How Nicky Hopkins Channeled Dr. John’s New Orleans Piano on the Rolling Stones’ Classic Albums

Nicky Hopkins, the Stones’ go-to session pianist during their late-’60s/early-’70s peak, openly cribbed from Dr. John’s rollicking New Orleans style. On “Live With Me” from Let It Bleed, Hopkins locks into a hypnotic left-hand ostinato—a rolling, syncopated pattern that mimics Dr. John’s trademark “second-line” feel, where the piano almost becomes a percussion instrument.

For Sticky Fingers, Hopkins went deeper. The intro and solo on “Brown Sugar” are direct nods to Dr. John’s Gris-Gris era: right-hand bluesy stabs over a boogie-woogie left hand that never quite settles into a straight rock beat. On “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” his solo floats in and out of the groove with the same lazy, syncopated phrasing Dr. John used on songs like “I Walk on Gilded Splinters.” Hopkins even slowed the tempo on “I Got the Blues” to let those rolling eighth notes breathe, creating a smoky, funeral-par