That Slice of Fame

Does anyone remember Jimmie Nicol? Why would they! But the sad truth is that Jimmie Nicol was famous for two weeks in 1964 and reached crazy stardom. He got 5000 fan mail letters from Australia alone, during that period.  

    

Ring any bells? Not really? You are not allowed to Google for the answer. 

    

In 1964 the Beatles were the talk of the world. Beatlemania was in full progress. Unlike the British Armies which lost the colony to the Patriots, the Beatles were conquering America. And was it a conquest. Manic screams, crazy crowds and millions were just pouring out, as John, Paul, George and Ringo toured the USA. It was a phenomenon no one had witnessed before and music has never- yes never! - replicated Beatlemania to date, fifty plus years on. Most likely, the world will never see that sort of mania again.    

  

In all this razzmatazz of stardom and crazy crowds, as the Beatles were planning a tour of Europe and Australia, there was trouble brewing just around the corner. The drummer Ringo Starr was just about done and not well. So much so, that he would not be able to perform. His throat gone, Ringo was hospitalised in June 1964. There was no likelihood of him getting back on his feet to make the tour. 

    

A crisis meeting with Epstein (the manager) and the remaining three was called. George absolutely refused to tour without Ringo and it looked like at its absolute peak, Beatlemania was to be nipped in the bud. You do not take crazy fandom lightly and it would look very bad that the Beatles had let them down. 

    

Enter Jimmie Nicol. A good drummer who had on various occasions played Beatle music and had his own band. It took some persuasion to get George on board, while McCartney and Lennon were quite welcoming. Beatle haircut and trendy suits were acquired and Jimmie Nicol was a Beatle. For the next eight concerts over two weeks, Nicol was part of Beatlemania. He fitted in and took the sudden stardom very well. It was really a dream come true for a young man. Also the money graduated from £40 a week to £10000 (not verified) a concert. The world must have been at his feet. 

   

Unfortunately, two weeks later Ringo Starr caught up with them in Melbourne. And so, Jimmie Nicol went home. There is a poignant photograph of Jimmie sitting waiting for his flight at the airport. Jimmie Nicol was going home to obscurity, after his two weeks of fame. Since then, he has lived 53 years in obscurity and shied from monetising his Beatles connection. In these years, success eluded him and he quit music. He also went bankrupt, as he struggled to get back to normalcy. His El Dorado never arrived. In later years he spoke about his life,

"Standing in for Ringo was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Until then I was quite happy earning £30 or £40 a week. After the headlines died, I began dying too."

Ringo Starr, was Knighted today, as Sir Richard Starkey (Ringo being a stage name). This event prompted me to write about Jimmie Nicol. For the life of me, I cannot explain why someone who was as good and occupied the same chair for a couple of weeks, should spend a life of obscurity, while another gets his Knighthood. In the background there is a small voice, which says this is life as designed by a greater power and intellect and it is not for us mortals to know why.