{"id":388387,"date":"2026-01-24T17:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/388387\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T17:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:57:09","slug":"the-tragic-drummer-who-spent-13-days-as-a-beatle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/388387\/","title":{"rendered":"the tragic drummer who spent 13 days as a Beatle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jimmie<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Harry Pot \/ Anefo \/ Nationaal Archief)<\/p>\n

Sat 24 January 2026 16:00, UK <\/p>\n

We think of The Beatles<\/a> as a quintessential quartet, but in reality, there were so many people who became the unsung heroes of that manic machine.<\/p>\n

Aside from the classic four of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, there were also a whole slew of names contributing to the band\u2019s early history that often go underappreciated, such as Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe<\/a>, yet even among those, Jimmie Nicol is a man whose vital presence in an hour of need has almost become obsolete. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

There was just one small \u2013 well, actually rather big \u2013 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 \u2013 he couldn\u2019t go on the road. So they needed a replacement.<\/p>\n

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\u2019d been seen as a session drummer who\u2019d 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. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Beatles, with Jimmie Nicol replacing for Ringo Starr, television appearance at Treslong in Hillegom, 1964. (Credits: Far Out \/ Eric Koch \/ Anef\u2026<\/p>\n

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<\/a> two years prior. \u201cThe day before I was a Beatle, not one girl would even look me over,\u201d Nicol recalled. <\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

But The Beatles never forgot Nicol, asking him, during his stint on the 1964 tour, how he was coping with the pressures. \u201cIt\u2019s getting better,\u201d he replied. Cut to three years later, with the release of Sgt Pepper, and a track called \u2018Getting Better\u2019 appeared. Sound familiar to anyone?<\/p>\n

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 \u201880s 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.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n

The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n

All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Harry Pot \/ Anefo \/ Nationaal Archief) Sat 24 January 2026 16:00, UK We…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,24566,10447,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-388387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-ringo-starr","11":"tag-the-beatles","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}