Nicky Hopkins – The Extraordinary Life Of Rock's Greatest Session Man

By Julian Dawson

Plus One Press

Here's one of those increasingly rare examples of 'perfectly justified hyperbole' title-wise. There is nothing false about the claim above, and here is a genuinely extraordinary, even heroic tale.

Hopkins, who would eventually turn down Led Zeppelin (which must go down as either insane or the coolest demurral in rock history – let's go with the latter) was perpetually ill as a child and unable to involve himself in the time-honoured larks that might've distracted. Instead of kicking a ball about he got hold of a keyboard and, as you might guess, had a bit of an aptitude for it.

As time wore on, ill-health's vice-like grip on Hopkins fairly tightened and gruelling medical nightmares ensued, to the extent that the man who "wrote the book on rock'n'roll piano" barely cheated the grim reaper. The man, as is evident from Julian Dawson's impressive account, had serious backbone, the kind that epitomises Dawson's goal here, admirably achieved: to draw the unsung talent  inextricably important to so many 'stars', out of the shadows and to a rightful front and centre.

Hopkins managed to contribute crucially to an epoch-straddling catalogue of records with an outrageous roster of artists (Bowie, Stones, The Who, Ella Fitzgerald, The Kinks, The Beatles, Jefferson AIrplane). And he was a big fan of the Silver Surfer – even better taste!

Ill-equipped to embrace the rock lifestyle, he had a stab at it, and was suitably debauched for a period, unflinchingly recounted here. There will surely come a point when, during a celebrity biography, we hear yet another drug-addled tale of penurious savagery and it's one too many: Keef is made of such stuff, Hopkins is not, and we feel a certain queasiness at such an incongruous figure wandering staggering down the slippery slope.

That we're only just hearing a deserving account of the man's life seems a little odd, but no matter: Dawson does the man justice. Hopkins died at 50, a genuinely huge loss; a lifetime of dogged ailments finally besting him. A quick rifle through your record collection, however, should find him in there somewhere, working his unassuming wonders.

Lee Monks