Legendary keyboardist Nicky Hopkins is the subject of a new documentary that tells the story of the gifted session performer who played with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, Jeff Beck, and dozens of other classic rock stars. The Session Man has been completed and is ready for distribution. The film, directed by Michael Treen, has sold-out its world premiere at the Doc’n Roll Film Festival at the Barbican Centre in London on October 26, 2023. [The producers had sought financial help to defray costs of licensing the 39 tracks that are featured in the film in order to exhibit it at film festivals. A crowdfunding effort, concluded in early April, successfully raised £10,310 with 118 supporters in 35 days. At various levels, contributors could attend a private screening, get an end credit, and even be listed as an Associate Producer.] Click here for details and watch the trailer below.

Hopkins’ long association with the Rolling Stones included studio credits on Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile On Main Street. His tours with the band included their legendary 1972 trek to the U.S. In 1968, Hopkins performed with the Rolling Stones at the 1968 taping of their legendary Rock and Roll Circus film. “Give him a chance,” says Keith Richards in The Session Man, “and he could play just about anything.”

Among his scores of career highlights was performing with Jefferson Airplane at the 1969 Woodstock festival.

He worked on solo albums by all four of the Beatles including John Lennon’s Imagine, George Harrison’s Living In the Material World, Ringo Starr’s Ringo and Paul McCartney’s Flowers In the Dirt.

All his life Hopkins suffered from Crohn’s disease, a crippling and agonizing abdominal illness. He died in 1994 at age 50 on an operating table in Nashville. The Rolling Stones picked up most of his hospital bills.

In his career, Hopkins played on over 250 albums. The Session Man’s narrator, Bob Harris, former presenter of the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test, had no hesitation at the end of the 90-minute film in confirming that, “Nicky Hopkins’ contributions made him rock and roll’s greatest session man.” “And on piano, the legendary Nicky Hopkins…”

Related: Our feature story on Nicky Hopkins