How John Lennon's Legendary 'Jealous Guy' Pianist Almost Ended Up in Spinal Tap: 'Too Good for Us' (Exclusive)

From Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis to Billy Preston, Elton John and Billy Joel, pianists have made incredible contributions to the history of rock and roll. But as major pianos of the genre go, one MVP in particular gets largely overlooked.

That will all change The Session ManA 90-minute documentary about the legendary but undisguised pianist Nicky Hopkins which will premiere on November 5th on Amazon Prime. If you haven’t heard of Hopkins, you’re not alone. But you definitely are heard him.

Once one of the most in-demand session players in the business, Hopkins, who died in 1994 at age 50, played piano on such classics as “She’s a Rainbow,” “Sympathy of the Devil,” “Gimme Shelter” and “Angie.” by the Rolling Stones, “Matthew and Son” by Cat Stevens, “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker, “Photograph” by Ringo Starr and “Jealous Guy” by John Lennon.

Mick Jagger in ‘The Session Man’.

Courtesy of Beachwood Entertainment Collective

In fact, the British pianist participated in the solo albums of all four former Beatles, including Lennon’s ImagineStarr’s RingoGeorge Harrison Life in the material world and Paul McCartney Flowers in the dirt.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Peter Frampton and Dave Davies of The Kinks all appear in the documentary to sing their late colleague’s praises. Richards and Jagger were first introduced to Hopkins’ piano skills as teenagers during a night out at the Marquee in 1962.

“Nicky could do the absolutely incredible – you’d believe it [Chicago blues great] Otis Spam was in the room, which is for a white English kid [the] The 1960s were absolutely amazing,” Richards says in the documentary, adding, “He could play almost anything.”

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But for all his serious credentials, Hopkins almost ended up part of one of rock music’s most enduring jokes. IN Session manHarry Shearer, the founder of Spinal Tap, reveals that at one point he wanted Hopkins to be a member of the mockumentary band. That’s right — the guy responsible for the gentle piano melodies on “Jealous Guy” and “You Are So Beautiful” could have ended up in Spinal Tap.

“You know, I think we met Nicky when we were getting, when we were looking for people for the band,” Shearer, 80, reveals in the document. “And, um, I think we met up with him just so he’d have the excitement of meeting Nicky because he was… I think he was busy at the time. And so we just thought, well, let’s meet up.”

Spinal Tap 1984. From left: Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest. Pete Cronin/Redferns/Getty

Although the group was started by Shearer, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest for the 1984 satirical film This is Spinal Tapthey were deadly serious about their interest in Hopkins.

“We didn’t jerk him off or anything,” Shearer continues. “We just want to say, ‘We’re doing this and you’re doing that, and that’s great.’ But he worked. Um, you know, we’d… I think he’d be too good for us, you know, we weren’t trying to make bad music, but, I mean, Nicky was a virtuoso and, uh, I think we’d have trouble making it funny.

Hopkins did not end up joining Spinal Tap, but he did play on the song “Rainy Day Sun”. a song from their 1992 album. Break Like the Wind — which also featured musical contributions from Cher, Slash and Jeff Beck.

The latter, Hopkins’ widow, Moira, reveals in the documentary, was at the center of a hilarious exchange during the recording of the album. In the recording studio, Hopkins asked This is Spinal Tap director Christopher Guest that he modeled his Spinal Tap alter ego, Nigel Tufnel, after Jeff Beck. “He said, ‘Come on, just tell me,'” she recalls. “He says, ‘You were Jeff Beck, weren’t you?’ He wouldn’t tell him. He wouldn’t admit it.”

‘The Session Man’.

Courtesy of Beachwood Entertainment Collective

But kidding aside, Shearer was proud to be associated with one of rock’s most hidden talents through Spinal Tap.

“Part of the excitement of working on that project,” he says, “was, uh, either in the making or later meeting people who we just thought were the world, and, uh, Nicky was absolutely one of them.”

Session man will be available to stream on November 5th on Amazon Prime.

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Source: HIS Education