sway’, ‘Angie’, and ‘Waiting On A Friend’. Perhaps his best work with the Stones was on their 1972 album ‘Exile From Main St.’, where he contributed different musical styles and playing throughout the album. Take a listen to ‘She’s A Rainbow’ – the beautiful piano sets the tone for the song and keeps coming back throughout. Without the piano, in my opinion this song would never have been a hit for the Stones. Visually the video is also pretty cool, capturing the spirit of 1967, the year the song was released!

Hopkins toured with the Rolling Stones in 1971, 1972, and 1973. During this time he contemplated starting his own band, but his health just would not allow it. He had to drop out of the Stones tour during 1973 and this effectively ended his desire to form his own band. Other than a guest appearance in 1978, Nicky Hopkins would never again play live with the Rolling Stones. 

Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s Hopkins played with many different groups. It has been said that between the years 1965 and 1968 hardly a week went by without a record being released that did not feature Hopkins on keyboards. Artists included the Jeff Beck Group (which also featured Rod Stewart and future Rolling Stone Ron Wood), the Jefferson Airplane on their album ‘Volunteers’, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. In 1968 Nicky Hopkins had the great honor to be one of those rare musicians to be asked to play with The Beatles. He played electric piano on the 1968 single ‘Revolution’!

In 1975 Hopkins joined the Jerry Garcia Band. He performed on the Jerry Garcia Band album ‘Reflections’ and toured briefly with the Garcia Band until his drinking began impacting his performance and he was asked to leave in December of 1975. By this time, Hopkins was living in the San Francisco Bay area, playing with local bands and recording in studio when asked. Around 1980 he became a Scientologist and credited Scientology for helping him overcome his alcohol and drug addictions.

Nicky Hopkins passed away on September 6, 1994 at the age of 50. His death was caused by complications from intestinal surgery related to Crohn’s disease. In September of 2018 the Nicky Hopkins piano park bench memorial was unveiled in the town of his birth. The funding campaign offered those who contributed the opportunity to have their names inscribed on the bench. Take a look at those who contributed and have their names on the bench – it is these names that you will see on The Musical Tree at the bottom of this post:

• Mick Jagger
• Keith Richards
• Charlie Watts
• Ronnie Wood
• Bill Wyman
• Yoko Ono Lennon
• Roger Daltrey
• Jimmy Page
• Kenney Jones
• Hossam Ranzy

As well, on what would have been Hopkins 75^th birthday in 2019, the Nicky Hopkins Scholarship was created at the Royal Academy of Music. Later that year a plaque was unveiled at his childhood home. 

It is amazing all that Nicky Hopkins accomplished while fighting Crohn’s disease most of his life. Below is a partial list of those artists he played with in addition to those I’ve already mentioned. For someone who was ‘just’ a session player, Nicky Hopkins left us with a huge impact on rock and roll, and for that we can all be grateful. 

Additional artists that Nicky Hopkins played with:

• Cat Stevens
• The Easybeats
• Steve Miller Band
• Dusty Springfield
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Donovan
• John Lennon (including the songs ‘Jealous Guy’ and ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over’))
• Carly Simon
• Harry Nilsson
• George Harrison (‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth’))
• Ringo Starr (‘Photograph’, ‘You’re Sixteen’, ‘No No Song’)
• Joe Cocker (You Are So Beautiful)
• Peter Frampton
• Andy Williams
• Lowell George
• Art Garfunkel
• Rod Stewart (‘You’re In My Heart’)
• Badfinger
• Graham Parker
• Paul McCartmey
• Spinal Tap (‘Rainy Day Sun’)
• Meatloaf
• Belinda Carlisle
• The Jayhawks
• Joe Walsh
• Gene Clark
• Brewer & Shipley
• Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Musical Tree! Feel free to leave suggestions for future articles in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe to be notified via email when there is a new post. 

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