Jimmy Nicol

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Image:The Beatles with Jimmy.jpgJames George Nicol, known as Jimmie Nicol or Jimmy Nicol, is an English musician born August 3, 1939.

With the Beatles

When Ringo Starr collapsed and was hospitalized on June 3, 1964 with tonsilitis on the eve of the 1964 Australasian Tour, the Beatles were in desperate need of a substitute drummer in order to continue as planned. Brian Epstein telephoned Nicol, then 24, who at the time was playing with a small band in Liverpool. Nicol was excited by the concept of being a short-term Beatle, as he was a fan himself.

Epstein took him to meet John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison; they hit it off, and Nicol was hired. His first show with the Beatles took place on June 4, 1964, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He played a further nine shows, until Starr returned to the group in Melbourne, Australia, on June 14, 1964. Nicol said he was "praying he would get well at the same time I was hoping he would not want to come back."

After his time with the Beatles, Nicol and his band, the Shubdubs, released the single "Husky"/"Don't Come Back", followed by "Humpty Dumpty"/"Night Train", neither of which was a commercial success. Nicol was reunited with the Beatles when his band was set down on a bill with the Beatles and the Fourmost. They performed on July 12, 1964 at the Hippodrome Theatre in Brighton.

Getting Better

During Nicol's stay with the Beatles, Lennon and McCartney were constantly questioning him about how he was coming along, and his answer would always be "It's getting better." Years later, Paul was walking his dog, Martha, with Hunter Davies, when the sun came out and Paul commented that the weather was "getting better", and began to laugh, remembering Nicol. This event inspired the track "Getting Better" on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The Beatles
John Lennon | Paul McCartney | George Harrison | Ringo Starr
Pete Best | Stuart Sutcliffe
Management
Brian Epstein | Allen Klein | Apple Records
Production
George Martin | Geoff Emerick | Norman Smith | Abbey Road Studios
Official Studio Albums
Please Please Me (1963) | With the Beatles (1963) | A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Beatles for Sale (1964) | Help! (1965) | Rubber Soul (1965)
Revolver (1966) | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | The Beatles (1968) | Yellow Submarine (1969) | Abbey Road (1969) | Let It Be (1970)
Films
A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Help! (1965) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | Yellow Submarine (1968) | Let it Be (1970)
Related Articles
History | Discography | Bootlegs | Long-term influence | Beatlemania | Beatlesque | Fifth Beatle | Paul Is Dead | British Invasion | Yoko Ono | 1960s | Apple Corps
pt:Jimmy Nicol