It would be wrong to not wish a Happy
Birthday to one of the most amazing
pianists ever!
Nicky Hopkins was born February 24th 1944
in Harlesden, North West London.
Hopkins started playing with Screaming Lord
Sutch's Savages, and he's worked with many
great bands over the years, but I think
he gave the Rolling Stones their defining
sound on "Between the Buttons", "Their
Satanic Majesties", "Beggar's Banquet",
"Let It Bleed" and "Exile On Mainstreet"
Out of all the pianists that the
Stones have worked with, Nicky Hopkins
effortlessly created a rock sound
with a dash of country and boogie-
woogie. Keith has said Ian Stewart
could only do the straight-ahead
boogie-woogie in major chords, and
Billy Preston's speciality would
be a pounding blues-y sound. Nicky
was somewhere perfectly in the
middle. His piano riffs were the
perfect compliment to the Stones
sound, as they never got in the way
of Mick's vocals, or Keith's guitar.
He could be very melodic or just
play standard rock'n'honky-tonk.
Check out a rare version of Angie.
Nicky passed away in Nasvhille, due
sadly to complications of a life-time
of Crohn's disease September 6th,
1994.
This is a link to a great fan-site
Rocksoff.org with a bio, some
footage from Sympathy for the Devil, and an extensive solo recording list. Another great album- "The Tin Man Was A Drummer"
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