He Played with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who — A New Documentary Tells His Story

For director Mike Treen, a longtime TV producer, the film was a pure labor of love.

But getting funding for a film about a behind-the-scenes player, however prominent, wasnt easy.

The hard bit for us is the distributors, the platforms, he says.

Nicky Hopkins played with practically every huge rock act of the Sixties and Seventies, but stayed behind the scenes.Courtesy of Nicky Hopkins family archives

They want films about Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger.

So when you mention Nicky Hopkins, they go, Well, hes not a name.

And you go, But that is the point!

So thats why its taken us five years.

So he settled in the recording studio for a decades-long run.

I think he was honest enough with himself to know that thats not what he was, says Treen.

But he let people persuade him and said, OK, Ill give it a go.