Trump's First 100 Days, Plus: Tribute to Nicky Hopkins

And the usual cartoons, Stewart and Colbert, and music from the Stones, Who and John Lennon.

Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books and now writer/director of three award-winning films aired via PBS, including “Atomic Cover-up” and “Memorial Day Massacre.” Now watch trailer for acclaimed 2025 film “The Atomic Bowl.” Before all that, he was a longtime editor of the legendary Crawdaddy. You can still subscribe to this newsletter for FREE.

Lot to get to but let’s started with some fun/sharp assessments of Trump’s first 100 days (or is that daze)? Jon Stewart had a strong take down last night:

As did Stephen:

Cartoonists weighed in:

Barry Blitt’s cover for The New Yorker:

Then came the Canada election night triumph of anti-Trump Liberals… Still, hard to top our headline of the day, based on a Wash Post bombshell:

Trump accidentally 'butt dialed' reporter in dead of night

We’ll now move away from the usual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nonsense but not before paying tribute to a musician you may not be too familiar with, who will enter the Hall in the consolation prize Musical Excellence category.

Back in my college and then Crawdaddy musical heyday, one of greatest session men ever, Nicky Hopkins, seemed to play piano or other keyboards with one top group after another, starting with my faves, The Kinks, and then on to the Stones (a lot), Beatles, Who, Jeff Beck Group, solo Beatles, even Jefferson Airplane (e.g. “Wooden Ships”), Harry Nilsson, Joe Cocker and on and on for another decade. Sometimes he was buried in the mix (e.g. “Sunny Afternoon” and “Revolution”), other times out front, such as on “You Are So Beautiful” and “Without You” (and see songs below).

When Keith Richards left the room or passed out (or whatever he was known to do) while recording “Let It Bleed,” Hopkins and Ry Cooder and others produced a classic album titled “Jamming With Edward” (this was Nicky’s occasional nickname). Due to a medical condition, he rarely joined bands as a full time member though he did tour a bit with the Stones and others in the ‘70s. Then, after surgery, he died at age 50.

So here’s the trailer for recent film doc about him, “The Session Man.”

And now just four of the dozens of songs he elevated:

You probably don’t remember “Sympathy for the Devil” as being this piano driven:

But famously, “She’s a Rainbow”

“Getting in Tune” with The Who

And the key part of one of John Lennon’s greatest solo efforts, “Jealous Guy”

From Tunes to Toons

Steve Brodner: