WORLD PREMIERE

Dir. MICHAEL TREEN | US | 2023 | 87 mins

The Session Man, tells the story of Nicky Hopkins, the highly gifted and prolific session pianist, and unsung hero.
Nicky Hopkins not only played with The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, he also played on solo albums of all four members of the Beatles in the early part of a stellar career that spanned over 30 years. During that time, he contributed to over 250 albums and a vast number of single releases.
Nicky’s legendary piano riffs and wonderful musical motifs helped ordinary tracks become extraordinary and iconic. So many of them remain popular today. The generations that followed The Golden Era of Rock And Roll soon discover those iconic tracks that made Nicky Hopkins a legend amongst his peers – tracks like “Revolution” by The Beatles, “Like A Rainbow”, “Sympathy For The Devil” and “Angie” by the Rolling Stones, “Jealous Guy” by John Lennon from his “Imagine” album and “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker.

The Session Man’s narrator, Bob Harris, former presenter of the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test, had no hesitation at the end of the film in confirming that, “Nicky Hopkins’ contributions made him Rock And Roll’s greatest Session Man.”

26 October 2023 at 18:20
LONDON - BARBICAN CINEMA 1

[www.docnrollfestival.com]

Is The Session Man somewhere in The Vault?

Or can anybody WeT it or provide any links?

He Played with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who — A New Documentary Tells His Story

Nicky Hopkins was arguably the most important session musician in classic rock. The Session Man pays tribute to his behind-the-scenes genius

By Brian Hiatt
September 30, 2024


Courtesy of Nicky Hopkins family archives

The haunting intro on the Rolling Stones‘ “Monkey Man,” the galloping keyboard solo on the Beatles‘ “Revolution,” the piano that anchors the Who‘s “The Song Is Over,” and countless other indelible classic-rock moments were all the work of one man: session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. A classically trained player from Middlesex, England, who somehow also played like he had been raised in churches in the American South, Hopkins performed on nearly every Stones album from 1967 to 1981, was a founding member of the Jeff Beck Group, and played on solo albums by all four Beatles, among many other accomplishments. All of that and more is captured in a new documentary, The Session Man, which is set for digital release Nov. 5 on Amazon Prime and other platforms.




This exclusive clip from ‘The Session Man’ breaks down Hopkins’ work on Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful”

For director Mike Treen, a longtime TV producer, the film was a pure labor of love. “For all my years in the business, this is the one that I’m really proudest of,” he says. But getting funding for a film about a behind-the-scenes player, however prominent, wasn’t easy. “The hard bit for us is the distributors, the platforms,” he says. “They want films about Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger. So when you mention Nicky Hopkins, they go, ‘Well, he’s not a name.’ And you go, ‘But that is the point!’ So that’s why it’s taken us five years.”

It was easier to get the rock stars Hopkins helped out in the studio to participate: The film features interviews with Richards, Jagger, Pete Townshend, Peter Frampton, Bill Wyman, and Dave Davies, among others. As they help explain, Hopkins’ life was in part defined by a battle with Crohn’s disease that nearly killed him as a young man, and made touring difficult. So he settled in the recording studio for a decades-long run.

Hopkins did make an attempt at solo stardom, encouraged by his ambitious first wife, but it was never a natural fit. On 1973’s The Tin Man Was A Dreamer, he sang for the first time, and got musical assistance from George Harrison and Mick Taylor. “I think he was honest enough with himself to know that that’s not what he was,” says Treen. “But he let people persuade him and said, OK, I’ll give it a go.”

[www.rollingstone.com]

Morgan Fisher, one of the Mott, helped promote the screening in Japan in September.

He said:
I am now shocked to discover that Nicky Hopkins, who played the wonderful piano on "Jealous Guy", is not credited on the original LP cover of John Lennon's "Imagine".
His piano plays the most important role on this song!
Nicky's wonderful piano was a great and unknown teacher to me.
His fee was not commensurate with his talent (in the early 70's the guarantee for a session gig was £7).

So I finally watched it...it was interesting and nice to see his role in rock music being highlighted but the way it was put together makes it feels at times like a YT fan documentary and their insistence on having "boards" showing on which albums he worked on with famous artists are odd, why mention "No Stone Unturned" for instance ?

Also there's this weird passage where they say he auditioned for Wings and that his wife thinks he wasn't hired because Linda might have felt threatened ?! AFAIK he only worked with McCartney in 1988 for "Flowers in the Dirt" when Wings was long gone and is only credited on "That Day Is Done" and on the "Same Love" B-side.

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-02-13 18:54 by gotdablouse.

The recognition for him is overdue, but I agree that this doc is underwhelming and has the approach and look of a YouTube video.

Heard Lennon's "Oh Yoko" today. I was curious, so I checked: Yeah, I was not surprised. That's Hopkins on piano and he effortlessly makes the whole song.

Speaking of piano players: Upon Garth's death, Dylan mentioned his playing on "The Weight." The piano fills are wonderful. His touch is similar to Nicky's: they made the keys tinkle.

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loog droog
The recognition for him is overdue, but I agree that this doc is underwhelming and has the approach and look of a YouTube video.

There were --some minor elements-- of the documentary that were below the standard of professionally financed productions, but when you realize the work involved in attempting to clear music rights (hiring a lawyer at $600 or more an hour), let alone paying to use music, it makes sense why some minor corners were cut.

We got our $4 worth for sure, and for those who want to see MORE documentaries about the sidemen who created so much of what we enjoy listening to, understand that those who created this probably lost money or made the equivalent of minimum wage at best for their time expended.

There is no market for these things, which must be paid for up-front to create.

Maybe Netflix will eventually pay $25k at some point to license them for a few years.

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

Many of these artists aren't even allowing the makers to use more than 5 second fair-use clips from their own albums, or providing contemporary interviews!

I think of it this way -- I contributed about one cent to Nicky Hopkins over his lifetime, he gave me hundreds of hours of enjoyment. Can I afford paying a cup of coffee to learn more about him and preserve his memory, and maybe to encourage others to make more documentaries about similar people?

(By the way, the documentary was amazingly honest about things that usually get whitewashed out).

'The Session Man' on DVD - [www.Amazon.com] .

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maidenlane

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

I do not know if this is all true -Nicky was extremely in demand as a session player in the 1960's and early 1970's and was paid top dollar for his work. What is seen as unfair is the amount of royalties he received for his work, which is minimal mechanic royalties. But, these royalties were the same for say, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts would receive for their work.

The main issue with just about all session players is that when the session work dries out there is no income anymore and the required change in lifestyle can be quite dramatic. Especally when there are addictions to drugs and alcohol.

There are quite some similarites between Nicky Hopkins and Bobby Keys -they both lived quite luxurious lifestyles when they were in demand with rock royalty, both fell out due substance abuse, and both hit rock bottom the late 1970's. The difference is that Keys continued touring with the Stones from 1981 on, and Hokins frail health put a stop to that.

Mathijs

The documentary looks really interesting.

I almost wish someone would finance a documentary on Jimmy Page's 1963-1966 career as a session musician, which would be equally as fascinating.

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Big Al
The documentary looks really interesting.

I almost wish someone would finance a documentary on Jimmy Page's 1963-1966 career as a session musician, which would be equally as fascinating.

The recently released documentary 'Becoming Led Zeppelin' covers this period quite nicely (if not comprehensively) - and John Paul Jones was of course a major session presence during the few years prior to Led Zep's creation, which is also covered. Worth a watch even if you're not a Zephead!

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Mathijs

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maidenlane

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

I do not know if this is all true -Nicky was extremely in demand as a session player in the 1960's and early 1970's and was paid top dollar for his work. What is seen as unfair is the amount of royalties he received for his work, which is minimal mechanic royalties. But, these royalties were the same for say, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts would receive for their work.

£ 6.10 (roughly £ 150 in today's money) doesn't look like top dollars to me.



[x.com]

A couple of points. First, the thrust of my initial comment was simply to encourage fans to pay a few dollars/pounds/etc. to stream these documentaries about our obscure favorites, and to forgive any minor imperfections.

Second, "session players" get paid by the hour, and sign "work for hire" legal releases, which means they get zero royalties. Nicky Hopkins would not get any royalties for playing on a Stones record. Charlie Watts would, because he was a partial owner of the "recording artist".

In certain cities like LA, studio musicians are/were unionized, and get a better hourly rate. The union tries to protect the workers from losing work to outside musicians. When the Stones recorded in LA or Muscle Shoals, there was secrecy to avoid causing union problems or even visa problems (foreign musicians are strictly limited in what they can do in recording or performing to protect the market for U.S. musicians).

Obviously not every song will be a big money maker, and Nicky got paid for plenty of those too, on an hourly basis. But given that most of us think that certain songs are sometimes "made" by one session musician or sideman's contribution, there is clearly no "upside" paid on the big winners. And sometimes they weren't even credited on the album cover!

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Cristiano Radtke

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Mathijs

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maidenlane

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

I do not know if this is all true -Nicky was extremely in demand as a session player in the 1960's and early 1970's and was paid top dollar for his work. What is seen as unfair is the amount of royalties he received for his work, which is minimal mechanic royalties. But, these royalties were the same for say, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts would receive for their work.

£ 6.10 (roughly £ 150 in today's money) doesn't look like top dollars to me.

Some perspective: average wage for a clerk in England in 1968 was £1357, about £25,000 in todays money, with tax as low as 2%.

Let's say Nicky did two sessions a day for £7 each, for 5 days a week for a year and he would have made £2800, or £52,000 in todays money. Tax in those days were a factor of 10 lower.

We know all those great session players, like Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins, did way more sessions than 2 per day. They did 5 per day, for 7 days a week, raising their income to way over what a doctor or dentist would earn.

From Bobby Keys book we know all these session men were living in country houses, and living quite a luxurious live. No they didn't earn the big money Jagger and Richards would earn (literally millions), but they were paid well for their work. Main issue is: no work means no income, and that's what most experienced once the drug and alcohol dependencies kicked in.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

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Cristiano Radtke

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Mathijs

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maidenlane

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

I do not know if this is all true -Nicky was extremely in demand as a session player in the 1960's and early 1970's and was paid top dollar for his work. What is seen as unfair is the amount of royalties he received for his work, which is minimal mechanic royalties. But, these royalties were the same for say, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts would receive for their work.

£ 6.10 (roughly £ 150 in today's money) doesn't look like top dollars to me.

Some perspective: average wage for a clerk in England in 1968 was £1357, about £25,000 in todays money, with tax as low as 2%.

Let's say Nicky did two sessions a day for £7 each, for 5 days a week for a year and he would have made £2800, or £52,000 in todays money. Tax in those days were a factor of 10 lower.

We know all those great session players, like Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins, did way more sessions than 2 per day. They did 5 per day, for 7 days a week, raising their income to way over what a doctor or dentist would earn.

From Bobby Keys book we know all these session men were living in country houses, and living quite a luxurious live. No they didn't earn the big money Jagger and Richards would earn (literally millions), but they were paid well for their work. Main issue is: no work means no income, and that's what most experienced once the drug and alcohol dependencies kicked in.

Mathijs

The main point was about Nicky getting paid union scale wages, which seems it was the case.

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gotdablouse
Also there's this weird passage where they say he auditioned for Wings and that his wife thinks he wasn't hired because Linda might have felt threatened ?! AFAIK he only worked with McCartney in 1988 for "Flowers in the Dirt" when Wings was long gone and is only credited on "That Day Is Done" and on the "Same Love" B-side.

This new interview with Hamish Stuart mentions his first session with Paul and Nicky Hopkins was present [youtu.be]

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

My father did some session work as a dreamer in New York in the mid-1950s. He said they got paid $47.10 a side. They also gave bogus names and social security numbers to evade the tax man.

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Mathijs

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Cristiano Radtke

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Mathijs

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maidenlane

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

I do not know if this is all true -Nicky was extremely in demand as a session player in the 1960's and early 1970's and was paid top dollar for his work. What is seen as unfair is the amount of royalties he received for his work, which is minimal mechanic royalties. But, these royalties were the same for say, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts would receive for their work.

£ 6.10 (roughly £ 150 in today's money) doesn't look like top dollars to me.

Some perspective: average wage for a clerk in England in 1968 was £1357, about £25,000 in todays money, with tax as low as 2%.

Let's say Nicky did two sessions a day for £7 each, for 5 days a week for a year and he would have made £2800, or £52,000 in todays money. Tax in those days were a factor of 10 lower.

We know all those great session players, like Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins, did way more sessions than 2 per day. They did 5 per day, for 7 days a week, raising their income to way over what a doctor or dentist would earn.

From Bobby Keys book we know all these session men were living in country houses, and living quite a luxurious live. No they didn't earn the big money Jagger and Richards would earn (literally millions), but they were paid well for their work. Main issue is: no work means no income, and that's what most experienced once the drug and alcohol dependencies kicked in.

Mathijs

You’re spot-on, as usual!

As is well known, in early 1965, Jimmy Page was offered the Yardbirds gig: the reason he declined - recommending Jeff Beck, of course - is because he was earning such good money as a session guitarist. The likes of he, and indeed, Nicky Hopkins, were in phenomenal demand.

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Cristiano Radtke

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Mathijs

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Cristiano Radtke

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Mathijs

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maidenlane

Sadly, the centi-millionaires who paid Nicky union scale for records they made millions and careers off of aren't ponying-up the half a million or more it would take to honor their memories with a slick HBO-level documentary.

I do not know if this is all true -Nicky was extremely in demand as a session player in the 1960's and early 1970's and was paid top dollar for his work. What is seen as unfair is the amount of royalties he received for his work, which is minimal mechanic royalties. But, these royalties were the same for say, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts would receive for their work.

£ 6.10 (roughly £ 150 in today's money) doesn't look like top dollars to me.

Some perspective: average wage for a clerk in England in 1968 was £1357, about £25,000 in todays money, with tax as low as 2%.

Let's say Nicky did two sessions a day for £7 each, for 5 days a week for a year and he would have made £2800, or £52,000 in todays money. Tax in those days were a factor of 10 lower.

We know all those great session players, like Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins, did way more sessions than 2 per day. They did 5 per day, for 7 days a week, raising their income to way over what a doctor or dentist would earn.

From Bobby Keys book we know all these session men were living in country houses, and living quite a luxurious live. No they didn't earn the big money Jagger and Richards would earn (literally millions), but they were paid well for their work. Main issue is: no work means no income, and that's what most experienced once the drug and alcohol dependencies kicked in.

Mathijs

The main point was about Nicky getting paid union scale wages, which seems it was the case.

Well yes of course, if you want to work in the music industry you have to join the Musician's Trade Union to get legally protected and to get paid fairly. If you're not a member you will not be able to do session work in most cases. The only other way to work as a musician is to have an agreement with a record company, but in that case you were mostly not allowed to do session work.

It wasn't until the 1970's that 'session' musicians started to have bargaining power and started to state their own fee. Billy Preston was one of the first musicians who demanded a lump sum for sessions and for touring. I don't know how much Nicky earned on the 1972 tour, but I would be surprised if they didn't agree on a healthy lump sum for the entire tour.

There's nice interviews on Youtube with Steve Lukather of Toto where he tells how much he earned as a session musician. He remarks that he owns a great house in LA, but if he had received writing royalties for 'Billy Jean' and 'Beat it' he would have owned half of LA.

Mathijs

29 Mei in de Nederlandse bioscoop / filmhuizen

[filmtheaterhilversum.nl]

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Lien
29 Mei in de Nederlandse bioscoop / filmhuizen

[filmtheaterhilversum.nl]

Mmmmmmmm.... than is the concert Dikke Dennis and The @#$%& in Podium Victorie