Stories spotlight fill-in Beatle Jimmie Nicol

This month marks the anniversary of the Beatles' Australian tour, which saw London session drummer temporarily fill-in for the ailing Ringo Starr, who was back in London recovering from tonsillitis and pharyngitis.

The Perth Advertiser provides an overview of Nicol's tour of duty as a Beatle and the sad aftermath.

Nicol flew with John, Paul, and George to Melbourne to catch up with Ringo but was soon out at Essendon Airport contemplating the rest of his life.
He left with a gold watch and a bank balance enhanced by £22,500 — a small fortune at the time — if Nicol’s own recount is to be believed.
Not that it did him any good.
Just nine months later he declared bankruptcy with debts of £4,066.
“Standing in for Ringo was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he said later.
“Until then I was quite happy earning £30 or £40 a week. After the headlines died, I began dying too.”
 ...
An article in 2005 by The Daily Mail newspaper confirmed that he was still alive and living a reclusive life in London.
Jimmy Nichol(sic) has one further legacy.
During his brief time as a Beatle, John and Paul would often ask him how he felt he was coping, to which his reply would always be “It’s getting better.”
The phrase inspired the song Getting Better on the classic 1967 Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Meanwhile Beatles Examiner today has an image of that engraved gold watch, along with an illuminating interview with Jim Berkenstadt, author of "The Beatle Who Vanished," a book about Nicol.


Interesting to note Epstein had Jimmie's name spelled wrong on the watch. Also wrong in the Perth news story.

Comments