The day after Nicky died (September 6, 1994), Ian McLagan and his wife Kim were shopping in Austin and stopped to have a drink in Nicky’s honor. They chose a weirdly appropriate bar, with church pews as benches and coffins for tables, and ordered a round of beers. They were amazed when, without them lifting […]
Read MoreMr. Pleasant: What Would Nicky Hopkins Do? (Part 5)
“From about ’67 to ’68 it was really machine-like. I didn’t even know whom I was working for half the time. Anthony Newley was at one session, Sammy Davis Jr. was at another, maybe those two were for a movie soundtrack or maybe they were singles. I don’t know. I don’t even know if they […]
Read MoreThe Revolutionary Piano of Nicky Hopkins (WWNHD: Part 4)
There are people who read music and don’t make things up and people who make things up and don’t read music, so when you put them together it’s a powerful thing. Nicky could play whatever you put in front of him. It’s a rarity to have somebody who could do that as perfectly as all […]
Read MoreOh Bobby, Won’t You Let It Rock: Bobby Keys, Pt. 1
Every night’s a Saturday night And every day’s a Sunday I know I’ve been wrong before But I’m gonna try it one more time! –Epigraph to Bobby Keys‘ autobiography, Every Night’s A Saturday Night, 2012 When The Rolling Stones‘ longtime saxophonist, Bobby Keys, died last month due to cirrhosis of the liver, it marked […]
Read MoreRIP Bobby Keys & Ian McLagan
The Adios Lounge was shaken to its core this week when a pair of legendary rock ‘n’ roll sidemen passed away. I’ll offer more thorough rememberances at a later date, but I wanted to get this out there given the importance of these two musicians to my life. On Tuesday, news came through that […]
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