Had to get it done for his birthday  Here's the write-up:
NICKY HOPKINS
THE LOST SESSION TAPE
Nicky was a good friend. I first met him when I was packaging my screenplay project, running around LA gathering support and commitments from the principal players (i.e. Director, Cameraman, Special effects, musicians, etc). He was one of them. The project was “The Tiger - A Rock ‘n Roll Superhero" (a crime fighting rock star in reverse. Masked onstage he played and in real life he slayed). I had written all the songs for the movie and wanted Nicky to be part of this. Playing with him was a long-term dream that began years before as I learned to play guitar by jamming along to The Stones, Beatles, John Lennon, Hendrix, Clapton, Jeff Beck, etc. He pretty much played with anybody that was anybody of that era and was a genius, especially in the rock genre. He put musical magic into a song and lifted it to a whole new level. The biggest hit songs that touched me the most, Nicky was playing on. He was The One!
I got his phone number through a connection and called him. He told me to come over and so, I went out to his house in Sherman Oaks with my guitar and played some of my tunes for him. He liked them and the movie project and committed to do it. There was no upfront money, but he was willing to support and contribute to the project on spec. I was ecstatic!
We recorded 2 songs in a friend’s makeshift studio as promo for the movie and during this time we got pretty close. We had a lot in common, especially our sense of humor and love of cats! I also think what he liked about me was my no-nonsense New York attitude. I kind of strengthened him emotionally and validated his abilities all the time. Believe it or not, he did not get that very much and really appreciated it. He actually told that to me in a letter he wrote me later. We had some good times together and some strange ones as well. A biography came out about him a few years ago and I could have definitely written an exciting chapter for it. So, I wrote it anyway. It’s about helping him get out of a marriage gone bad with Dolly. There’s guns, drama, booze and lots of excitement.
I will send this chapter to whoever wants to read it as part of the deal which I’ll talk about shortly.
But, ultimately, he moved in with me.
Nicky was so English. In the mornings he’d get up late in his PJ’s, bathrobe, shuffling slippers, cup of tea, and cigarette, then sit down at the piano and start playing. Some great sounds came out of that baby grand.
Recently, while rummaging through my cassette tapes I found an unrehearsed session we did in the living room, recorded on a boom box. I’m playing a 12-string guitar, Nicky’s on the baby grand and we're both completely unplugged and un-miked. I’m leaning over towards one of the built-in mikes on the boom box as I sing to stay above the piano. Sometimes the vocal is a bit hot, but the overall balance is pretty good for the circumstances. We’re working on my tunes, most of them for the first time and as I’m playing and singing Nicky is quickly learning and creating. When I say quickly that’s a bit of an understatement. No chord charts, sheet music – nothing. On some songs I’m yelling out the chords. He was a brilliant musician. He could pick up on a tune so fast it was uncanny. Just by listening to a few bars he could structure and arrange his part and deliver a performance that would take some players hours or even days or never to capture in a studio! The bass, chord progressions, melodies, rhythm, spaces, all of it. Genius. He took the songs and brought them to a whole new level. Beautiful. When I started listening to this tape I started to get a bit tearful. God, I miss him. I miss his wry, Monty Python sense of humor, and especially his wanting to “set fire” to anyone or anything that he didn’t agree with. Haha! He actually did it once when I was with him, to some guy at a party who was probing him for information about his life (Nicky hated the interrogating questions about one particular person he played with - "What's Mick Jagger like?" would bring out his mini flame thrower to toast the inquirer). So, the guy's questioning him and I see Nicky pull his lighter out of his pocket, flick it a couple of times and then put the flame to the bottom of his jacket. The dude jumps back with this embarrassed, questioning look and Nicky's got this big grin on his face. I mean, it was hilarious. He actually did set fire to someone!
We shared a similar sense of humor and also a love of cats. One time when we were visiting my folks, Nicky and I put on a show for two of their cats. It was after dinner and we were all on the backyard patio relaxing. Above us was the second-floor master bedroom bay window overlooking the backyard and, in the window, observing all the idiot human activities were Tiger and Casino, two of my parent’s cats (I think they had 4 or 5 cats at the time). So, I point this out to Nicky and he gets out of his chair and starts doing a jig for the pair. They’re both following him intently as we’re all laughing our butts off and so it made sense for me to join in on the jig. Well, the cats got quite a show!
But most of all I miss playing with him and his unique, famous sound.
The first song we did in this session was from the movie project where the supporting character laments the loss of his best friend Ricky who was in a coma from a motorcycle accident and pleads for his return. The title of the song – “Come Back Ricky”. How strange is that?!! That’s where it emotionally hit me when finding and listening to this tape. I've since changed the title of this song to Come Back Nicky.
We jammed on the verse chord progression for a bit before playing the full song. So, there’s two pieces: The first being the Jam and the second being the complete song, which comes later in the tape.
Nicky made this jam something special by starting out simple and building it with some beautiful progressions and riffs. I'm just playing the chords over and over for him. It's a gorgeous piece all on its own. When we did the final song he fine tuned his delivery and created some classic, hooky Hopkin's riffs. Really cool.
The second tune is a kind of funky country in the vein of Little Feat (loved that band) called "Here Come The Good Times". Again, you can hear how Nicky picks it up and puts it together. Adult Language Alert: I forgot the chords to the bridge when I first hit it and as I'm fumbling around I'm expressing my aggravation!
The third tune is titled "Emotions". First time we played it together, shouting out the chords.
"Wild Cowboy" is a New York boy going country and Nicky delivers some serious honky-tonk with a cool little jam in the middle.
Then we're chit chatting about movies and Nicky tells me about a dream he once had.
The 5th song is the finished "Come Back Ricky" and listen for Nicky's "falling raindrop" riffs.
Next comes "Deja Vu" as #6 and this is one we played together before.
Number 7,"Schizo Saturday Night" follows and you can hear some classic Hopkins sound. Since it was Nicky's first time playing I repeated musical sections, so he could create more with them.
The last song is "In The Groove", an up-tempo rock tune with some cool Hopkin's riffs and a few bongo beats on the guitar.
It's really quite amazing what Nicky contributed to this music. For me, he made it "classic" because these are the sounds I grew up listening to on the radio.
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to connect and collaborate with a musical great and to be able to help this artist have a happier life.

Nicky had this life-long upset about not getting paid royalties for all of the hit songs he helped create. We’re talking huge hits like most of the Rolling Stones songs from these albums:
Between The Buttons
Their Satanic Majesties Request
Beggar’s Banquet
Let It Bleed
Sticky Fingers
Exile On Main Street
Goat Head’s Soup
It’s Only Rock and Roll
Black and Blue
Tattoo You
He played with the Beatles on Revolution
And all the Beatles separately on some of their albums.
He played with The Who, David Bowie, The Steve Miller Band, etc.
His piano is the incredible emotional foundation for Joe Cocker’s hit “You Are So Beautiful.”


The list goes on and on. You can see his full discography here:
http://www.nickyhopkins.com/?page_id=6

So, I got an earful at times on this upset, which I can understand. I truly believe his contributions made those songs as great as they were.
However, the sad truth was that Nicky was not a good business man and he didn’t get that part of his life handled for himself. He was a session player and session players get paid by the job.
So, what I’d like to do is get Nicky some royalties after all these years!

THE PLAN

Here’s the deal: I digitally transferred this tape into an mp3 format. There are 8 songs on it plus some talking about movies and Nicky telling me about one of his dreams plus some incredible Hopkin’s piano work that has never seen the light of day. Priceless to his fans and worth at least $5 to anyone else who wants a piece of newly found rock history of a Rock ‘N Roll master working his craft.
So, for $5, I will send you this mp3 in two parts – Side 1 & Side 2 (we’ll make-believe its vinyl).
I will also send you the Chapter I wrote about extracting Nicky from his toxic marriage & home. It’s titled The Great Escape.
Plus, I’ll send you a copy of Nicky’s letter of confirmation to me for The Tiger Project.
Any money that comes in will be split 50/50 between myself & Nicky. I’ll be sending his share to his widow, Moira. So, if you feel that this is worth more than $5, please don’t hesitate to give whatever you like.

I have a PayPal account set up to receive money at
  paypal.me/RobbieNow
Put your email address in the “Write a Note” section and I’ll send all the material to that address. Also, say Hi.
You can also email me at   [email protected]

I wanted to get this all completed by Nicky’s birthday, Feb 24 so I could wish him a wonderful birthday. Besides, I could hear his bic lighter flicking by my butt because he knew I was lazy and sitting on this for too long! Haha!
Anyway,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
NICKY!

I've often believed that Nicky probably wrote a lot of the piano based songs the band did especially in the 1967-1972 period, or at least, co-wrote them. He was the band's secret weapon as Brian declined and it's no coincidence the band's material really begin to go downhill after he stopped working with them.