‘Played on over 250 albums’: was Nicky Hopkins the greatest unsung pianist ever?

He helped shape classic songs by the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Beatles but his influence on music has been largely ignored. A new documentary aims to correct that

In one of the Rolling Stones’ most crucial songs, Sympathy for the Devil, it’s not Keith Richards’ guitar that defines the melody or propels the piece. It’s a series of stark piano chords, struck by a studio musician, that give the piece its earth-shaking power. Likewise, in the Who’s classic cut The Song is Over, it isn’t Pete Townshend’s six-string that provides the song’s most plaintive tug. It’s a piano progression, provided by a guest player, that lends it that melancholy grace. Similarly, in Joe Cocker’s smash hit You Are So Beautiful, Cocker finds his dream partner in a series of guest piano runs so elaborate they change the trajectory of the melody, ultimately soaring it to the sky.

In each of those cases, the piano work sprang from the fertile mind and fleet fingers of Nicky Hopkins, a keyboard colossus so dexterous he gained eager employment from nearly every star of note from the classic rock world and beyond. Not only did Hopkins play with the Stones (on over a dozen albums in fact), he also worked with the Beatles, providing an iconic solo devised on the fly for their song Revolution. He also played on solo works by each of the Fab Four, including nearly every track on John Lennon’s Imagine album, and on classic sets by British bands from the Kinks to the Move, and American acts like Jefferson Airplane and the Steve Miller Band. More, he was a member of two key bands: the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, and Quicksilver Messenger Service, who helped define San Francisco psychedelia in the 60s.

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‘Played on over 250 albums’: was Nicky Hopkins the greatest unsung pianist ever?

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