Not many can claim to have played with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but pianist Nicky Hopkins was one such man. He preferred playing from the sidelines to the limelight, yet he played on such notable hits as Revolution and Sympathy for the Devil. John Lennon used him on his solo work, as did George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Following the dissolution of Wings, Paul McCartney used Hopkins on Flowers in the Dirt, making him one of a handful of men to perform on works by all four solo Beatles. The Session Man looks at his impressive life.
Luminaries Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Harry Shearer of This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984) fame are just some of the famous faces espousing Hopkins skills. He was white and British, yet imbued the records he worked on with a black American undercurrent: melody to the forefront.
In later years Hopkins toured with punk progenitor Graham Parker as a “money-spinner” in Germany. The piano touches infused the ram-shackled energy Parker embodied onstage. As ever with anyone wearing a smile, the session player battled personal demons: alcoholism and frail constitution being part of it. Battling Crohn’s Disease for much of his life, Hopkins had to miss out on lucrative tours with The Rolling Stones for fear of an attack.Dying at the heartbreaking age of 50 in 1994, fame had somewhat eluded him beyond those that read music magazines.
Moving to Nashville, Hopkins spent his last months in discomfort. His widow Moira fights back tears recalling the yelps and yells that befell towards the end of his life. “His heart gave out”, she says, the pain still weighing on her all this time later. All the same, her memories of her husband are that of a “wonderful life”. Where many of the talking heads recall a colleague, Moira Hopkins saw the man behind the instrument: foibles, glories et al.
What is apparent from the people committing their memories to film is their desire for the tales to be told as truthfully as possible. Early anecdotes about musicians and stage performers learning their trade in pubs and clubs now hold a double meaning: gifting future viewers a historical perspective into the beginnings of rock. P.P. Arnold remembers hearing ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’ for the first time, a cover of a Cat Stevens standard; Hopkins’ calm influence aided the spirited voice that can be heard on the finished take. “No ego coming from him,” she giggles; “..and he’s the real deal!”
His best work was probably with The Rolling Stones, locking into Richards’ guitar and Wyman’s bass with equal gusto. “I don’t play any of those Chinese shit”, Hopkins reportedly told the band, a reminder that this was a less politically correct time to the one viewers now inhabit. The repertoire was vast: slow waltz-ballad She’s A Rainbow, to the freak-out jam Monkey Man, the entire colour of their palette. Little wonder the surviving members of The Rolling Stones remember him so fondly!
This documentary doesn’t shy away from Hopkins personal problems. He was a man of his generation, and partied more freely than he probably should have.In the realm of post war Europe, musicians of a certain wealth freely indulged with chemical substances, resulting in many early deaths. Michael Treen gets the balance right, and the one criticism is that the film could have been longer. Considering Hopkins’ decades of services, a longer cut of the work may rest in the director’s disposal, which may surface in the future, adding further nuance to his contributions. Tidbits: this is an important movie and an even better historical document.
The Session Man is showing in selected cinemas across the UK in January and February 2026. Available on VoD in the United States and other geographies. Just click here for more information,
