Jimmy Nicol

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James George Nicol, known as Jimmie Nicol or Jimmy Nicol (born August 3, 1939), is a British drummer, best known for being a temporary member of The Beatles. When Ringo Starr collapsed and was hospitalised on 3 June 1964 with tonsillitis on the eve of The Beatles' 1964 Australasian tour, manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin discussed the possibility of using a stand-in rather than cancel. Martin suggested Nicol, as he had recently recorded a Tommy Quickly session with him. Nicol had also drummed on a budget label album called "Beatlemania" and knew the songs. The whole thing happened very quickly, from a phone call to attend a run-through at Abbey Road Studios to packing his bags all in the same day. Nicol wore Ringo's suit on stage, and apparently needed clothes pegs to make the jacket fit. His first show with The Beatles took place on 4 June in Copenhagen, Denmark. He played a further nine shows, until Starr returned to the group in Melbourne, Australia, on 14 June. Nicol said he was "praying he [Starr] would get well at the same time I was hoping he would not want to come back." He was not able to say goodbye to The Beatles as they were still asleep when he left, and Nicol did not want to disturb them. At the airport, Brian Epstein presented him with a cheque for £500 and a gold Eternamatic wrist watch inscribed: "From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy - with appreciation and gratitude." User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-S