Thsi interview of Nicky was made for the "Expreso imaginario" (Imaginary Express) magazine in 1977, when Nicky came to Argentina as part of the Joe Cocker' band. Nicky seem to be amazed by the thing that no bands ever have come to Argentina... being Joe Cocker the secong one (Santana played first). It is intresting to see the oppinion he have on the Stones in 1977...


Translation:


The name of Nicky Hopkins own bright highlights within the spectrum of contemporary music. It is best known and probably the most important rock sessionist, a field covered almost exclusively by groups or "exs". When we tell him this for this note he simply replied: "I have never thought about it." And almost certainly me must not have had time, because since he started playing piano at age three, began his tireless activity.In this report he leads us to take a walk through the London of the early '60s, and the awakening of English white blues, then going by the Who of "My Generation", the Jeff Beck Group at the time of Rod Stewart Ron Word, the West Coast of Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver and Steve Miller, different times of the Rolling Stones, the work of John Lennon and George Harrison, to reach its ongoing collaboration with Joe Cocker.


But this impressive and unique career not cause the slightest pose at superstar level. We find a sincere guy, friendly, easy chatting and permanently in a good mood. And what began as an article in a breakfast table at the Alvear (very important Hotel in Buenos Aires) ended several hours later in a chat between friends, at any table in a bar, without having moved.


- Did you start playing with Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages?
- My God ... Where did you find out?
- I found out .. He was the same who later sang accompanied by Jimmy Page and John Bonham?
- Yes
- How was the sound of that group?
- Let me remember ... was terrible, a bad group ... was not very good.
- Was the first group named in which you played?
- Yes, I was with them in 1960, then we make an LP, more or less in 1966-7, which was released in '69. Did you hear it?
- I heard the one of the Rolls Royce with the English flag on the roof...
- Yes, that. It was awful.
- How was the music scene in London in '67?
- It's so hard to remember ... At that time the big bands were the Kinks, the Hollies, The Who, Rolling Stones, the Beatles ... That was ten years ago. Things have changed a lot since then.
- Who played with Cyril Davies?
- Find that too...! Cyril was good singing and playing the harmonica. Then also played Mickey Waller on drums, Bernie Watson on guitar, Ricky Brown on bass, John Baldry was the second voice, and me in piano. We make Chicago-style blues.
- After that you played in "My Generation" by The Who?
- Yes, it was one of my first jobs as a sessionist.
- How do you see that record today? In his time was almost a declaration of principles ...
- Yes, absolutely. Everyone felt identified, especially with that song.
- What did you do between "My Generation" and the Jeff Beck Group?
- Well, it was almost four years of sessions with many people, like the Rolling Stones, whom I started in 1967 with "Their Satanic Majesties." Although the first thing I did with them was a single called "We love you"
- How about London?
- I lived in London past eight years, and I could not stand it.
- Are you now living in San Francisco?
- I was there until six months ago. Then I moved to Los Angeles.
- What can you tell me of "Truth" and "Beck Ola"?
- I like "Truth". We did it very quickly, in one or two weeks. We did not have material ready so - how he had to record - we did old things, like Old Man River, Greensleeves and Morning Dew. "Beck Ola" I also liked and did it quickly. I was no longer part of the band, but appeared as a guest musician. Between the two discs we make a tour in the United States and it went very well.
- Then you joined Quicksilver...
- Yes, I was with them about a year. Are here any of Quicksilver’ records?
- Well, it has not been edited, but I heard the first and a live cassette.
- My God ...
- What do you think about white blues boom at that time? John Mayall, Alexis Corner, Yardbirds ... Do you like it?
Yes, I liked it. That no longer exists now. Nobody does this music. Joe and a few people are the only one left. Well, if blues can be seen as what we do. I think it's mostly rhythm & blues and rock'n'roll.
- What do you think of punk-rock?
- I do not know much about that. The little I saw and heard did not like. I watched Televission the U.S.. It's annoying, silly. No musicality. It sucks. I can not stand.
- It seems like a return to roots, but perhaps not to the real roots...
- That's it. It just like if they want to relive the music of the 50s and 60s part without having lived.
- Maybe much of that audience has never heard things like "Truth".
- Of course, not even the Beatles ...
- Do you like what’s Jeff Beck doing now?
- Well, I didn’t listened him with Jan Hammer. I heard the previous album, Blow by blow. I liked it, especially a song produced by George Martin, "Diamond Dust"
- Do you like jazz-rock?
- Yes, very much. I think those players are now reaching a much wider audience, and it seems fine.
- What keyboard players do you like?
- There are so many ... Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans ...
- Do you go to concerts?
- Not very much.
- Prefer the records...
- Yes, I can not remember when was the last time I went to see a concert ...
- How do you connect with the musicians on the east coast?
- I get a called for the sessions of Quicksilver’s third album, "Shady Grove". It was originally planned that will last three weeks, and took four months. Then I fell in love with the movement of San Francisco and stayed there. There was plenty to do.
- But you played earlier in "Volunteers" by Jefferson Airplane.
- Yes, I was on tour with Beck for USA. That was in 1969 or 1970 before moving to California.
- Do you still like those records?
- I heard "Volunteers" once or twice after, but I don’t liked it. It's funny because a lot of records from that time I listen to now and I like more than at the time, but "Volunteers" not.
- What do you remeber of your work with the Rolling Stones?
- Record with them was boring. It's much better to be on tour than in the studies.
- What can you tells us on touring with them?
- It was barbaric, had a lot of work. In 1972 we did something like 58 concerts in seven and a half weeks. Then in '73 we did the tour of Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, which was the opposite. A concert every three days. We had plenty of time to walk around and see. Very interesting. Never been to Australia. Nor in South America ...
- You are the second rock number to come to Argentina. The first one was Santana.
- i was told so... Is that true?
- Yes
- My God ...
- Do you also played with Steve Miller?
- Yes, it was interesting. I played on several of his albums, the most important was "Your Saving Grace"
- What about your solo albums, "Jamming with Edward"?
- Well, that was really a jam session. It was released at half price.
- And "The Tin Man Was a Dreamer"?
- That sold good enough, but not enough so, because just then had internal problems in the CBS. It Was when they fired Clive Davis, who was the president. A single of that album was very well located in the rankings, but soon they took the album out of catalog. That happened to most of CBS artists, except for important ones, like Chicago.
- Voorman, Harrison and Mick Taylor played on that record ...
- Yes
- Were you satisfied with your work on it?
- Yes, I made another one in '75 that was terrible, very bad. I had no interest.
- Why did you do it?
- Needed money.
- Who played on that record?
- I do not remember, really. I called anyone.
- What about your work with Lennon and Harrison?
- Lennon's fast. I made two LPs with him, "Imagine" and "Walls and Bridges". I played both and was almost the same. We recorded it in one week: "Imagine" was made in seven days and two days to add strings and mix. Nine days in total. Not bad, huh? George’ ones took more time, four or five weeks.
- In what George Harrison album you played?
- "Living in the material world", that was the main thing. Also a couple of songs in "Dark Horse"
- What do you remember of the Stones in Brian Jones’ era? Do you think they lost something after his death?
- Yes, That's when things started to get very monotonous. All of his albums since "Their Satanic Majesties" to "Let it bleed" included, were quite different. As a direct kind of thing, strong. After that, "Sticky Fingers", "Goat Head Soup," "Exile on Main Street", "It's only rock'n'roll", and "Black and Blue" is all bullshit. For example, "Black and blue" I heard two or three times and really don’t liked the LP. There were only a couple of good songs. Nothing memorable. Discs after the death of Brian ... I do not know ...
- What do you think that was the role of Brian in the Rolling Stones?
- Well, he was at the core of the band: the leader. Then Mick, because he was the center of live attention, began to grow, and challenge the leadership of the group.Brian felt then that his contribution was not being appreciated. That's when he began to exceed dangerously. I think after the death of Brian they lost their musical direction, if they had any.
- Nicky, how you see the scene in San Francisco acualmente?
- Ah, is dead. Nothing seem to happen.
- And the scene of the west coast in general, like the Grateful Dead?
- I never liked that group.
- What do you think about Joe Cocker?
- It's big, one of the best singers.
- Will you write songs togheter?
- I hope so. Let's see if we do something with Joe, when we finish the tour.
- Are you going to do something as a soloist?
- Not at the moment. I want to do only one thing at a time. Joe and I might write something together.
- How old are you. Nicky?
- 33 .. but I feel like I have 93 ...
- What did you think the Argentine public?
- Incredible. None of us knew what to expect. There was a lot more reaction than in Australia. People really showed that they have like the show. The more heated the public, they give us more energy and everything went better.
- How do you see the future of rock?
- I keep thinking about it ... but I have no answer.
- To us it's the same
- For how much do you sell the recorder?
- Do not sell it, Nicky ... listen to me: why you always play on a acoustic piano?
- I like the sound. I do not like the electric piano.
- You never touched synthesizer or electric organ?
- I'm not interested. I have played a little organ in recording sessions and used electric piano live, but aside with an acoustic piano. In this case I have no need and no other keyboard players in the group. I think it should never be used electric piano instead of acoustic piano. It should be used as it is. Many people used to record an album with acoustic piano and touring with electric piano, because it is easier to carry and no amplification problems specific to an acoustic piano, but the sound is totally different ... How much you want for the recorder?




The original in Spanish


El nombre de Nicky Hopkins resalta con brillo propio dentro del espectro de la música actual. Es el más conocido y probablemente el más importante de los cesionistas del rock; un campo cubiertos casi exclusivamente por grupos o “exs”. Al comentarle esto durante la nota nos dijo simplemente “Nunca había pensado en eso”. Y casi seguro no debe haber tenido tiempo, porque desde que empezó a tocAR EL piano a los tres años, comenzó su incansable actividad. En este reportaje nos lleva a dar un pequeño paseo por el Londres de comienzos de los ’60, y el despertar del blues blanco inglés, pasando luego por los Who de “Mi generación”, el Jeff Beck Group de la época de Rod Stewart y Ron Word, la costa oeste americana de Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver y Steve Miller, distintos momentos de los Rolling Stones, los trabajos de John Lennon y George Harrison, hasta llegar a su colaboración actual con Joe Cocker.
Pero esta trayecoria impresionante y única no provoca la más mínima baranda o pose a nivel superestrella. Nos encontramos con un hombre sincero, amable, de charla fácil y permanente buen humor. Y lo que empezó siendo un reportaje en una mesa de desayuno en el Alvear terminó varias horas después en una charla entre amigos, en la mesa de un bar cualquier, sin haber cambiado de lugar.

- ¿Empezaste tocando con Screaming Lord Sutch’s Savages?
- Mi Dios... ¿dónde lo averiguaste?
- Lo averigüé.. ¿el mismo que más tarde cantara acompañado por Jimmy Page y John Bonham?
- Sí.
- ¿Cómo era el sonido de ese grupo?
- Déjame recordar... era terrible, un grupo malo... no era muy bueno.
- ¿Fue el primer grupo con nombre en el que tocaste?
- Sí. Estaba con ellos en 1960, después grabamos un LP, más o menos en 1966-7, y se editó en el ’69. ¿Lo escuchaste?
- Escuché el que tenía el Rolls Royce con la bandera inglesa en el techo...
- Sí, ese. Era espantoso.
- ¿Cómo era la escena musical en Londres en el ‘67?
- Es tan difícil de recordar... En ese momento las grandes bandas eran los Kinks, los Hollies, The Who, Rolling Stones, los Beatles... así era hace diez años. Las cosas han cambiado bastante desde entonces.
- ¿Quiénes tocaban con Cyril Davies?
- ¡Encontraste eso también...! Cyril era bueno, cantando y tocando la armónica. Tocaban Mickey Waller en batería, Bernie Watson en guitarra, Ricky Brown en bajo, John Baldry hacía la segunda voz y yo en piano. Hacíamos blues al estilo Chicago.
- ¿Después tocaste en “Mi generación” de los Who?
- Sí, fue uno de mis primeros trabajos como cesionista.
- ¿Cómo ves ese disco hoy? En su época fue casi una declaración de principios...
- Sí, totalmente. Todo el mundo se sintió identificado, especialmente con esa canción.
- ¿Qué hiciste entre “Mi generación” y el Jeff Beck Group?
- Bueno, fueron casi 4 años de sesiones com mucha gente, como los Rolling Stones, con quienes comencé en 1967 en “Sus majestades satánicas”. Aunque lo primero que hice con ellos fue un simple llamado “We love you”
- ¿Qué te parece Londres?
- Vivía en Londres hace ocho años, y no lo podía soportar.
- ¿Ahora estás viviendo en San Francisco?
- Estuve allí hasta hace seis meses. Entonces me mudé a Los Angeles.
- ¿Qué podés decirme de “Truth” y “Beck Ola”?
- Me gusta “Truth”. Lo hicimos muy rápido, en una o dos semanas. No teníamos material listo así que – cómo había que grabar – hicimos cosas viejas, como Old Man River, Greensleves y Morning Dew. “Beck Ola” también me gustó y también lo hicimos rápido. Yo ya no formaba parte de la banda, sino que figuraba como músico invitado. Entre los dos discos realizamos una gira por los Estados Unidos y nos fue muy bien.
- Ahí te uniste a Quicksilver...
Sí. Estuve con ellos alrededor de un año. ¿Hay discos de Quicksilver acá?
- Bueno, no se han editado, pero yo escuché el primero y un cassette en vivo.
- Mi Dios...
- ¿Qué opinás acerca del boom del blues blanco en esa época? John Mayall, Alexis Corner, Yarbirds... ¿Te gustaban?
Sí, me gustaba. Eso ya no existe ahora. Ya nadie hace esa música. Joe y otra poca gente son lo único que queda. Bueno, si se puede considerar como blues lo que hacemos. Yo creo que es principalmente rythm & blues y rock’n’roll.
- ¿Qué opinión tenés del punk-rock?
- No conozco mucho de eso. Lo poco que vi y escuché no me gustó. Vi a Televisión en los EEUU. Es algo fastidioso, tonto. No hay musicalidad. Es una mierda. No puedo soportarlo.
- Parecería como un retorno a las raíces, pero tal vez no a las verdaderas raíces...
- Eso es. Eso como si quisieran revivir la música de los ’50 y parte de los ’60 sin haberla vivido.
- Puede ser que mucho de ese público nunca haya escuchado cosas como “Truth”.
- Claro, ni siquiera a los Beatles...
- ¿Te gusta lo que hace Jeff Beck ahora?
- Bueno, no lo escuché con Jan Hammer. Escuché el disco anterior, Blow by blow. Me gustó sobre todo un tema que es de George Martin; “Polvo de diamantes”
- ¿Te gusta el jazz-rock?
- Sí, mucho. Creo que esos músicos están ahora llegando a un público mucho más amplio, y me parece bien.
- ¿Qué tecladistas te gustan?
- Hay tantos... Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans...
- ¿Vas a muchos conciertos?
- No, muy pocas veces voy.
- Preferís los discos...
- Sí. No me puedo acordar de cuándo fue la última vez que fui a ver un recital...
- ¿Cómo te conectaste con los músicos de la costa este?
- Me llamaron para las sesiones del tercer LP de Quicksilver, “Shady Grove”. Originalmente estaba planeado que duraran tres semanas, y llevó cuatro meses. Ahí me enamoré del movimiento de San Francisco y me quedé allí. Había mucho para hacer.
- Peor tocaste antes en “Volunteers”, de Jefferson Airplane.
- Sí, estaba de gira con Beck por los EEUU. Eso fue en 1969 o 1970, antes de mudarme a California.
- ¿Todavía te gustan esos discos?
- Escuché “Volunteers” una o dos veces después, pero no me gustó. Es curioso, porque muchos discos de esa época los escucho ahora y me gustan más que en ese entonces, pero “Volunteers” no.
- ¿Qué te reportó tu trabajo con los Rolling Stones?
- Grabar con ellos era aburrido. Es mucho mejor estar de gira que en los estudios.
- ¿Qué me podés contar de las giras con ellos?
- Eran bárbaras, teníamos mucho trabajo. En 1972 hicimos algo así como 58 conciertos en siete semanas y media. Luego en el ’73 hicimos la gira por Australia, Nueva Zelandia y Hawai, que fue lo opuesto. Un concierto cada tres días. Tuvimos mucho tiempo para andar por ahí y conocer. Muy interesante. Nunca había estado en Australia. Tampoco en Sud América...
- Son el segundo número de rock que viene a la Argentina. El primero fue Santana.

- Eso me dijeron... ¿es cierto?
- Sí.
- Mi Dios...
- ¿También tocaste con Steve Miller?
- Sí, fue interesante. Toqué en varios discos suyos, el más importante fue “Your saving grace”
- ¿Qué hay de tus discos como solista, “Jamming with Edward”?
- Bueno, ese fue realmente una zapada. S editó a mitad de precio.
- ¿Y “The tin man was a dreamer”?
- Ese vendó bastante, pero no lo suficiente, porque justo en ese momento había problemas internos en la CBS. Fue cuando echaron a Clive Davis, que era el presidente. Un simple de ese disco estaba muy bien ubicado en los rankings, pero poco después sacaron el álbum de catálogo. Eso le pasó a la mayoría de los artistas de CBS, salvo los muy grandes, como Chicago.
- Voorman, Harrison y Mick Taylor tocaron en ese disco...
- Sí.
- ¿Estuviste satisfecho con tu trabajo en él?
- Sí. Hice otro también en el ’75 que fue terrible, muy malo. Yo no tenía interés.
- ¿Porqué lo hiciste?
- necesitaba dinero.
- ¿Quién tocó en ese disco?
- No me acuerdo, realmente. Llamé a cualquiera.
- ¿Y tus trabajos con Lennon y Harrison?
- Lennon es rápido. Hice dos LPs con él, “Imagine” y “Paredes y Puentes”. Toqué en ambos y fue casi lo mismo. Los grabamos en una semana: “Imagine” se hizo en siete días y dos días para poner cuerdas y mezclarlo. Nueve días en total. No está mal, ¿eh? Los de George llevaron más tiempo, cuatro o cinco semanas.
- ¿En que álbum de George Harrison tocaste?
- “Viviendo en un mundo material”, eso fue lo principal. Después toqué un par de temas en “Dark Horse”
- ¿Qué recordás de los Stones en la época de Brian Jones? ¿Pensás que perdieron algo después de su muerte?
- Sí. Ahí fue cuando las cosas empezaron a hacerse muy monótonas. Todos sus álbumes posteriores a “Sus majestades satánicas”, hasta “Déjalo sangrar” incluído, eran bastante diferentes entre sí. Como una especie de cosa directa, fuerte. Después de eso, “Sticky Fingers”, “Goat head soup”, “Exile on main Street”, “It’s only rock’n’roll”, y “Black and blue” es todo una mierda. Por ejemplo, “Black and blue” lo escuché dos o tres veces y realmente no ,e gustó como LP. Había sólo un par de temas buenos. Nada memorable. Los discos después de la muerte de Brian... no sé...
- ¿Cuál te parece que era el papel de Brian en los Rolling Stones?
- Bueno, él era como el núcleo de la banda: el líder. Entonces Mick, debido a que él era el punto de atención en vivo, comenzó a crecer, y a disputar el liderazgo del grupo. Brian sintió entonces que su contribución no estaba siendo apreciada. Ahí fue cuando comenzó a excederse peligrosamente. Creo que después de la muerte de Brian ellos perdieron la dirección musical, si es que tenían alguna.
- Nicky, ¿cómo ves la escena de San Francisco acualmente?
- Ah, está muerta. No pasa nada.
- ¿Y la escena de la costa oeste en general, como Grateful Dead?
- Nunca me gustó ese grupo.
- ¿Qué pensás sobre Joe Cocker?
- Es grande, uno de los mejores cantantes.
- ¿Pensás componer?
- Espero que sí. Vamos a ver si hacemos algo con Joe, cuando terminemos la gira.
- ¿Vas a hacer algo como solista?
- No por el momento. Me interesa hacer sólo una cosa a la vez. Tal vez Joe y yo escribamos algo juntos.
- ¿Cuántos años tenés. Nicky?
- 33.. pero me siento como si tuviera 93...
- ¿Qué te pareció el público argentino?
- Increíble. Ninguno de nosotros sabía que esperar. Hubo mucha más reacción que en Australia. La gente demostró realmente que le había gustabo. Cuanto más se calentaba el público, más energía nos daban y todo salía mejor.
- ¿Cómo ves el futuro del rock?
- Me la paso pensando en eso... pero no tengo ninguna respuesta.
- A nosotros nos pasa lo mismo
- ¿A cuanto me vendés el grabador?
- No lo vendo, Nicky... escuchame: ¿porqué siempre tocas piano acústico?
- Me gusta como suena. No me gusta el piano eléctrico.
- ¿Nunca tocaste sintetizador u órgano eléctrico?
- No me interesan. Alguna vez toqué un poquito de órgano en sesiones de grabación y usé piano eléctrico en vivo, pero junto a un piano acústico. En este caso no tengo necesidad, ya que no hay otros tecladistas en el grupo. Pienso que nunca se debe usar el piano eléctrico en lugar del piano acústico. Se debe utilizar como tal. Mucha gente acostumbra a grabar un disco con piano acústico y salir de gira con piano eléctrico, porque es más fácil de transportar y no existen los problemas de amplificación propios de un piano acústico; pero el sonido es totalmente diferente... ¿Cuánto querés por el grabador?

Fernando Basabru.
Fotos Eduardo Swinburn.






Thanks to Google translate! Forgive my mistakes, please..

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"I'm gonna walk... before they make me run"

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-02 03:10 by dandelion1967.

Quote
dandelion1967
- What do you remember of the Stones in Brian Jones’ era? Do you think they lost something after his death?
- Yes, That's when things started to get very monotonous. All of his albums since "Their Satanic Majesties" to "Let it bleed" included, were quite different. As a direct kind of thing, strong. After that, "Sticky Fingers", "Goat Head Soup," "Exile on Main Street", "It's only rock'n'roll", and "Black and Blue" is all bullshit. For example, "Black and blue" I heard two or three times and really don’t liked the LP. There were only a couple of good songs. Nothing memorable. Discs after the death of Brian ... I do not know ...
- What do you think that was the role of Brian in the Rolling Stones?
- Well, he was at the core of the band: the leader. Then Mick, because he was the center of live attention, began to grow, and challenge the leadership of the group.Brian felt then that his contribution was not being appreciated. That's when he began to exceed dangerously. I think after the death of Brian they lost their musical direction, if they had any.

Very interresting comments by some one who's actually been their with them whilest they made those albums, especially to see how he evaluates Brain's influence on those albums that Brain hardly played on, like some presence influence rather than actual physical result influence,

Wow! Surprisingly strong comments by Nicky Hopkins.

Anyway, I have had the feeling that something not so nice happened with him and the Stones in circa 1973, and this bitter sounding interview from 1977 seems to confirm that. They don't seem to have separated in good terms.

The rumour that Mick will replace Keith with Ronnie Wood in 1973 was said to came from him. I have always found that very strange.

- Doxa

And hey: no need to put OT to thread title; it surely is not OT!

- Doxa

Quote
thabo

Quote
dandelion1967
- What do you remember of the Stones in Brian Jones’ era? Do you think they lost something after his death?
- Yes, That's when things started to get very monotonous. All of his albums since "Their Satanic Majesties" to "Let it bleed" included, were quite different. As a direct kind of thing, strong. After that, "Sticky Fingers", "Goat Head Soup," "Exile on Main Street", "It's only rock'n'roll", and "Black and Blue" is all bullshit. For example, "Black and blue" I heard two or three times and really don’t liked the LP. There were only a couple of good songs. Nothing memorable. Discs after the death of Brian ... I do not know ...
- What do you think that was the role of Brian in the Rolling Stones?
- Well, he was at the core of the band: the leader. Then Mick, because he was the center of live attention, began to grow, and challenge the leadership of the group.Brian felt then that his contribution was not being appreciated. That's when he began to exceed dangerously. I think after the death of Brian they lost their musical direction, if they had any.

Very interresting comments by some one who's actually been their with them whilest they made those albums, especially to see how he evaluates Brain's influence on those albums that Brain hardly played on, like some presence influence rather than actual physical result influence,

Don't forget that we judge the Stones, Brian, Nicky and all the guys by what we know of the records. This guys must chat a lot, and maybe Nicky did talk a lot with Brian. He first met Brian, then Brian take him to the Stones. To me it's also very strange how Nicky speaks about the stones' greatest albums, and maybe Nicky's greatest collaborations too, but also remember Nicky was not in a good shape in his times with Joe Cocker, he was about to divorce, and dealling with drug addition, ans his bad healt as always. He sounds so negative in this review...

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"I'm gonna walk... before they make me run"

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Quote
Doxa
And hey: no need to put OT to thread title; it surely is not OT!

- Doxa

OT removed... thaxs Doxa for your comments!

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"I'm gonna walk... before they make me run"

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dont know about all this..
i read another interview with Hopkins and he said he didnt remember anything due to excessive drug use...

"- And the scene of the west coast in general, like the Grateful Dead?
- I never liked that group."

Thank you, Nicky. I just watched a documentary on Frank Zappa and he hated them too.

Quote
Eleanor Rigby
dont know about all this..
i read another interview with Hopkins and he said he didnt remember anything due to excessive drug use...

But he does seem to base some of his opinions on listening to the albums later on. Of course one must take his vies seriously; from someone who was as deep in the thick of it as one could be. On the other hand Nicky was always a sideman; a very important one, whose piano lines were at times central to the song, but still someone who was seeing things from the back. It's a different mindset, and the flavor of conversations can get catty or resentful.
I have always thought highly of Nicky, but I can imagine that a scenario of recording "She's a Rainbow", or "Loving Cup" or "We Love You", and then seeing 'Jagger/Richard' has to breed just a bit of resentment.

Odd interview, maybe some things have been lost or altered much in translation?

Nice to see Nicky himself confirm what i've long suspected, that he didn't play on Between The Buttons.

"Well, it was almost four years of sessions with many people, like the Rolling Stones, whom I started in 1967 with "Their Satanic Majesties." Although the first thing I did with them was a single called "We love you"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-02 09:04 by His Majesty.

Quote
Doxa
Wow! Surprisingly strong comments by Nicky Hopkins.

Anyway, I have had the feeling that something not so nice happened with him and the Stones in circa 1973, and this bitter sounding interview from 1977 seems to confirm that. They don't seem to have separated in good terms.

The rumour that Mick will replace Keith with Ronnie Wood in 1973 was said to came from him. I have always found that very strange.

- Doxa

New Musical Express - 9th June 1973

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dandelion1967
- What do you think that was the role of Brian in the Rolling Stones?
- Well, he was at the core of the band: the leader. Then Mick, because he was the center of live attention, began to grow, and challenge the leadership of the group.Brian felt then that his contribution was not being appreciated. That's when he began to exceed dangerously. I think after the death of Brian they lost their musical direction, if they had any.

What!? How dare he state that Brian was the leader? AFAIK Brian never did anything for the band. He was a horrible human being with no talent who held the Stones back and was always high. If Brian hadn't been in the band Sticky Fingers would have been released in 64. Mick and Keith had it all figured out from day one. But it was Stu who made it happend in the beginning. Brian was just a lucky guy who was allowed to play with them.

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Palace Revolution 2000

I have always thought highly of Nicky, but I can imagine that a scenario of recording "She's a Rainbow", or "Loving Cup" or "We Love You", and then seeing 'Jagger/Richard' has to breed just a bit of resentment.

Yeah, the plight of a key stones session musician... he was so vital to so many tracks and the line between hired hand and band member seems so blurred when you view things based on contribution.

He was just paid like any other session musician, right?

Anyone who knows Spanish who could translate the highlighted parts about the Stones? Some valuations in that interview could turn out a little differently.

The translation from Spanish to English looks OK to me.

But we will never know if the journalist from Argentina translated right Nicky's word ...

Después de eso (After this), “Sticky Fingers”, “Goat head soup”, “Exile on main Street”, “It’s only rock’n’roll”, y (and) “Black and blue” es todo una mierda = they are all shit ...
bullshit sounds to me "nicer" than "mierda" ...

do you think, he realy said that ? or was he angry against everyone ?
or the journalist made it that way ?

<I think after the death of Brian they lost their musical direction, if they had any.>

We should always keep in mind that Nicky was a very funny guy

Especially the last part of his comment is hilarious!

Thanks for posting,dandelion !

<<Yes, I made another one in '75 that was terrible, very bad. I had no interest.<<

To which album is he refering to ?

I also didn't know this interview and even knew Joe cocker visited Argetnina in 1977, I thought the 1992 was his first time in Buenos Aires1 Cool to know now!

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His Majesty

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Doxa
Wow! Surprisingly strong comments by Nicky Hopkins.

Anyway, I have had the feeling that something not so nice happened with him and the Stones in circa 1973, and this bitter sounding interview from 1977 seems to confirm that. They don't seem to have separated in good terms.

The rumour that Mick will replace Keith with Ronnie Wood in 1973 was said to came from him. I have always found that very strange.

- Doxa

New Musical Express - 9th June 1973

Interesting... perhaps Jagger had some passing notion of replacing Richards with Ron Wood in some context [if Richards could be "fired", or he quit, or he was incarcerated for a great length of time, died etc.. who knows...] Or joked about *something* along those lines.

That might have been an interesting band for a little bit.. with Taylor and Woods simultaneously.

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SweetThing

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His Majesty

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Doxa
Wow! Surprisingly strong comments by Nicky Hopkins.

Anyway, I have had the feeling that something not so nice happened with him and the Stones in circa 1973, and this bitter sounding interview from 1977 seems to confirm that. They don't seem to have separated in good terms.

The rumour that Mick will replace Keith with Ronnie Wood in 1973 was said to came from him. I have always found that very strange.

- Doxa

New Musical Express - 9th June 1973

Interesting... perhaps Jagger had some passing notion of replacing Richards with Ron Wood in some context [if Richards could be "fired", or he quit, or he was incarcerated for a great length of time, died etc.. who knows...] Or joked about *something* along those lines.

That might have been an interesting band for a little bit.. with Taylor and Woods simultaneously.

Whats also interesting is this story is not too far off the time line one of the posters here who claimed in another thread recently, that Jagger had shown up at Mick Taylor's residence "crying" in frustration that he (Jagger) could not "fire Keith".

The whole idea may be totally false, but oftentimes "stories", however inaccurate, come from some kernel of truth, rather than made up out of nothing.

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SweetThing

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SweetThing

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His Majesty

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Doxa
Wow! Surprisingly strong comments by Nicky Hopkins.

Anyway, I have had the feeling that something not so nice happened with him and the Stones in circa 1973, and this bitter sounding interview from 1977 seems to confirm that. They don't seem to have separated in good terms.

The rumour that Mick will replace Keith with Ronnie Wood in 1973 was said to came from him. I have always found that very strange.

- Doxa

New Musical Express - 9th June 1973

Interesting... perhaps Jagger had some passing notion of replacing Richards with Ron Wood in some context [if Richards could be "fired", or he quit, or he was incarcerated for a great length of time, died etc.. who knows...] Or joked about *something* along those lines.

That might have been an interesting band for a little bit.. with Taylor and Woods simultaneously.

Whats also interesting is this story is not too far off the time line one of the posters here who claimed in another thread recently, that Jagger had shown up at Mick Taylor's residence "crying" in frustration that he (Jagger) could not "fire Keith".

The whole idea may be totally false, but oftentimes "stories", however inaccurate, come from some kernel of truth, rather than made up out of nothing.

Also interesting in so much as not only did the Stones ultimately go with Ron Wood, but another post had suggested, contrary to popular opinion, it was actually Jagger who insisted on hiring Ron Wood in the end (or else he wouldn't tour) rather than Keith.

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SwayStones
Thanks for posting,dandelion !

<<Yes, I made another one in '75 that was terrible, very bad. I had no interest.<<

To which album is he refering to ?

His last and third album was called "No More Changes" and it is a most forgettable affair. They cover "Sea Cruise", Rick Wills plays bass, and he has his wife singing - all that should tell you just how big-time and serious that album was.
But I have always liked "Tin Man was a Dreamer" - I was surprised by that one.

Has anyone here heard Bobby Keys' solo album? And stayed awake?

Really interesting read. And we know Mick is the one who wanted Ronnie to join, he even sings with Ronnie on Starf-cker with Keith in the background (playing a great guitar). I think Ronnie was someone Mick needed in 1975 and 1978 and in 1981 Mick wanted to go solo. Ronnie was the "replacement Keith" with Keith still in the band. That could have been Micks plan. Prolong it a few years and then go solo. If this is one of those truths that hit Keith the in the face in 1980 when he was trying to clean up then that must have hit him pretty hard.

Strange - Nicky Hopkins recorded a live double album with Jerry Garcia in 1975 - Live at Berkeley...did not like the Dead but recorded with Garcia. oh well....
Nicky's playing is brilliant on this cd, although the song selection could have been better