The Session Man will be released in North America on November 5th on TVOD/PPV on Amazon Prime and on additional major platforms, and it will also be available on DVD in late 2024.
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.
Nicky’s story is told in the film by Albert Lee, Antonia Cipollina, Arthur Rochester, Benmont Tench, Bill Wyman, Billy Nicholls, Bro Paul Brown, Chris Kimsey, Chris Welch, Chuck Leavell, Dave Davies, Glyn Johns, Graham Parker, Gray Levett, Greg Phillinganes, Harry Shearer, Helen O’Hara, Jack Casady, Jim Keltner, Joe Tansin, John Goddard, Jorma Kaukonen, Julian Dawson (Nicky’s biographer – author of And on Piano… Nicky Hopkins), Keith Richards, Merrell Fankhauser, Mick Jagger, Mike Hurst, Mike McCartney, Moira Hopkins (Nicky’s widow), Morgan Fisher, Nils Lofgren, Paddy Milner, Pete Edmonds, Pete Sears, Pete Townshend, Peter Frampton, PP Arnold, Rory Kaplan, Sarah Sleet (CEO of Crohn’s & Colitis UK), Shel Talmy, Slim Jim Phantom, Terry Reid and Tom Speight.
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 film in confirming that, “Nicky Hopkins’ contributions made him rock and roll’s greatest session man.”
World Premiere: Doc’n Roll Festival, Barbican Centre, London, 26 Oct 2023 – OFFICIAL SELECTION
Berlin Independent Film Festival, Babylon Berlin, 16 Feb 2024 – WINNER: Best Low Budget Feature
LA Indie Film Fest, Let Live Theater, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, 16 Mar 2024
Kingston International Film Festival (KIFF), Rose Theatre, Kingston-Upon-Thames, 22 Jun 2024 – WINNER: Best Documentary
North American Launch, Angelika Film Center, New York, 25 Sept 2024
Japanese website: www.sessionman.jp