The Session Man

A documentary on the the very best of the unsung heroes of rock and roll, Nicky Hopkins, a session player pianist who has not just played with the music greats, such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, but has been instrumental in some of their recording successes. Here he receives the interview accolades from his fellow musicians, including no lesser than Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. (Nicky was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this November 2025.) The Session Man will be in UK & Irish cinemas from 21st November.

Like all biographic stories looking back at an artist’s life it is interesting to learn about how their journey unfolds in their chosen profession, but also, as in this case, it is learning about their role in their field that is unique and here it is most revealing because of their impact on the successes of some of the most famous performers in the world…so much so that it makes them worthy of a documentary. This is the case for Nicky Hopkins, whose musical genius as a session pianist was so highly revered he was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame despite otherwise being a complete unknown.

His health problems with Crohn’s disease meant he was unable to pursue a permanent role in a group worthy of his talents having started with the Cyril Davis All Star Band, in what was to play a major part in the London music scene in the early 60s. As a toddler he began playing the piano barely able to reach the keys before going onto the Royal Academy of Music and then recording and touring with many of the best bands in the world. At the time, the predominantly guitar and percussion centred bands could seek out session players in order to add an extra something, which Nicky became renowned for doing.

The music producers interviewed like Glyn Johns and Shel Talmy, may not be familiar to non-music nuts either, but have a similar list of successful artist credits behind them. They retrace Nicky’s story speaking of his prodigious talent and involvement in groups and the conversations quickly crank-up with the endorsements of the Rolling Stones band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman, each talking about hearing Nicky play. Their serendipitous meeting led to collaborations resulting in Nicky playing on some of the Stones’ iconic tracks like “Sympathy for the Devil” that feature heavily his mercurial piano skills. Listening to the fellow session players strike those chords in an instantly recognisable track immediately confirms Nicky’s undoubted brilliance.

In a career spanning 30 years working with other seminal UK bands of the 60s and 70s, including the Kinks and the Who, his ‘invisible’ genius is at its most apparent playing the melodica on the Kinks’ number one hit “Sunny Afternoon”, this time illustrating the more subtle side of a session player’s skill.

Having performed on the Beatles’ “Revolution”, he would later on follow this feat up by contributing on all the Beatles’ solo albums including John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”. He played with the Jeff Beck Group too teaming up with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, touring America on several occasions and despite that band’s disbandment just before Woodstock Nicky still performed there under a different band, Jefferson Airplane. This signalled a new direction for Nicky as he settled into the San Francisco music scene.

With some archive footage of Nicky playing the grand piano front and centre recording with the Rolling Stones and similarly recording with John Lennon in America there is a chance to see him at work. A limited old interview of Nicky used from a California Music show in 1991 with Merrell Fankhauser suggests a lack of his celebrity status in the media. Stills of the bands and album covers fill in the gaps to the talking heads, which themselves have an immaculate studio quality to them and the narration is provided by the familiar husky voice of BBC music presenter, Bob Harris, known for the 70s show the Old Grey Whistle Test.

For the rock anglophiles, by the end, the doc runs out of legs and superlatives. It can’t quite keep up with the phenomenal list of musicians Nicky’s worked with but is still a worthy tribute to an unquestionable rock star you’ve likely never heard of.