Film Club: Session Man

The story of Nicky Hopkins, the unsung pianist behind The Rolling Stones and The Beatles

That shiver at the start of Sympathy for the Devil. The piano on The Beatles’ Revolution. Jealous Guy. You Are So Beautiful. One man played them all — and chances are you’ve never heard of him.

Session Man tells the story of Nicky Hopkins, the quiet genius behind some of the most famous piano moments in rock history. He played with The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles (including solo records by all four), clocking up more than 250 albums — yet he never became a household name. This year, more than three decades after his death, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame finally called his.

In this affectionate 90-minute documentary, the biggest names in rock queue up to put that right: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Peter Frampton and Bill Wyman among them. Even Spinal Tap’s Harry Shearer appears — they wanted Hopkins for the film, he says, but decided he was too good for them.

Come early for a free pre-screening gig from young rock bands in the foyer — Guage, The Corduroys and Megaband – the next generation warming up the room for a man who spent his life making everyone else sound brilliant.