The sad story of Jimmie Nicol who became a Beatle for two weeks after standing in for Ringo Starr
DID you know that The Beatles had an honorary member for 13 days?
Jimmie Nicol joined the band for a short stint in 1964 – after Ringo Starr was hospitalised with tonsillitis.
Jimmie not only got the opportunity to play with The Beatles during the height of their fame, but he also got the chance to hang around with music legends John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. However, this only lasted for two weeks, and then everything went back to normal for Jimmie. Jimmie’s whirlwind began when Ringo Starr collapsed with tonsillitis on the eve of The Beatles’ 1964 Australian tour.
The band’s manager Brian Epstein, as well as their producer George Martin urgently discussed the viability of using a stand-in drummer rather than cancelling the rest of the tour. George happened to suggest Jimmie Nicol – as he had recently used him on a recording session with Tommy Quickly.
Jimmie appeared in his first Beatles concert just 27 hours later at the KB Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before hitting the stage, he was styled with the distinctive Beatle mop-top hairstyle and even wore Ringo’s suit – despite the trousers being too short. Paul McCartney recalled teasingly sending Ringo a telegram saying: “Hurry up and get well Ringo, Jimmy is wearing out all your suits.”
Commenting later on the fickle nature of his brief celebrity, Jimmie remembered: “The day before I was a Beatle, girls weren’t interested in me at all. “The day after, with the suit and the Beatle cut, riding in the back of the limo with John and Paul, they were dying to get a touch of me. “It was very strange and quite scary.”
By: Natalie Keegan
Source: The Sun
