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And on Piano...Nicky Hopkins

The Extraordinary Life of Rock's Greatest Session Man
And on Piano...Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock's Greatest Session Man. Backstage: Plus One. Apr. 2011. c.370p. illus. discog. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780984436224. pap. $20.95. MUSIC
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London-born Nicky Hopkins (d. 1994) played keyboards on songs by the Who, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones; was a member of the Jeff Beck Group; performed at Woodstock with Jefferson Airplane; contributed to solo works by John Lennon, George Harrison, and Jerry Garcia; and made several solo albums of his own. In this first biographical examination, Dawson, a singer-songwriter who collaborated with and befriended Hopkins, chronicles Hopkins's story from the burgeoning and vigorous London rock scene of the swinging Sixties to superstar sessions in the Seventies. Dawson uses his interviews with many of Hopkins's associates and family members as well as published source material to document his childhood, battles with chronic illness, and the drug use and subsequent sobriety and contentment at the end of Hopkins's life.
VERDICT While many may not be familiar with Nicky Hopkins's name today, almost every rock fan has heard this quintessential studio session player's distinctive piano. This book, with its detailed and extensive discography and appearances list, will interest dedicated fans with intense curiosity about the creation of some of rock's seminal records.
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