"The (Updated) Beatle Who Vanished":
In 2013, author and historian Jim Berkenstadt (aptly billed as “The Rock and Roll Detective™”) wrenched a musical mystery back into the light in his book The Beatle Who Vanished. It’s the compelling story of Jimmie Nicol, a shy, gifted session drummer who had not yet made the big time. That is, until one day in 1964 when he received a call from Beatles’ producer George Martin, asking if he could fill in for an ailing Ringo Starr for the Beatles’ first World Tour. What??
Nicol wasn’t the first to be approached for this one-off task (he was the third, actually), but he recognized a good opportunity and checked a lot of the boxes for a quick-fix Ringo doppelganger. He was familiar with the Beatles’ playlist. He was adaptable and took direction well. He even sported the imperative mop top and fit into Ringo’s suit, though a bit snugly. He bid his wife and young son farewell and off he went, eager to make rock history with hopes of furthering his burgeoning drumming career.
There’s no question that Nicol came through in fine style while poor Ringo languished in Middlesex University College Hospital with a case of laryngitis and pharyngitis. An introverted but engaging chap, Nicol matched the energy of those around him and delivered dynamic drumming. He spent thirteen days as an actual billed Beatle on the Fab Four’s first-ever world tour in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Australia. Nicol was stunned by the violent adulation of the young female fans, saying: “The day before I was a Beatle not one girl would look me over…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.”
Source: Ellen Fagan/culturesonar.com
