The poignant story of Jimmie Nicol: The guy who replaced Ringo Star and lived as a Beatle for two weeks …
There is a guy that is best known for replacing Ringo Star for 13 days. This is is the story of Jimmie Nicol and it’s both poignant and exciting. The exciting part is that he got to be a part of The Beatles in the height of their career and had been able to taste the fruits of fame; he was Ringo Star for a week, and that was a title to kill for. Nicol not only got the opportunity to play with The Beatles in the time they were bigger than God, but he also got the chance to hang around with Lennon, McCartny, and Harrison. However, the poignant part of his story is, that it lasted for two weeks, and then all got back to normal, The Beatles were still the Beatles and Jimy Nicol went to his ordinary life living with a memory that for a week he lived a dream.
When Ringo Starr collapsed with tonsillitis and was hospitalized on 3 June 1964, the eve of The Beatles’ 1964 Australian tour, the band’s manager Brian Epstein and their producer George Martin urgently discussed the feasibility of using a stand-in drummer, rather than cancelling part of the tour. Martin suggested Jimmie Nicol, as he had recently used him on a recording session with Tommy Quickly.
Source: The Vintage News
