(Credits: Far Out / Harry Pot / Anefo / Nationaal Archief)
Sat 24 January 2026 16:00, UK
We think of The Beatles as a quintessential quartet, but in reality, there were so many people who became the unsung heroes of that manic machine.
Aside from the classic four of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, there were also a whole slew of names contributing to the band’s early history that often go underappreciated, such as Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe, yet even among those, Jimmie Nicol is a man whose vital presence in an hour of need has almost become obsolete.
The year was 1964, and of course, The Beatles were already well on their way to enshrining their legacy as the undisputed kings of the world, what with having two albums under their belts by this point, meaning the next step was, naturally, an international summer tour, and with 37 shows in 27 days, it was obviously a very packed schedule.
There was just one small – well, actually rather big – problem. The day before the band were due to jet off for their first leg of the tour in Denmark, Starr collapsed during a photoshoot and was hospitalised, suffering from tonsillitis. The answer was unfortunately clear – he couldn’t go on the road. So they needed a replacement.
Harrison, in particular, hated the idea of going off without Starr, but after a lot of persuasion from Brian Epstein and George Martin, Nicol was enlisted after he’d been seen as a session drummer who’d made an impression. Unsurprisingly, it felt like hitting the jackpot, and so, complete with a new wardrobe and bowl haircut, Nicol became a Beatle for a total of 13 days.
The Beatles, with Jimmie Nicol replacing for Ringo Starr, television appearance at Treslong in Hillegom, 1964. (Credits: Far Out / Eric Koch / Anef…
Nicol was more than a competent replacement, to the point where Starr even worried for his future in the band, given that he himself had replaced Best two years prior. “The day before I was a Beatle, not one girl would even look me over,” Nicol recalled.
Adding, “The day after, when I was suited up and riding in the back of a limo with John Lennon and Paul McCartney, they were dying just to get a touch of me.”
Ultimately, the honeymoon dream came to an end once Starr was discharged from the hospital and caught up with the tour in Australia. The band were undeniably grateful to Nicol, but stepping away from that taste of fame and fortune, with nothing to back him up, was an incredibly hard pill to swallow.
As such, joining bands over the years that followed with very minimal success to his name, Nicol descended into a dark place of drug use that almost derailed him. Even with attempts from McCartney to help him once he heard he was in dire straits was to no avail.
But The Beatles never forgot Nicol, asking him, during his stint on the 1964 tour, how he was coping with the pressures. “It’s getting better,” he replied. Cut to three years later, with the release of Sgt Pepper, and a track called ‘Getting Better’ appeared. Sound familiar to anyone?
Shooting from the bottom of the ladder to the top and back down to the bottom again proved too much for Nicol in the end, only ever making sporadic appearances in public in the decades since, appearing once at a Beatles fan convention in the ‘80s and never again, and while living with Beatlemania was undoubtedly a lot to deal with, experiencing it and then having it snatched away was an even crueller blow.
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