Jimmy Nicol
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Jimmy Nicol is an English musician, born circa 1940.
With the Beatles
When Ringo Starr collapsed and was hospitalized on June 3, 1964 with tonsilitis on the eve of the 1964 Australasian Tour, the Beatles were in desperate need of a substitute drummer in order to continue as planned. Brian Epstein telephoned Nicol, then 24, who at the time was playing with a small band in Liverpool. Nicol was excited by the concept of being a short-term Beatle, as he was a fan himself.
Epstein took him to meet John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison; they hit it off, and Nicol was hired. His first show with the Beatles took place on June 4, 1964, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He played a further nine shows, until Starr returned to the group in Melbourne, Australia, on June 14, 1964. Nicol said he was "praying he would get well at the same time I was hoping he would not want to come back."
After his time with the Beatles, Nicol and his band, the Shubdubs, released the single "Husky"/"Don't Come Back", followed by "Humpty Dumpty"/"Night Train", neither of which were a commercial success. Nicol was reunited with the Beatles when his band was set down on a bill with the Beatles and the Fourmost. They performed on July 12, 1964 at the Hippodrome Theatre in Brighton.
Getting Better
During Nicol's stay with the Beatles, Lennon and McCartney were constantly questioning him about how he was coming along, and his answer would always be "It's getting better." Years later, Paul was walking his dog, Martha, with Hunter Davies, when the sun came out and Paul commented that the weather was "getting better", and began to laugh, remembering Nicol. This event inspired the track "Getting Better" on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.