- Nicky Hopkins (RIP 1994) -- vocals, keyboards

  supporting musicians: (1973)

- Ray Cooper -- percussion

- Mike Egan -- acoustic guitar

- Jim Horn -- sax

- Bobby Keyes -- sax

- George O'Hara (aka George Harrison) -- guitar

- Jim Price -- trumpet

- Prairie Prince -- drums

- Chris Rea -- acoustic guitar

- Klaus Voormann -- bass

- Chris Spedding -- guitar

- Mick Taylor -- guitar

- Jerry Lynn Williams (RIP 2005) -- vocals

- The Jeff Beck Group

- The Cyril Davies R&B All Stars

- Jamming with Edward

- The Jefferson Airplane

- Marquis of Kensington

- Mr. Big

- Poet and the One Man Band

- Quicksilver Messenger Service

- Raven

- Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages

- Sweet Thursday

Genre: rock

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  The Tin Man was a Dreamer

Company: Colulmbia

Catalog: KC 32074
Year: 1973

Country/State: Perivale, UK

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: gatefold sleeve; original inner sleeve

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 1203

Price: $10.00

The late Nicky Hopkins certainly left his imprint on rock and roll.   He was a member of a stunning number of name bands  ranging from The Jeff Beck Group to The Jefferson Airplane.   Trying to collect his sessions work accomplishments would take pages to cover ...

Luckily, his sporadic solo accomplishments are easier to document, including  1973's "The Tin Man was a Dreamer".  By the way, unlike the information found in some on-lined references, this was not Hopkins's solo debut, rather served as his second solo studio album, coming on the heels of 1966's "The Revolutionary Piano Of Nicky Hopkins".  Speculation on my part, but I'm guessing this solo effort came about as a result of the publicity Hopkins garnered supporting the Rolling Stones.  Not only did he appear on a number of late-'60s Stones LPs, but he was part of the band's 1971-73 world tours.   

Co-produced by Hopkins and David Briggs, musically this was pretty much what you'd expect from a sideman album.  While there was no questioning his technical prowess, his songwriting talents were hit-or-miss.  Moreover, judging by isolated vocal performances like 'Waiting for the Band', 'Dolly' and 'The Dreamer' Hopkins didn't have much of a voice; droning on with a slightly flat, Cockney-tinged voice.  Having American singer/songwriter Jerry Lynn Williams collaborate on a couple of vocals helped a bit.   The album also served as one of the year's most impressive gatherings of musical friends.   By my count these ten songs include cameos from  George Harrison (under the name George O'Hara and a dozen other top flight names.  (Personally I would have suggest something other than the John P. Hunt painting for the cover art.)   Those criticisms aside, the results weren't half bad, even more impressive when you consider the album was recorded on the side, while Hopkins continued his day-to-day sessions work supporting George Harrison's "Living In the Material World" recording sessions.   Not something you'd want to play every day, but now and then ...

album inner sleeve; photo by Ethan A. Russell

"The Tin Man was A Dreamer" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Sundown In Mexico (instrumental)   (Nicky Hopkins) - 1:35  rating: ** stars

'Sundown In Mexico' opened the album with a stark instrumental - just Hopkins on piano.  Pretty enough, but in a film score background music kind of fashion. 

2.) Waiting for the Band   (Nicky Hopkins) - 2:15  rating: *** stars

Tuneful little autobiographical ditty (easy to imagine Hopkins spending a large part of his life waiting for the band to come) ...   One of those tracks where his warbled voice didn't really make much of a difference.   George Harrison (George O'Hara) on acoustic slide guitar.    

3.) Edward (instrumental)   (Nicky Hopkins) - 5:20  rating: *** stars

The instrumental 'Edward' was essentially an abbreviated version of The Quicksilver Messenger Service song 'Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder'.  The title that was apparently a nickname for Hopkins.  Nice way to get a peak into Hopkins' true keyboard talents.  George Harrison provided the nice electric slide guitar segment, which would have been even better without Bobby Keyes honking sax along side it.   

4.) Dolly   (Nicky Hopkins - Jerry Williams) - 4:42  rating: *** stars

Pretty ballad with one of Hopkins' better vocals.  Mick Taylor provided the wah-wah guitar solo. With a better singer this "big" ballad would have had a shot at radio play.

5.) Speed On - 3:59   rating: **** stars

Nice rocker with more autobiographical lyric (ah, life as a professional sideman).  Jerry Williams shared vocals with Hopkins and Harrison provided the slide guitar solo.  Columbia tapped it as a promotional single in the States, but apparently gave up on it, seemingly never releasing a stock copy. 

(side 2)
1.)The Dreamer   (Nicky Hopkins) - 5:47   rating: **** stars

Another pretty ballad where the melody compensated for Hopkins' limited voice.  With some heavy, psych-tinged orchestration this one's always reminded me a bit of a George Harrison solo effort.   That may have something to do with the fact that at the time this was being recorded Hopkins was supporting Harrison's "Living In a Material World" album.    

2.) Banana Anna   (Nicky Hopkins - Jerry Williams) - 3:37  rating: ** stars

Formulaic boogie tune with Hopkins and Jerry Williams sharing writing credits and vocals.  For some reason this was released as a Dutch single.    

3.) Lawyer's Lament  (Nicky Hopkins - Jerry Williams) - 3:43   rating: *** stars

Another pretty ballad that showcased  Mick Taylor on lead guitar.

4.) Shout It Out   (Nicky Hopkins - Jerry Williams) - 3:39   rating: **** stars

I can remember thinking 'Shout It Out' sounded a bit like an early Elton John tune; probably due to the wonderful piano-driven melody and the fact Jerry Lynn Williams handled the lead vocals.  This was one of the album highlights.   rating: **** stars

5.) Pig's Boogie (instrumental)   (Nicky Hopkins) - 2:42  rating: ** stars

The instrumental 'Pig's Boogie' was a nice example of Hopkins' rolling piano stylings, though Bobby Keyes' sax irritates the hell out of me..   The tune was also recorded by The Jerry Garcia Band when Hopkins was a member. 

The album spun off several singles:

The American single was:

-1973's 'Speed On' b/w 'Sundown In Mexico' (Columbia catalog number 4-45869)

In Holland the single was:

- 1973's 'Banana Anna' b/w 'Pig's Boogie' (CBS catalog number CBS 1241)

In fragile health throughout most of his life, Hopkins died from complications from intestinal surgery.  He was only 50 at the time of his death.  

There's quite a bit of on-line material covering Hopkins, but the best may be Gerardo Liedo's website:  http://rocksoff.org/nicky-bio.htm