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FREE AND ON ...: THE EXTRAORDINARY OF ROCKS GREATEST SESSION MAN PDF

Julian Dawson, | 384 pages | 01 Apr 2011 | Plus One Press | 9780984436224 | English | , CA, Meet Session Superstar Nicky Hopkins | Best Classic Bands

Yet even many fans worth their salt who And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man easily rattle off the names of the members of many bands he worked with — , Kinks, Who, , and even as well as Spinal Tap really, no joke; he played on Break Like the Wind to name literally but a few — might possibly be stumped to identify Hopkins much less quantify his near-immeasurable contribution to songs and so many of us know and love. But he had the ability to turn an ordinary track into a gem — slotting in the right chord at the right time or dropping a set of triplets around the back beat, just enough to make you want to . On a ballad, he could sense which notes to wrap around the song without being obtrusive. At age three he began playing piano. Hopkins left the Davies band to undergo operations that nearly killed him and sidelined his career for more then a year-and-a-half. On regaining his health he decided to eschew the rigors of touring for session work. But he was upset when Village Green … came out and the keyboard work was credited to with no mention of Hopkins, who said he had also composed songs and helped develop the musical framework for the concept . The incident left a rather bad taste in the mouth of the normally quite easygoing Hopkins, who by evidence of all the varied acts he played with got along well with most everyone. Ray Davies is so tight his arse squeaks when he walks. At the time, his session work became as much of a grind as the road. He also later became a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service. During this creatively fertile time of the early s, Hopkins — along with , , And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man Wyman and — released one of the most revered archaeological side-projects in the Rolling Stones hagiography — the album titled Jamming with Edward! Hopkins also contributed to the Jamming With Edward! Some of the material from that project was also used on the Jamming … album. He was also a key player on Exile on Main Street. Asked to hit the road with the group on their next outing, Hopkins had to beg off for health reasons. But they continued to utilize him on recordings well into the s. My interview with Nicky for Crawdaddy magazine in was my first interview with a rock star. And to many of us in the music game, he was a rock star indeed. The indelible impression he left was even furthered when I caught him again with the Stones in July from the front row of . A low-key dude, Hopkins sat in his room like a china figurine contemplating the delicate patterns of his own musical inspiration. While his wife Dolly And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man phone calls and travel arrangements in a corner of the room, Nicky talked dreamily about his Mill Valley hideaway, where he and Dolly had been spending the last couple of years living the life, making music, writing songs with a cassette player atop his piano, and pursuing his hobby of collecting tins. His can collection of many years was the subject of an oil painting on the back of his . It makes much more sense, really. But Hopkins also sang a lot on the album, which marked the work as a breakthrough for him. It was done pretty loosely, really. We went to in the beginning of September and George was supposed to be recording. But he phoned from abroad and said that he was going to be another two weeks. He knew I was going to be recording, and could I use the time? I said sure and got all the basic tracks in those two weeks. He had high hopes for the album but was realistic. helped out a lot with the lyrics. Why not call it Toilet Paper, or Fluorescent Lights? Sadly, all the talk of hitting the road with an all-star band never came to fruition. That same year another solo album was recorded that remains as yet unreleased. Hopkins also branched out into composing soundtracks. His poor health continued to plague him, and drugs and drinking also became an issue. During those years Hopkins briefly returned to England to live for a short spell, did time in , and then settled in Nashville, TN, where he died on September 6, from complications after intestinal surgery. His friends and fans regularly campaign for his induction into the Hall of Fame. But for all his accomplishments and the wonderful parts and music he created, Hopkins remains sadly unsung. They do their job for a fee and then leave, rarely seeing their names on the records. You only miss them when they are not there. Photos by Becky Danese pic. Just two examples. I had Edward and Tin Man. They were the spice on many of those albums! Your data will be safe! Your e-mail address will not be published. Also other data will not be shared with third person. This site uses Akismet to reduce And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Scene: Key Players. Share This:. Photo: nickyhopkins. About Latest Posts. Noe Gold. The author of articles and books on the music of , Frank And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man and Albert King, among others, his latest project is the forthcoming book, Hendrix Now! Go to www. Latest posts by Noe Gold see all. Stories We Want You to Read. Well Done Reply this comment. Just two examples Reply this comment. Reply this comment. Click here to cancel reply. Close Window Loading, Please Wait! This may take a second or two. Nicky Hopkins - Wikipedia

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Nicky Hopkins by Julian Dawson. Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — And on Piano And on Piano Klaus Voormann. Nicky Hopkins The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. . . Jefferson Airplane. . Quicksilver Messenger Service. . Harry Nilsson. At the heart of their music, and of hundreds of others, was one man with a piano: Nicky Hopkins. This is the definitive work on 's greatest session player, and one of its unsung heroes. Ful And on Piano Full description Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published April 1st by Backstage Press first published January 1st More Details Other Editions 1. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about And on Piano Nicky Hopkinsplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about And on Piano Nicky Hopkins. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of And on Piano Dec 01, Mark rated it it was amazing Shelves: historymusicbiography. Seems to me anybody who was anybody in my little scene at the time in the City, on the Coastside, and on the Peninsula; who cared about both men happened to show up- I, myself, had a little luck in more ways than one, with a happy girlfriend who'd often score a pair of tickets to whatever was happening at Winterland any given weekend. I have recordings of both evenings that prove it thanks to Uncle Bill's Vault. A little off-handed "Jingle Bells" has been making the rounds recently among Dead freaks on Facebook- that comes from the later of those 2 shows. There are a lot of reasons I felt drawn to Mr. Hopkins, not least his long associations with almost everyone we grew up digging on the radio, both here in the Bay Area and in . This is an excellent book which limits the author's participation to the preface, and leaves the history intact without any egoic histrionics- so much like Nicky himself, the almost egoless master of the keys- the book is broken up less into consecutive chronology than it is by those associations, and the periods of his life are primarily defined by the early associations with his clients, here and there. He left behind so many who appreciate his personality and his musicianship and not least of all his remarkable courage in the face of horrible physical hardships which dogged him his entire life. This is a great book about a remarkable individual and so interesting I got it all in within 24 hours. Aug 08, Andy rated it it was amazing And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man rock-sleaze. If the lush piano introduction to Quicksilver Messenger Service's "Shady Grove" took your breath away then you've just heard the genius of Nicky Hopkins. If the hard severity of the piano driving The Rolling Stones' "" gave you the chills and followed up the jail door clang brilliantly You've just heard the genius of Nicky Hopkins. If the elegant tinkling of piano floating above the thrashing of a Who record, eg. Unimpeachably the most criminally overlooked genius of iconic Sixties and Seventies rock records is mild-mannered keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, who not only played on countless classic records, some credited and just as many without credit especially The Kinks and Rolling Stones. To say he was a musician of merit on par with , , or a Mick Jagger would not be an exaggeration. In fact, by virtue of the fact that he created all his arrangements himself and set the mood for a sweeping variety of musical moods is remarkable. It could even be said that many of the songs he played on would never have turned out as effectively had it not been for his amazing piano parts. Julian Dawson's bio on Hopkins is an exhaustive task as it goes into exhausting detail about Hopkins beginnings playing with and , the Davies connection opening up doors with what would become the biggest rock stars of the next fifteen years. His book is indispensable not just about his subject but for anyone who's interested at all in the British rock explosion of the Sixties. The cover to this book is very telling: Hopkins on stage with a popular dynamic group sitting in a very dark corner of the stage but virtually unseen. It sets the And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man for the whole book. To read just a few of the recordings he played on is staggering: the clanging jail doors of "Jailhouse Rock" and quaintly melodic accompaniment to the raunchy "All Shook Up" with The Jeff Group Beck comes off as a painful prima donna, too ; the lovely childlike lines that open "She's A Rainbow", the spidery lines on ""; the creepy barroom intro to The Kinks' ""; the chilly upper register tinkling of The Beatles' "Birthday" and 's "", and that's just his English work in brief. Ray Davies also comes off as a Dickensian villain repeatedly using Hopkins for classic Kinks albums like "Village Green Preservation Society" and "Something Else" with no credit given on the liners but somehow justifying it by saying, "A session player is hired as a worker and doesn't qualify for an album credit". Um yeah, Ray, but this guy wasn't given piano parts - he wrote all his own parts, big difference. That's total genius. A visit to San Francisco gave Hopkins a major boost in his rep by bands begging him to play with them, resulting in him leaving his mark on immortal SF albums like The Band, Jefferson Airplane's classic "Volunteers" and a residency with Quicksilver Messenger Service. Some even claim his presence elevated Quicksilver And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man needed And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man melodic base to counterbalance their previously incessant jamming. Hopkins unfortunately hit the skids touring with The Rolling Stones on their notorious "" tour where he bought the whole Elegantly Wasted aesthetic and began drinking heavily and developing a heroin habit, not unlike the kind also fell for in his bio. By the way, The Stones tried hooking a young Ry Cooder into their satanic dope circus and he very promptly blew them off, claiming The Glimmer Twins to be "sinister and reptilian". Hopkins later cleaned up his habit and embraced as well as played on Beatles solo albums, and also like Bobby Keys was the victim of many bad scenes with the not so saintly . Hopkins' biggest clients towards the end of his career included his piano performance on Joe Cocker's schmaltz classic "", touring with and even a stint with ! And you thought you resume was killer. Julian Dawson should be applauded for taking such an exhaustive subject as Hopkins especially in light of the fact that his subject was a man who was so ubiquitous in rock and yet unheralded, ridiculously so. Details in the Hopkins biography I didn't know: 1. View 2 comments. Jul 11, Dan Charnas rated it liked it. Overall I enjoyed this book, but I found quite a few passages to be very difficult for me to read: Nicky's ongoing serious health problems, his heavy drug use and its temporary impact fortunately upon his musicianship and his personality, his dreadful first marriage, and, of course, his death at the age of only Nicky was one of my favorites among the musicians I followed closely during the late 60's and early 70's. His piano technique was, simply put, a pure joy to hear. I suspect that thos Overall I enjoyed this book, but I found quite a few passages to be very difficult for me to read: Nicky's ongoing serious health problems, his heavy drug use and its temporary impact fortunately upon his musicianship and his personality, his dreadful first marriage, and, of course, his death at the age of only I suspect that those potential readers who aren't familiar with much of his work or with the bands with whom he played may find it tough to get through some of the details, but the author does a very, very good job of bringing Nicky's personality into the spotlight, "warts and all". I'm glad that I read it and grateful to Julian Dawson for writing it. And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man 18, Adam rated it And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man was amazing Shelves: music. An excellent and thorough excavation of the career of one of rock's greatest unsung heroes. Nicky Hopkins belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without a doubt, and this book makes the case in the most impeccable way possible. Kudos to Julian Dawson for his labor of love! Mar 02, Rob rated it it was amazing. This is a very well documented biography that tells the somewhat tragic story of Nicky Hopkins, one of rock's great piano players. Born in London inHopkins was a contemporary of many of the greats who came out of the local music scene in the mid's. Dawson who met Hopkins in Nashville in the 's seems to have reached out to almost everyone that had a musical, business or personal This is a very well documented biography that tells the somewhat tragic story of Nicky Hopkins, one of rock's great piano players. Dawson who met Hopkins in Nashville in the 's seems to have reached out to almost everyone that had a musical, business or personal relationship with And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man. 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Hopkins recorded and performed on many notable British and American pop and rock music releases from the s through the s including many songs by The Rolling StonesThe Kinks and The Who. He began playing the piano at the age of three. His poor health and repeated surgery later made it difficult for him to tour, and he worked mainly as a for most of his career. During Hopkins' convalescence Davies died of leukemia and the All Stars disbanded. Hopkins played with the Rolling Stones on all their studio albums from in through inexcepting for When working with during their critical and commercial zenith in the late s and early s, Hopkins tended to be employed on a wide range of slower ballads, uptempo rockers and acoustic material; conversely, longtime de facto Stones keyboardist only played on traditional major key numbers of his choice, while often featured on soul- and -influenced tunes. Hopkins' work with the Rolling Stones is perhaps most prominent on their studio album, Exile on Main St. It was recorded induring the Stones' sessions, when guitarist was not present in the studio. It was incorporated into the title of an outstanding Hopkins instrumental performance "Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder" released on Shady Grove in December Hopkins also contributed to the Jamming With Edward! He contemplated forming his own band with multi-instrumentalist and drummer Prairie around this time but decided against it after the Stones tour. Hopkins failed to make the Rolling Stones' European And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man due to ill health and, aside from a guest appearance indid not play again with the Stones live on stage. Hopkins was invited in by producer to record with The Kinks. Hopkins maintained that "about seventy percent" of the keyboard work on the album was his, and was incensed when Ray And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man apparently credited himself for the majority of the keyboard playing. Despite Hopkins' ensuing grudge against him, Davies spoke positively of his contributions in a New York Times interview in Nicky, unlike lesser musicians, didn't try to show off; he would only play when necessary. But he had the And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man to turn an ordinary track into a gem — slotting in the right chord at the right time or dropping a set of triplets around the back beat, just enough to make you want to dance. On a ballad, he could sense which notes to wrap around the song without being obtrusive. He managed to give "Days," for instance, a mysterious religious quality without being sentimental or pious. Nicky and I were hardly bosom buddies. We socialized only on coffee breaks and in between takes. With his style, he should have been from New Orleans, or Memphis. I had written a song called "Session Man," inspired partly by Nicky. Shel Talmy asked Nicky to throw in "something classy" at the beginning of the track. Nicky responded by playing a classical- style harpsichord part. When we recorded "," Shel insisted that Nicky copy my plodding piano style. Other musicians would have been insulted but Nicky seemed to get inside my style, and he played exactly as I would have. No ego. Perhaps that was his secret. Due to his ill health, he never performed with the band on stage and appeared only sporadically in the next decade, performing select tracks on Who's Nextbefore making full return in on The Who by Numbers. Hopkins, given his long association with The Who, was a key instrumentalist on the soundtrack for the film, . Hopkins played piano on most of the tracks, and is acknowledged in the album's liner notes for his work on the arrangements for most of the songs. Re-released by Columbia inthe album features rare Hopkins vocal performances. His second solo album, entitled No More Changeswas also released in A third album, Long Journey Homehas remained unreleased. And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Manhe joined The Group. Inhe contributed to the reunion album as And on Piano .Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rocks Greatest Session Man session musician. By this point Hopkins was one of Britain's best-known session players, particularly through his work with the Rolling Stones and after playing electric piano on The Beatles ' " Revolution " — a rare occasion when an outside rock musician appeared on a Beatles recording. Further raising his profile, he contributed to several Harry Nilsson albums in the early s, including and Son of Schmilssonand recordings by . The band completed their eponymous debut album ; however, the project was doomed from the start. Their American record label, Tetragrammaton Recordsabruptly declared bankruptcy [11] [12] by legend, the same day the album was released [13] with promotion and a possible tour never happening. In Augusthe joined the Bandenvisaged as a major creative vehicle for the guitarist during the mid-seventies hiatus of the . His increasing use of alcohol precipitated several erratic live performances, resulting in him leaving the group by mutual agreement after a December 31 appearance. In addition to recording inHopkins worked with each of the four when they went solo. Between andhe appeared on many projects by John LennonGeorge Harrison and Ringo Starrmaking key contributions to their critically acclaimed respective solo albums ImagineLiving in the Material World and Ringo. Hopkins also performed with 's backing band after their keyboardist Bob Andrews left the band. Hopkins lived in Mill Valley, Californiafor several years. During this time he worked with several local bands and continued to record in San Francisco. One of his complaints throughout his career was that he did not receive royalties from any of his recording sessions, because of his status at the time as merely a "hired hand", as opposed to pop stars with agents. In the early s, Hopkins credited the -affiliated rehabilitation program with vanquishing his drug and alcohol addictions; he ultimately remained a Scientologist for the rest of his life. Ron Hubbard 's musical recordings. Hopkins died on 6 Septemberat the age of 50, in Nashville, Tennesseefrom complications resulting from intestinal surgery related to his lifelong battle with Crohn's disease. At the time of his death, he was working on his autobiography with . He is survived by his wife, Moira. Songwriter and musician Julian Dawson collaborated with Hopkins on one recording, the pianist's last, in springa few months before his death. On 8 Septemberthe Nicky Hopkins "piano" park bench memorial, crowdfunded through PledgeMusicwas unveiled in Park near Hopkins' birthplace. A quote about Hopkins by Bob Harris appears on the bench. On what would have been Hopkins's 75th birthday 24 Februarythe Nicky Hopkins Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music was created, and on 19 Octobera commemorative plaque on his childhood home, 38 Jordan Road, Perivaledonated by the Civic Societywas unveiled. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. English pianist and organist. The Independent. Retrieved 20 February And On Piano Nicky Hopkins. Desert Hearts. Archived from the original on 8 May Retrieved 15 July Retrieved 30 September Billboard : Retrieved 18 September All Music Guide to the Blues 3rd ed. Backbeat Books. And on Piano … Nicky Hopkins. Backstage Press. Encyclopedia of Recorded Soundp. CRC Press. Both Sides Now Publications. Retrieved 3 April Fireside Books. Garcia: An American Lifepp. Rock Beat International. Retrieved 1 May . Retrieved 13 June Ealing News Extra. Retrieved 15 September Uncut Magazine. Get West London. Retrieved 5 July My London. Retrieved 25 September London: EalingToday. Retrieved 21 October Hal Leonard Corporation. booklet. . American Recordings. The Rolling Stones. Book Category.