Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Nicky Hopkins Edition

Today, we’re going to pay tribute to an unsung rock great, Nicky Hopkins, session musician extraordinaire. At a young age, Hopkins contracted Crohn’s disease. So the talented pianist was pretty much prohibited from joining a band and touring. Instead, he played on thousands of songs, hitting may of the major bands of the British Invasion era and beyond. Here’s some of his c.v.: The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Easybeats, The Kinks, The Jeff Beck Group, The Beatles, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Steve Miller Band, and many more. My favorite Hopkins track is The Who’s “The Ox”, on the band’s debut album, The Who Sing My Generation. It’s an instrumental, named after bassist John Entwhistle, and the song is in full gallop from the word go, with Hopkins fast fingers banging away at the keys, keeping up with frenetic Keith Moon drumming. Hopkins passed away at the age 50 back in 1994, and left a legacy of great support for some of the all-time greats. Let’s pay tribute to Mr. Hopkins by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.

1. The Guess Who — Made In England (Shakin’ All Over): The Winnipeg hitmakers were heavily inspired by the British music that came their way. This early recording shows them playing an instrumental in the style of The Shadows. Nice guitar work from Randy Bachman.
2. Brian Eno & John Cale — Footsteps (Wrong Way Up): One of those collaborations that should have happened earlier. Both Eno and Cale released some terrific art-pop records in the ’70s, and those sensibilities overlap over a decade later on this small gem of an album. A few songs bring back that ’70s vibe. This is a bit more of an atmospheric number, which floats on a reverberating guitar part and some keyboards. Cool stuff.
3. The Kinks — Living On A Thin Line (Word Of Mouth): ’80s Kinks music, this got a bit of airplay back in the day. Oddly enough, this actually sounds more like a ’70s pomp rock number, except for the processed ’80s drum sound. A solid song, but not a particularly distinctive Kinks track.
4. The Grifters — Pretty Notes (Ain’t My Lookout): For a brief time, The Grifters seemed like a band that had some staying potential. It’s kind of hard to pinpoint why, but the music is really good. This is a moody acoustic number, as the song is kind of an indie rock blues with some keyboard ornamentation to give it an odd feel. The strained harmony vocals are very compelling. Good tune.
5. Rockfour — How Does It Feel To Feel (For Fans Only): An extremely heavy live version of the great song from the ’60s mod band The Creation by this awesome Israeli psychedelic rock band. The drums thunder, the guitar is fuzzed out beyond belief, and the harmony vocals are strong. This is nearly as good as their monolithic take on The Beatles’ “Rain”.
6. Husker Du — Standing In The Rain (Warehouse: Songs and Stories): A great buzzing punky pop tune from Bob Mould. Even on a major label, Husker Du never suffered from excessive production, as exemplified by Grant Hart’s dinky drum sound. The drums actually occupy some of the high end, with Mould’s melodic buzzsaw guitar in the middle and Greg Norton providing the bottom on the bass. This song keeps promising a chorus, and final delivers at the end, big time.
7. Mannequin Men — OK (Mannequin Men): A short and sweet rocker from last year’s excellent LP that came out on vinyl that looked like beer (really). The Men just play good old fashioned rock and this is one of those songs that’s actually mid-tempo, but the playing and the melody seem to give it more velocity. The chorus is hooky as hell.
8. Blues Image — Ride Captain Ride (Have A Nice Decade): I believe we have a one hit wonder from the ’70s here. A bluesy pop number with a prominent electric piano, the singer telling some sort of story, and a gigantic chorus. Sometimes a great chorus is all you need.
9. Poster Children — Afterglow (RTFM): This song uncharacteristically has a ’70s vibe, with a clavinet and a funky Isaac Hayes feel, not the usual Poster Children dynamics with bursts of guitar. Not that the song is a funk song, but it has that feel. This isn’t a great song by any means, but it’s a nice change of pace for the great Champaign, IL band.
10. Fabulous Poodles — Stomping On The Cat (His Master’s Choice): While this new wave band usually focused on Kinks-y pop numbers, this is a straightforward rockabilly number. The drummer lays down a great shuffling rhythm and Bobby Valentino’s violin on the second verse is a nice addition.