Nicky Hopkins
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Nicky Hopkins (February 24, 1944 – September 6, 1994) was a British musician who featured on scores of the most important British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, playing piano and organ. He is regarded as one of the most important session musicians in rock history, playing on countless hit recordings by leading British and American acts.
Nicky Hopkins started his musical career in the early 1960s as the pianist with Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages, which also included Jimmy Page (another session legend and founder of Led Zeppelin). He then joined The Cyril Davies All Stars, one of the first British rhythm & blues bands and played piano on their Country Line Special LP.
He had suffered from Crohn's disease since his youth. Poor health and ongoing surgeries made it difficult for him to tour. This contributed heavily to his occupational preference for studio work.
He began his career as a session musician in London in the early Sixties and quickly became one of the most in-demand players on the thriving session scene there, contributing his fluid and dexterous boogie-woogie influenced piano style to many hit recordings. He worked extensively as a session pianist for leading UK independent producers Shel Talmy and Mickie Most and performed on albums and singles by The Kinks, Donovan and especially The Rolling Stones, for whom he gave some of his most memorable performances, notably on their classic late-Sixties albums Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed. Jamming With Edward was recorded during the Let It Bleed sessions, while the Stones' Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, with Ry Cooder, supposedly waited on Keith Richards at Keith's Paris flat, and the "Edward" of the title was an alias of Nicky Hopkins.
In 1965, he played piano on The Who's debut LP, The Who Sings My Generation. He recorded with most of the top British acts of the Sixties including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The 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, briefly joined Quicksilver Messenger Service and performed with Jefferson Airplane at the Woodstock Festival.
In 1967 he joined The Jeff Beck Group, formed by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, with vocalist Rod Stewart, bassist Ron Wood and drummer Micky Waller and he played on their influential LPs Truth and Beck-Ola.
Hopkins released a solo album in 1973 entitled The Tin Man Was a Dreamer. Other musicians who appeared on the album include George Harrison (credited as George O'Hara), Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones and Prairie Prince who would go on to drum for subversive punks The Tubes. The album is a rare opportunity to hear Hopkins sing and was rereleased on Columbia in 2004.
As a session player, Hopkins was renowned for his effortless ability to give accomplished performances with little or no rehearsal, and was well-known around the studio scene for his perennial habit of reading comic books at recording sessions.
He was a member of the Church of Scientology and was awarded the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) Freedom Medal in October 1989.
Hopkins died on September 6, 1994 at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, TN where he lived. He was 50. The cause was complications from a previous intestinal surgery. At the time of his death he was working on his autobiography with Ray Coleman.
Selected Performances
The Who, My Generation album (1965), "The Song Is Over" (1971)
The Kinks, Kinks Kontroversy (1965), Face to Face (1966), "Mr. Pleasant" (1967), "Village Green" (1968), "Berkeley Mews" (1968)
Jeff Beck, "Beck's Bolero" (1967), Truth (1967)
T Rex, "Jasper C. Debussy" (1966-7, released 1974)
The Rolling Stones, "She's A Rainbow" (1967), "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968), Beggars Banquet (1968), "Gimme Shelter" (1969), "Live With Me" (1969), "Monkey Man" (1969), "Sister Morphine" (1970), "Tumbling Dice" (1972), "Angie" (1973)
The Beatles, "Revolution" (single version) (1968)
Jamming With Edward [jam session with Ry Cooder and some Rolling Stones] (recorded 1969, released 1972)
Quicksilver Messenger Service, "Shady Grove," "Edward (the Mad Shirt Grinder)," "Spindrifter"
Jefferson Airplane, "Volunteers" (1969), "Eskimo Blue Day" (1969)
John Lennon, "Jealous Guy" (1971)
Joe Cocker, "You Are So Beautiful" (1974)
External links
Audio samples of some great Hopkins momentsde:Nicky Hopkins ja:ニッキー・ホプキンス pt:Nicky Hopkins sv:Nicky Hopkins