Jimmy Nicol, Beatle for a week
Jimmy Nicol Beatle for a week. From 4 to 13 June 1964, Jimmy Nicol replaced Ringo on the drum stool. Ringo was down with tonsillitis.
Hear: The Beatles Unravelled #77 – LIVE
…..Jimmy Nicol, Beatle for a week
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Jimmy Nicol, Beatle for a week
From 4 to 13 June 1964, Jimmy Nicol appeared on stage as the Mop Top’s drummer.
Back in 1957 he formed the skiffle group Colin Hicks and the Cabin boys with Tommy Steele’s younger brother – Colin Hicks. In early 1964, he formed his own group – Jimmy Nicol and the Shubdubs. They released a UK single – Humpty Dumpty. In April and May ’64 he was with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. The Blue Flames were Liverpudlian Billy Fury’s original backing group.
On the eve of their first world tour, Ringo was taken ill with tonsillitis. Jimmy Nicol was recruited to fill the drumming stool vacancy. George Harrison was not keen to go ahead without Ringo and wanted to cancel the tour. George Martin and Brian Epstein finally talked George around.
Nicol played his first gig as a Beatle on 4 June, at the KB Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark. He went on to play dates in the Netherlands and Hong Kong, before making his final appearance on 13 June in Australia, at Adelaide’s Centennial Hall.
Ringo rejoined the Fab Three in Melbourne on 17 June and Jimmy Nicol’s 15-minutes of fame were over.
Following this moment of fame, Jimmy Nicol joined Swedish group the Spotnicks in 1965. He was with them for a couple of years.
Hear the segment again
The Beatles Unravelled #77
Jimmy Nicol, Beatle for a week
Mop Tops & The King radio show
Twice a month, Derek Shelmerdine contributes the Elvis Presley Unravelled and The Beatles Unravelled segments for Steve Chelmsford’s Mop Tops & The King radio show.
The show is dedicated to the lives and times of The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
See the complete list of Derek’s Beatles and Elvis Unravelled segments.
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled – the book
Derek Shelmerdine also wrote Rock’n’Roll Unravelled, the story of rock’n’roll from its roots to late 1970s punk. Not just the story of the music but also the social factors influencing it, such as the Vietnam War and Civil Rights struggle.
All about – Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
