The Session Man: Nicky Hopkins

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The Session Man: Nicky Hopkins

2023,

1h 30m,

Documentary/

Music/

Biography

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6 Reviews

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6 Reviews

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The Session Man, a 90-minute documentary feature film, tells the story of Nicky Hopkins, the highly gifted and prolific session pianist, and unsung hero. Nicky not only played with The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, he also played on solo albums of all four members of the Beatles in the early part of a stellar career that spanned over 30 years. During that time, he contributed to over 250 albums and a vast number of single releases. Nicky's legendary piano riffs and wonderful musical motifs helped ordinary tracks become extraordinary and iconic. So many of them remain popular today. The generations that followed the Golden Era of Rock And Roll soon discover those iconic tracks that made Nicky Hopkins a legend amongst his peers -- tracks like Revolution by The Beatles, Like A Rainbow, Sympathy For The Devil and Angie by the Rolling Stones, Jealous Guy by John Lennon from his Imagine album and You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Nov 19, 2025

3/5

This documentary is probably, as they say, one for the heads -- for connoisseurs who appreciate a great musician who was never a star.

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Adam Sweeting

The Arts Desk

Dec 1, 2025

4/5

... you can tell [The Session Man is] a labour of love, not least from the credit-list of contributors who lobbed in their own money to help get the film made, and from the genuine affection and respect a roll-call of stars afford to Hopkins’ memory.

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Aaron Guttenplan

MovieJawn

Nov 23, 2025

Looking back at the notes I took while watching the film, a fair chunk is just a list of the many artists he played with and those who appeared in the documentary, as not much other information actually stuck out.

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Jennie Kermode

Eye for Film

Nov 21, 2025

3.5/5

This is very much a film for musicians, and the more familiar you are with the art of composition, the more you’ll get out of it.

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Terry Staunton

Radio Times

Nov 5, 2025

3/5

Broadcaster Bob Harris's narration covers plenty of ground, but the most memorable moments come from snatches of the music Nicky embellished, and tributes from the superstars who called upon his talents.

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Terry Sherwood

Film Threat

Nov 9, 2024

8/10

...you get a wonderful story that perhaps you didn’t know when listening to music.

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Synopsis

The Session Man, a 90-minute documentary feature film, tells the story of Nicky Hopkins, the highly gifted and prolific session pianist, and unsung hero. Nicky not only played with The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, he also played on solo albums of all four members of the Beatles in the early part of a stellar career that spanned over 30 years. During that time, he contributed to over 250 albums and a vast number of single releases. Nicky's legendary piano riffs and wonderful musical motifs helped ordinary tracks become extraordinary and iconic. So many of them remain popular today. The generations that followed the Golden Era of Rock And Roll soon discover those iconic tracks that made Nicky Hopkins a legend amongst his peers -- tracks like Revolution by The Beatles, Like A Rainbow, Sympathy For The Devil and Angie by the Rolling Stones, Jealous Guy by John Lennon from his Imagine album and You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker.

Director: Michael Treen
Producer: Michael Treen, John Wood, Mike Sherman
Screenwriter: Michael Treen
Distributor: Giant Pictures
Production Co: The Session Man Ltd.
Genre: Documentary, Music, Biography
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2024
Runtime: 1h 30m

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