an article about the book...

[hereandnow.wbur.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-27 23:05 by HalfNanker.

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DandelionPowderman

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GOO
true....i just think he fleshed out many songs with his playing....like a team....always wonder why the jagger/richard team didnt hand out writing credits more....on certain songs it seems like the right thing to do....Sympathy without the piano is a strummed guitar and tons of drums.....

I think you're right there, fleshed out. That's what you'd expect by a pro musician.

Exactly. There is a reason why great session musicians were musical journeymen and women.....
Nicky, Billy, Muscle Shoals, Wrecking Crew, Derek and the Dominoes (Except for Clapton, technically session guys)Funk Brothers etc..
On Aretha's I Never Loved a Man, her original song had no real metre, groove, just her vocals and a rough piano arrangement.
The musicians looked at each other trying to figure out how to play, what to do with it. After several minutes, Spooner Oldham came up with that signature organ riff - which provided the song with its hook, groove. Aretha, Jerry Wexler acknowledged that contribution. But the song had already been written by Aretha. There are literally hundreds of examples of that.That's why Oldham was a great session player. Bobby Whitlock's piano part in Layla, the great licks in all those Motown songs, the piano in Shine a Light, Joe South guitar in Chain of Fools, the guy who makes the monkey noises in Dance....hell, you could go on and on..
That's what great session players do, they add something distinctive to a song. That's their job.
Its the difference between Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, Whitlock, Oldham....and the guys in Toto, Ambrosia, Pablo Cruise....some are great, the rest are just hired guns.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-27 23:04 by stupidguy2.

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GOO
i guess so......what about bill wyman coming up with the riff to paint it black?jumping jack flash? is he lying...no credit, not a session musician......granted the piano on say streets of love doesnt deserve a writing credit, but what about coming down again or you cant always get what you want? surely the piano line makes these songs....just a thought

Wyman has never claimed he came up with the PIB riff. He's stated he came up with the polka bass pattern, played on the bass pedals of an organ. He argues a Nanker/Phelge credit would be in place, also considering Jones's sitar.

Mathijs

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GOO
yes during the recording of she's a rainbow keith gave direction, but what we dont hear is the first run through....i doubt if keith said "nicky play the piano like this, i know how it goes"....im sure he played it on guitar like Sometimes happy some times Blue outtake of dandelion...then nicky added his bit......just thinking.....love those outtakes by the way....

Now, without listening back to the outtakes, if memory serves, Keith sings the piano of the She's a Rainbow intro to Hopkins, telling him what notes to play and what not.

Mathijs

ok

Pianist Nicky Hopkins. (Baron Wolman)

Nicky Hopkins may be the greatest rock and roll musician you’ve never heard of. He played a solo in the Beatle’s “Revolution,” he also plays in “Angie” by the Rolling Stones and worked with The Who and The Kinks. And now there’s a petition drive under way to get Hopkins into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Hopkins’ biography made it onto several “best of lists” for 2011. British musician Julian Dawson‘s labor of love book about Hopkins is called, “And On Piano: The Extraordinary Life of Rock’s Greatest Session Man.” Dawson recorded an album with Hopkins before his death in 1994.

We spoke to Dawson last year, when he told Here & Now’s Deb Becker why he thought Hopkins is such a significant figure.

“Nobody else worked at that incredibly high level of quality and across so many different areas of music, including names like Ella Fitzgerald and Willie Nelson. It’s an incredible box of music that Nicky got through in his short life,” Dawson said.

doxa
there a photo of nicky with band in finland

We hear Mick doing some guiding, suggesting during the She's A Rainbow session.

Thanks GOO for the info. I should read the book.

- Doxa

its really good...still looking for japanese tv/movie soundtracks....ever seen them??

Selected performances

The Kinks, The Kink Kontroversy (1965), Sunny Afternoon (1966), Face to Face (1966), "Mister Pleasant" (1967), "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" (1968)
The Who, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (1965),[12] My Generation album (1965), "The Song Is Over" (1971), "Getting In Tune" (1971), "We're Not Gonna Take It [movie remix]" (1975), "They Are All in Love" (1975), "Slip Kid" (1975), "How Many Friends" (1975)
Jeff Beck, "Blues De Luxe", "Morning Dew" (1967), Truth (1967), and Hokpkins' own self-penned "Girl From Mill Valley", on Beck-Ola. (1969)
Cat Stevens, "Matthew and Son" (1967), Matthew and Son (1967)
Marc Bolan, "Jasper C. Debussy" (1966-7, released 1974)
The Rolling Stones, "In Another Land" (1967), "We Love You" (1967) She's a Rainbow" (1967), "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968), "Street Fighting Man" (1968), "Gimme Shelter" (1969), "Monkey Man" (1969), "Sway" (1971), "Tumbling Dice" and many others on the Exile on Main St. album (1972), "Angie" (1973), "Time Waits for No One" (1974), "Fool to Cry" (1976), "Waiting on a Friend" (recorded 1972, released 1981)
Jackie Lomax, "Sour Milk Sea" (1968)
The Beatles, "Revolution" (single version) (1968)
The Move, "Hey Grandma", "Mist on a Monday Morning", "Wild Tiger Woman" (all 1968)
Donovan, "Barabajagal" (1969)
Jamming With Edward (jam session with Ry Cooder and some members of The Rolling Stones (recorded 1969, released 1972)
Quicksilver Messenger Service, "Shady Grove", "Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder", "Spindrifter"
Jefferson Airplane, "Volunteers" (1969), "Wooden Ships" (1969), "Eskimo Blue Day" (1969), "Hey Fredrick" (1969), whole Woodstock set
Steve Miller Band "Kow Kow", "Baby's House (which Hopkins co-wrote with Miller)".
John Lennon, "Jealous Guy" (1971), "How Do You Sleep?" (1971), "Oh My Love" (1971), "Oh Yoko!" (1971), "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (1971), Walls and Bridges album (1974)
Paul McCartney, "That Day is Done" from Flowers in the Dirt (1989)
Ringo Starr, "Photograph" (1973), "You're Sixteen" (1973), "Step Lightly" (1973), "You and Me (Babe)" (1973), "No No Song" (1974)
George Harrison, "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" (1973),[13] Living in the Material World album (1973)
Peter Frampton, "Waterfall" and "Sail Away" (1974)
Joe Cocker, "You Are So Beautiful" (1974)
Jerry Garcia Band, Let It Rock: The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 2 (1975)
L. Ron Hubbard, "The Mining Song" (1982), "The Banker" (1982)
Dogs D'Amour, "Hurricane", "Trail of Tears", and "Princes Valium" from the Errol Flynn/King Of The Thieves album (1989)
The Jayhawks, "Two Angels" and "Martin's Song"[14] on the Hollywood Town Hall album (1992)
Joe Walsh, "Guilty of the Crime" from the A Future To This Life album (1994), the soundtrack from the Robocop television series
Gene Clark (various recordings)
Brewer & Shipley
P.J. Proby, Reflections of Your Face (Amory Kane) from "Three Week Hero" (1969)
Additional Amory Kane works

Discography

NICKY HOPKINS DISCOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHTS
THE SIXTIES
THE WHO, My Generation, Brunswick/Decca USA
THE KINKS, The Kinks Kontroversy, Pye/Reprise
NICKY HOPKINS, The Revolutionary Piano Of…, CBS
THE KINKS, Face To Face, Pye / Reprise
ROLLING STONES, Between The Buttons, Decca/London
ROLLING STONES, Their Satanic Majesties Request, Decca/London
ROLLING STONES, Beggar’s Banquet, Decca/London
KINKS, Village Green Preservation Society, Pye/Reprise
JEFF BECK GROUP, Truth, Columbia/Epic
THE KINKS, Something Else By The Kinks, Pye/Reprise
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, Dusty…Definitely, Philips
ROLLING STONES, Let It Bleed, Decca/London
JEFF BECK GROUP, Beck-Ola, Columbia / Epic
STEVE MILLER BAND, Brave New World, Capitol
STEVE MILLER BAND, Your Saving Grace, Capitol
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, Volunteers, RCA
FAMILY, Entertainment, Reprise
ROY HARPER, Folkjokeopus, Liberty
ELLA FITZGERALD, Ella, Warner Brothers
THE MOVE, The Move, Cube
BILLY NICHOLLS, Would You Believe, Immediate

THE SEVENTIES
STEVE MILLER BAND, Number 5, Capitol
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, Shady Grove, Capitol
VARIOUS, Woodstock, Atlantic
ROLLING STONES, Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones Records
THE WHO, Who’s Next, Track
NICKY HOPKINS, Jamming With Edward, Rolling Stones Records
JOHN LENNON, Imagine, Apple
ROLLING STONES, Exile On Main Street, Rolling Stones Records
HARRY NILSSON, Son Of Schmilsson, RCA Victor
CARLY SIMON, No Secrets, Elektra
NICKY HOPKINS, The Tin Man Was A Dreamer, CBS
GEORGE HARRISON, Living In The Material World, Apple
RINGO STARR, Ringo, Apple
ROLLING STONES, Goat’s Head Soup, Rolling Stones Records
ANDY WILLIAMS, Solitaire, CBS
JOHN LENNON, Walls & Bridges, Apple
ROLLING STONES, It’s Only Rock’n’Roll, Rolling Stones Records
JOE COCKER, I Can Stand A Little Rain, Fly
PETER FRAMPTON, Something’s Happening, A & M
RINGO STARR, Goodnight Vienna, Apple
MARTHA REEVES, Martha Reeves, MCA
NICKY HOPKINS, No More Changes, Mercury (US)
ART GARFUNKEL, Breakaway, CBS
ROLLING STONES, Black & Blue, Rolling Stones Records
JERRY GARCIA, Reflections, United Artists
ROD STEWART, Footloose And Fancy Free, Warner Brothers
JENNIFER WARNES, Jennifer Warnes, Arista
ROD STEWART, Blondes Have More Fun, Riva
LOWELL GEORGE, Thanks I’ll Eat It Here, Warner Brothers
POINTER SISTERS, Priority, Planet

THE EIGHTIES
ROLLING STONES, Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones Records
TIM HARDIN, Unforgiven, Arc International
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR, The Up Escalator, Stiff
ROLLING STONES, Tattoo You, Rolling Stones Records
NILS LOFGREN, Night Fades Away, MCA/Backstreets
MEATLOAF, Dead Ringer, Cleveland/Epic
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR, Another Grey Area, RCA
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, White Heat, Mercury/Casablanca
KING OF COMEDY, Soundtrack, Warner Brothers
CARL WILSON, Youngblood, Caribou
JULIO IGLESIAS, 1100 Bel Air Place, CBS
BELINDA CARLISLE, Belinda, IRS
ROD STEWART, Rod Stewart/Every Beat Of My Heart, Warner Brothers
PAUL MCCARTNEY, Flowers In The Dirt,Capitol
JACK BRUCE, A Question Of Time, Epic

THE NINETIES
ROGER CHAPMAN, Hybrid & Lowdown, Polydor
GARY MOORE, Still Got The Blues, Virgin
NICKY HOPKINS, The Fugitive (Soundtrack), Toshiba-EMI
NICKY HOPKINS, Patio (Soundtrack), Toshiba-EMI
JAYHAWKS, Hollywood Town Hall, Columbia
JOE SATRIANI, Extremist, Legacy Recordings
SPINAL TAP, Break Like The Wind, MCA
MATTHEW SWEET, Altered Beast, Zoo/BMG
JOE WALSH, Robocop Soundtrack, Rhino/Pyramid
GENE CLARK, Under The Silvery Moon, Delta De Luxe
FRANKIE MILLER, Long Way Home, Jerkin’ Crocus

THE SINGLES
SCREAMING LORD SUTCH, Jack The Ripper/Don’t You Just Know It, Decca
THE WHO, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere , Brunswick
THE KINKS, Till The End Of The Day, Pye/Reprise
CYRIL DAVIES R & B ALL STARS, Country Line Special/Chicago Calling, Pye International/Dot
CLIFF BENNETT & REBEL ROUSERS, My Old Standby (B-Side), Parlophone
RITCHIE BLACKMORE ORCHESTRA, Little Brown Jug/Getaway, Oriole
VASHTI, Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind ,Decca
DAVY JONES & THE LOWER THIRD, You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving, Parlophone
PRETTY THINGS, Midnight To Six Man, Fontana
THE KINKS, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Pye/Reprise
THE KINKS, Sunny Afternoon, Pye/Reprise
DAVID BOWIE, Can’t Help Thinking About Myself, Pye
TWICE AS MUCH, Sittin’ On A Fence/Baby I Want You, Immediate
CAT STEVENS, Matthew And Son/Granny, Deram
ROLLING STONES, We Love You, Decca/London
ROLLING STONES, 2000 Light Years/She’s A Rainbow, Decca/London
NICKY HOPKINS, Mr. Pleasant, Polydor/Decca
THE KINKS, Autumn Almanac, Pye (UK)
DAVE DAVIES, Death Of A Clown, Pye/Reprise
JEFF BECK, Beck’s Bolero, Columbia/Epic
YARDBIRDS, Little Games, Columbia
MARC BOLAN, Jasper C. Debussy, Track
PP ARNOLD, The First Cut Is The Deepest, Immediate
BEATLES, Hey Jude/Revolution (B-side), Apple
ROLLING STONES, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Decca/London
THE KINKS, Days, Pye/Reprise
DONOVAN, Goo Goo Barabajagal, Epic
SCAFFOLD, Lily The Pink, Parlophone
FATS DOMINO, Have You Seen My Baby, Reprise
JOHN LENNON/PLASTIC ONO BAND, Happy Christmas/War Is Over, Apple
THE WHO, Let’s See Action, Track
ROLLING STONES, Tumbling Dice, Rolling Stones
HARRY NILSSON, Remember Christmas, RCA
ROLLING STONES, Angie, Rolling Stones
GEORGE HARRISON, Give Me Love, Apple
RINGO STARR, Photograph, Apple
RINGO STARR, You’re Sixteen, Apple
JOE COCKER, You Are So Beautiful, A & M
ART GARFUNKEL, I Only Have Eyes For You, Columbia
JULIO IGLESIAS / WILLIE NELSON, To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, CBS
JOE WALSH / STEVE EARLE, Honey Don’t (Beverley Hillbillies), Fox Records
JOE WALSH / FRANKIE MILLER, Guilty Of The Crime, Pyramid
PAUL MCCARTNEY, Beautiful Night/Same Love, Oobu-Joobu 6

© 2009 Nicky Hopkins

More complte discography, including his 8 solo albums, his singles, his groups and his guest appearance all including music samples here [www.rocksoff.org]

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GOO
check out the jerry garcia band with nicky on piano....great stuff, let it rock....cool 15 minute version of lets spend the night together

There's an official Jerry compliation out there, 2nd dics, has a live version of Positively 4th Street with Nicky on Piano. Simply gorgeous.

[thepowergoats.com]

Nicky doesn't play on Between The Buttons. Seems to be a bit of wrong information that keeps getting repeated.

Newspaper reports, articles etc from the time suggest his first released stones session was We Love You and Nicky himself has said it was.

I just got the book; haven't read it yet. But I was listening to "Tin Man" the other day; and it was so good. Not just "well that is really good considering it is Nicky" - but good.
I had gotten to "Shout it Out", I think and I am thinking "What is this Todd Rundgren song that I don't recognize?".

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DandelionPowderman

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GOO
writing the words does not make a song....strumming a guitar doesnt make a song.....its all the parts put together.....angie without the piano ?.....whatever

You logic would make all the session musicians in the world pretty rich...

Songwriting Copyright Law:
Lyrics =50%
Melody=50%
everything else= nada

I guess most people can't grasp the simplicity of the writing copyright law. Riffs, piano fills and boogie, Bass line, rhythm section all are ignored when it comes to what is copyrighted to make a song. Of course we all know a good main riff or other accompanyment can make a song but it just doesn't matter.

As far as the story about Mick recording jams (on his evil cue) to steal ideas intentionally...that's absurd.

Where is gets kinda fuzzy is in a situation where everybody's jammin and say the piano player starts playing a new original melody line over the song as an instrumental lead. The next day tyhe singer comes back with the lyrics and melody and they INCLUDE that melody line but of course the singer thinks he came up with it and the piano player forgot that he even played it the day before. It happens alot. For instance, on Moonlight Mile where the guitar and the melody are similar or the same in some parts, maybe Mick Taylor came up with the melody and is the one who SHOULD get the credit, maybe not. Capishe?

peace

Very interesting stuff about session musicians fleshing out songs.
It's not unique the the music industry though,if you come up with a better way of doing something at your place of work and it saves the company a fortune,you won't always get the credit for it because it was in the company time.
An old girlfriend of mines father came up with the plastic locking device you get on cable ties,the one you can undo whilst subcontracting to the motor industry (possibly Ford ) and he never got a penny for it ,he was a nice guy but he was not very happy about not getting any recognition or reward for coming up with the idea,because as I said before it was done whilst working for the company.
Presumably The Rolling Stones would be considered ''the company''and therefore the same rules apply.
Just a thought.

Thats usually the case with ideas developed for corporations while working there. My Dad invented a piece that is on every jet engine manufactured. He was working for Boeing. They gave him $250 and an engraved award. He's OK with it.

Back in college, I was contracted and paid $800 to design a house alarm for Tandy Corp. (Radio Shack), They patented it and sold 'em like crack for a dozen years in every store. I was happy with the fee and they were happy with the sales.

The Stones are different, they have enough material by now to exclude other composers and even when they didn't they monopolized the credit. If the other band members are OK with it who are we to complain?

Nicky was great but as they say in the biz, sit down, shut up and play the piano or we wil get any janitor in the building to happily play your part. The Stones got BIG on the backs of the earlier tunes and dreams and efforts. That is what creates so much presumed value in the new ones being written. Business as usual. peace

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GOO
pretty sad story in the end

I heard he dies.

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MILKYWAY

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GOO
pretty sad story in the end

I heard he dies.

Bastard! Thanks for spoiling the ending!

died poor

Would have been great if he'd played piano on the 1969 tour

Great, great book! I just finished it yeaterday... what a sad life! But he remain with us in his creations, beacuse The Song is over, Angie, You are so beautifull, She's a rainbow, We love you are at least, in part Nicky's creations.

For us Nicky's fan, a must! Now I know more than nicky and his art. I found this video in a torrent, which I just didn't know.





Acording with Dawson, Nicky ask the Stones to join in at least in 1989 or in 1994, but they say "no" because "they were afraid if something happen to Nicky on the road" for his bad healt. This was recorded between those years. It features his classical "bark" at the end of the song. He was always childlike, as the book says.

--------------------------------------------


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

--------------------------------------------



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-08-10 21:59 by dandelion1967.

He added an extra special touch to the studio version of "No Expectations" IMHO, along with Mick's perfect vocals for the song, Hopkins piano, and Brian's slide..just listen to the very end of the piano part of the song, pure beauty!

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Blue
He added an extra special touch to the studio version of "No Expectations" IMHO, along with Mick's perfect vocals for the song, Hopkins piano, and Brian's slide..just listen to the very end of the piano part of the song, pure beauty!

I agree. It's my favorite Nicky moment ever.

-R

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DandelionPowderman

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GOO
i guess so......what about bill wyman coming up with the riff to paint it black?jumping jack flash? is he lying...no credit, not a session musician......granted the piano on say streets of love doesnt deserve a writing credit, but what about coming down again or you cant always get what you want? surely the piano line makes these songs....just a thought

YCAGWYW is a guitar and lyric-based song.

There should be no doubt about Coming Down Again being a Keith Richards-number.

IMO, there is no need speculating whether one deserves a credit or not, unless you were there or have access to the birth of those songs - solely on an opinion that one plays a great part.

The Wyman/JFF-story is something else. If he indeed came up with the classic riff, which the song is built around, he would deserve songwriting credits, imo.

Then again, he could have come up with the beginning, which is a standard B/E/A-chord change, and that makes the situation different.

Could make a whole topic on what is 'writing' a song. I personally believe coming up with a lead, a riff, a melody line, is part of writing and should receive credit. But the Glimmers have way too big egos for that. REM did it fairly. Look at their credits and you see 'Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe' for the songs by the original band, even though Stipe wrote most of the lyrics and Mills wrote much of the melody. They fairly included ALL the contributions to the song by the band.

Agreed

Nicky was brilliant, but to say that session guys who helped build songs should receive writers credit is ludicrous. It is up to the band and more specifically the writers. The Stones had Nanker/Phelge for years. What about the Beatles? What about the Kinks as English examples. They had some session guys in as well. Nicky played with lots of bands and his contributions were huge, but he just helpedz build the songs musically not lyrically. The guy was a brilliant player and Stones albums and tours were greatly enhanced by his contribution which is why they invited him to play for so long. Stu and Nicky were always my guys with Mac a close third. Best example of Nicky helping build a song is SFTD. His keyboard riff is picked up by Keith who eventually uses it in the final cut and takes it a step further on live versions. Keith was the master at taking a simple riff and turning into a Stones thing. Chuck Berry was the same way. Take a sound and give it a different twist. I think we call that progression.

Metallica credited Krik Hammett for riffs because riffs are important to their songs. The Jagger/Richards deal is business, PR and power as well as songwriting. The main reason is the huge impact of Lennon/McCartney and how ALO needed to project the image of Jagger/Richards.