Jimmie Nicol and the day Kennedy Died

         Jimmie Nicol was a fast rising drummer in late 1963 London. He would soon be recruited by his trumpet-playing friend Johnny Harris into the elite "club" of recording session work. However, on November 22, 1963, Nicol and Harris were taking a cigarette break from a Big Band show in London when their world was turned upside down...

         This is an excerpt from the Amazon Best Seller The Beatle Who Vanished, now available at Amazon in Paperback and as a digital eBook download to any Tablet, Smartphone or PC.

Harris was intrigued by a Rock and Roll drummer who could also play Jazz and Big Band as well as read music. At the time, this was quite uncommon, for players usually picked a field of expertise and stayed within the genre they had chosen. “He was so good,” says Harris of Nicol’s drumming. “And he was as good at Rock and Roll as he was with the jazz music.”[i]  “The songs we played were live with Cyril’s band. They were songs the band had recorded earlier in the 1950s. We just toured around England.”[ii]

By 1963, Nicol had played so many gigs on his old Trixon drum set that it was time to upgrade to a new one. With the steady earnings he was pulling in, Jimmie was comfortable springing for a new, flashier Trixon Luxus set in blue “croco”.  It featured a shiny blue set of drums with a crocodile skin-type design that was an instant eye-catcher.  

Jimmie not only wanted his playing to be the center of attention, but he also wanted the eyes of the audience on his kit![iii]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An event, not easily forgotten, happened one night between Nicol and his trumpet playing pal Johnny Harris. Harris relates the story:

 

 

"I’ll never forget one night we were playing at the Lyceum Ballroom
near Covent Garden. It was November 22, 1963. The room was a converted movie theatre they had turned into a ballroom in those big band days. And it still had a back stage door. Jimmie and I walked out during a break in the show to have a cigarette and this stage door man said, ‘Hey, have you heard the news?’ And we said, ‘No, what?’ And he said, ‘President Kennedy has been shot dead.’ We just stood there in silence. We were dumbfounded. It was a terrible shock. So we just wandered around the street hardly talking to each other. We’d just look at each other and shrug our shoulders. It was awful. But you know, that night we just went back and did the job and continued on. But I will never forget how we shared that moment together."[iv]

The moment of sadness and regret shared by these two Big Band musicians created an even greater mutual bond that night. The tragedy in America had deeply impacted these two young British players.  Many Brits and Americans at the time had high hopes that the Kennedy presidency would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. The friendship between Harris and Nicol was solidified as they shared this trauma together, and wondered about the future. Their professional collaborations would soon become even more intertwined, for both musicians were hurtling ahead at light speed toward new career opportunities looming in 1964; a year that would prove to be Jimmie Nicol’s watershed moment as a drummer.

 

 

Excerpt from The Beatle Who Vanished (c) 2013 Rock And Roll Detective(r) LLC. All rights of reproduction reserved.

---

[i] Ibid

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Ingo Winterberg, The Trixon Collection of Ingo Winterberg,  (www.trixondrums.de publishing 2010), 64

[iv] Harris Interview

New Book About The Beatles Reveals Clues Of Jimmie Nicol On Cover

The Beatle Who Vanished – All About the Book The Cover

Many people have asked Author Jim Berkenstadt about the design origin on the cover of his new Beatles book, The Beatle Who Vanished. Berkenstadt says he wanted to create a visual sense of the urgency of The Beatles having to replace their regular drummer Ringo Starr and find a replacement before leaving on their first world tour in less than 24 hours.

“I started with an idea of using Ringo Starr’s actual 1960s Tom-Tom tour case that traveled-the- world with The Beatles on tour. We took a photo of the case by itself to start,” says Berkenstadt.

Then the author digitally “slapped” a licensed news photo of Jimmie Nicol’s first tryout with The Beatles at EMI Studios, on the front of the tour case. Berkenstadt says, “We used this photo to partially cover Ringo’s stenciled name on the front, and placed masking tape on it, to create the rushed feeling of having to find a replacement drummer - quickly getting him up to speed with The Beatles.” People with a sharp eye for detail will also notice that Berkenstadt digitally moved the TWA luggage sticker to the front of the case to add some color.
 

 

“It was a fun visual project”, says Berkenstadt. “I just wanted to create a sense of the pressure in the story and show how Nicol got his ‘15 minutes of fame’.”

 

 

 

The photo of the drum case was taken by Madison, Wisconsin photographer Brian Ebner. The Beatles with Nicol photo is from the archives of © Mirrorpix. And the digital layout was created by Elizabeth Neely Designs in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jim Berkenstadt will be appearing along with former Beatles bass player Chas Newby (who wrote the Foreword for the book) at the Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago August 9-11, 2013.

The Beatle Who Vanished is available at: www.thebeatlewhovanished.com and Amazon .


(c)2012 Rock And Roll Detective(r) LLC
All Rights Reserved.

Five Things You Didn't Know About Jimmie Nicol and The Beatles

George, Paul, John and Jimmie

1.      Within one year of playing drums with The Beatles, Jimmie Nicol was bankrupt, divorced, unemployed and vanished for the first, but not last, time.

2.      Jimmie Nicol was not just a drummer. He was also a composer, arranger, producer, piano player, singer, A & R man for RCA, a teacher, a carpenter, a badge manufacturer and a radio host.

3.      Jimmie Nicol remarried in Mexico City and toured that country with his wife Julia, who would perform dance interpretations of their music.

4.      In May, 1960, Jimmie Nicol toured Scotland with Vince Eager & the Quiet Three at the exact same time The Silver Beatles toured Scotland backing up Johnny Gentle. But The Beatles and Nicol never met during this tour. Nicol also played with Tony Sheridan in England, the same musician who played and recorded with The Beatles.

 

1959 Autograph of Jimmie Nicol playing with Tony Sheridan

 

5.      Is Jimmie Nicol dead? Is Jimmie Nicol alive? Did Jimmie Nicol fake his death? If you play “Night Train” by Jimmie Nicol and the Shubdubs backward you might just hear, “I buried Jimmie, miss him, miss him, miss him”. Just kidding. You will have to read the book, The Beatle Who Vanished to find out what happened to Nicol. Available at www.thebeatlewhovanished.com , www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com .

For a free download excerpt of the book, click this link: http://www.thebeatlewhovanished.com/buy/book-download/

 

 

 

(c) 2013 Rock And Roll Detective (r) All Rights Reserved.



New Beatles Book Covers Jimmie Nicol & The Beatles' 49th Anniversary

The Beatles with Jimmie Nicol on drums June 6, 1964 at Blokker, near Amsterdam.
(c) Azing, Foundation for Beatles Fans.

June 3, 2014, marks the 49^th Anniversary of Jimmie Nicol’s rehearsal with The Beatles at EMI Studios (later renamed Abbey Road) in London. Nicol had been called by Beatles’ producer George Martin to come down to the studio. Martin had never met or worked with Nicol at this point, contrary to inaccurate online reports like Wiki.

When he got to the studio, Nicol was bombarded by media photographers and newsreel cameras that had been tipped off by Georgie Fame’s publicist. Nicol was the drummer in Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames at the time.  After the media got their photos and a brief film clip of Nicol bashing out a beat, surrounded by John, Paul and George, they were ushered out of Studio 2.

 

Jimmie Nicol poses with Paul, John and George just before the tryout.
(c) Mirrorpix

John Hodkinson, a friend of Nicol’s, came along and witnessed the session which was not recorded on tape by Martin. He recalls, “I basically sat in a corner and watched The Beatles rehearse each song with Jimmie.  Even though I was a fellow musician, I was excited to be there.  It was absolutely tremendous – I actually witnessed a private little show… where they just got a feel for each other musically.”

 

The details of the day that changed Jimmie Nicol’s life forever, can be found in the new Beatles book, The Beatle Who Vanished by Jim Berkenstadt, available at www.thebeatlewhovanished.com . Signed copies are available via Paypal and links to Amazon.com worldwide are also at the author site.

 

2013 (c) Rock And Roll Detective (r)
All rights reserved.

 

 

New Beatles Book Reviewed by PopCult Bookshelf

A Beatles Mystery

April 18, 2013 by rudy panucci

(c) 2013 - The PopCult Bookshelf
The Beatle Who Vanished
by Jim Berkenstadt
Rock and Roll Detective Publishing
TSBN 978-0-9856677-0-2
$19.99
(This is an excerpted review. The spoiler information has been removed)

The Beatles are the most documented rock band in history. Thousands of books have been written about almost every aspect of the band-their music, the people, the mystique, and anybody even peripherally involved in the universe of The Beatles. It’s rare to find a new book that has anything approaching new material.

Yet, with The Beatle Who Vanished, Jim Berkenstadt has pulled back the veil on the one figure who has never had his story fully explored, Jimmie Nicol, who for 13 days at the height of Beatlemania, was a full-fledged member of The Fab Four.

John, Paul, George and….Jimmie

On the eve of The Beatles’ first major international tour, Ringo Starr was stricken with tonsilitis and had to be hospitalized. Jimmie Nicol was chosen to fill in for the ailing drummer, and performed live with John, Paul and George for ten dates in Denmark, The Netherlands, Holland, Hong Kong and Australia.

Conventional wisdom is that he dropped off the face of the Earth after that, but Berkenstadt weaves an intricate tale that reveals just what happened to Jimmie Nicol, whose story is much more fascinating than that of a simple “footnote to the history of The Beatles.”

The first eight chapters of the book are dedicated to Nicol’s life before being asked to join the most famous rock group in the world. This is really meaty stuff for anyone interested in the early days of the British rock and roll scene. Nicol crossed paths with many people who went on to play pivotal roles in music. We also learn Nicol’s personal history as a musician who was more accomplished than most of his peers and was equally at home playing rock, jazz or even musical theater. Berkenstadt does a marvelous job evoking the excitement of the era and he provides an extensive biography of Nicol’s pre-Beatle life.

This is an impeccably researched book, with over thirty pages of end notes and bibliography, as well as loads of Berkenstadt’s first-hand interviews and investigative reporting.

Once Berkenstadt gets to Nicol’s days with the Fab Four we are treated to an almost minute-by-minute account of the days that would forever change Nicol’s life. The rabid Beatle fan will eat up this fresh account of the life-in-a-fishbowl existence that The Beatles endured at the height of their fame. Those familiar with The Beatles’ story will recognize key players like George Martin, Brian Epstien, Mal Evans and Neil Aspinal. Berkenstadt does a great job recreating the events in a manner that rings true and adds new depth to previous versions of the Beatlemania story.

Berkenstadt also does a credible job of sussing out Nicol’s inner thoughts, no mean feat... Berkenstadt’s well-researched insight into what made Jimmie Nicol tick is key to the rest of the book, after Nicol hands the drumsticks back to Ringo before a concert in Melbourne, Australia.

Jimmie Nicol, waiting for the plane to take him away from Beatlemania and into the rest of his life.

While the main attractions of The Beatle Who Vanished are the chapters devoted to his days as a Beatle, the real meat of the book comes after, as Nicol fails to parlay his Beatles association into any long-term success, and winds up on a musical journey that takes him from Sweden to Mexico and other points, before ending in 1975, when he puts down his drumsticks and picks up a hammer to work in construction. Along the way he spends time as a drummer, bandleader, record producer, film composer and small businessman.

The Beatle Who Vanished is more than just another Beatles book. It’s indespensible for the die-hard Beatle fan. A quarter of the book is devoted to his brush with fame, but the rest of the book presents a fascinating life-long journey of a man who deserves to be known as more than just a footnote to The Beatles.

The Beatle Who Vanished is the complete life story of Jimmie Nicol, and it’s well worth reading. This book can be ordered directly from the author and at Amazon .

New Beatles Book Documentary Reveals Jimmie Nicol's Secret Life in Mexico

Jimmie Nicol (L) with one of his bands in Mexico
(c) Julia Villasenor



The new Beatles book, The Beatle Who Vanished, reveals that drummer Jimmie Nicol led a very secretive life. One that took him to Mexico City in 1965, where he settled, married, divorced, and carried on a diverse professional career.  The Amazon Best Seller, is now the subject of an indepth radio documentary on Nicol's career at El Circulo Beatle.

While living in Mexico, from 1965 to 1975, Nicol served as A & R man for RCA Victor Mexico, recorded as Los Nicolquinn, composed film sountracks, created a button factory, taught at the technical college, appeared on the radio and built his own studio. He toured and sat in with several bands including: Abraxas, with wife Julia, Los Checkmates, Blue Rain and Los Nicolquinn among others.

 

A new in depth radio program, El Circulo Beatle, will delve further into Jimmie Nicol's secret life in Mexico on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, at 8:00 pm Central time. It will be broadcast across Mexico and Latin America and can be heard live online at: http://www.impulsarte.com.mx/ .  The show will be archived for downloading at: http://archive.org/search.php?query=circulo%20con%20tere%20chacon

 





 

The Beatle Who Vanished is available at the Author's website and Amazon.

 

(c) 2013 Rock And Roll Detective (r). All Rights Reserved.

New Beatles Book on Jimmie Nicol Searches for Clues of The Beatle Who Vanished

photo credit: (c) Jeremy Fletcher photo/Redferns/Getty Images.

Jimmie Nicol was a Beatle for 13 days on tour with the group in June, 1964. He replaced Ringo Starr who had to be hospitalized. This is about all of the information that existed in Beatles history books for decades. British music history books contained no mention of the drummer.  The inside story of the unknown drummer who got to play with The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania is a missing chapter in the group's history... until now.

And so began my search to see if there was enough material for an article, let alone a new beatles book on the already crowded shelves. A number of people have asked me how I was able to find out who Nicol had played with before The Beatles, and more importantly, what happened to him after his "15 minutes of fame".

The best way to describe the search is to compare it to collecting 1000s of small jigsaw pieces together from around the world and try to assemble the complete picturne. I scoured archives in the US, Australia and England for articles, letters, and documents about Jimmie Nicol. Many online sources surmised that Nicol was born in Liverpool since he had played with The Beatles. However, finding his birth certificate yielded a different answer. That he was in fact, the only Beatle born outside the Liverpool region.

photo credit: (c) 2013 Rock And Roll Detective, LLC.

Then there was a small mention in an Australian forum where a gentleman mentioned that his red suitcase was borrowed by Jimmie Nicol on tour with The Beatles. An email led me to his brother, John Hodkinson, who told me of living with Nicol at the very moment when The Call came in from producert George Martin to come down to EMI Studios and rehearse with The Beatles. Hodkinson tagged along and was able to bring that nervous musical moment to life, of Nicol sitting in with The Beatles for the first time, and passing the audition!

I found old handbills, posters, ticket stubs, tour ads, photos, 45rpm records, stray video clips all over the world. Each piece of the puzzle told a small part of Nicol's journey as a touring and session musician, band leader, composer, arranger and producer. I came to realize that Nicol's career was indeed filled with many successes, intrigue and some pitfalls before, during and after The Beatles.

photo credit: (c) Mirrorpix

 

Through it all, I would find people who knew the central character of my new Beatles book from every part of his life.  I found the roady from his early band, Colin Hicks and The Cabin Boys. He is currently the webmaster of a hardcore S & M website. I found Nicol's second wife Julia by Googling "Mexico Rock History". The webmaster of a site on Mexican Rock in the Sixties, not only  knew Julia, but gave me her email and phone number. That call allowed me to understand Nicol's journey into the artistic underground scene in late Sixties Mexico where Jimmie participated in Happenings, psychedelic drugs, composed film soundtrack music and even started his own button manufacturing company while teaching music at the local technical college.

 

photo credit: (c) 2013 Julia Villasenor



After while, I was being connected to various band members from Colin Hicks and His Cabin Boys to Vince Eager and the Quiet Three, the Shubdubs and Spotnicks. This led to my compiling Nicol’s amazing discography and helped piece together the chronology of his career. The recordings I found all over the world, helped me to learn about Nicol’s amazing and creative gift as a drummer, composer, arranger and producer.  I found that almost universally his friends loved him very much and found him to be generous and highly talented.

The years of writing and research were an amazing journey and challenge. Nicol was an enigmatic character.   He always seemed to erase his trail when he moved on, rather than preserve it.

Finally, I had enough information to piece the trail of Jimmie Nicol's life and career together and paint what I felt was an honest portait of an enigmatic character. He was the definition of an independent spirit. He often chose the unexpected path. No one could tell him what to do or how to think.  Each time he vanished in his career, it would take me awhile to locate where in the world he would show up next! He usually never said goodbye… just walked out the door… to another spot on the globe. Very mysterious. I tried to retrace his footsteps and to find him, by traveling to England, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne - to get a feel for the places he had lived and worked.

This Beatles book, new to the shelves also helped me to discover and share what it is like for a person to live with "15 minutes of fame" for the rest of their lives. In the words of Grammy producer Butch Vig, who has seen his share of rock stars rise and fall, "The Beatle Who Vanished is a fascinating and mysterious must read for hardcore Beatles fans, and anyone who wants to understand the meteoric rise to pop stardom and the subsequent crash landing."

 

photo credit: (c) Newspix/photo file

It is hard to tell what Jimmie Nicol would think of this book on his life and career. Because, dead or alive, he remains The Beatle Who Vanished.

Available at: Amazon

(c)2013 Rock And Roll Detective(r), LLC
All Rights Reserved.

The Curious Case of a George Harrison and Bob Marley Collaboration

Over the years a poster has surfaced at nostalgia stores that show George Harrison and Bob Marley together. It explicitly states that the two superstars played live on stage together at London’s Lyceum Ballroom on July 15, 1975.

In fact, there are no audio, visual or news accounts of George Harrison ever playing with Bob Marley. Both artists were in the USA and not London at the time. George Harrison had just finished recording the album Extra Texture at the time of the meeting.

Harrison was in fact a fan of Bob Marley and his music; nothing more. On July 13, 1975, George Harrison was invited backstage before a Bob Marley show at the Roxy in Los Angeles to meet Marley.

Here is the photo of the two men meeting backstage. This is the photo that has been used over the years to create the false impression on the bogus posters that the two collaborated onstage together.

In fact, when Marley was told that George Harrison was coming backstage, he reportedly lit up a joint and exclaimed, “Ras Beatle!” It appears from this next photo that George also got to enjoy a smoke with Bob before the show.

After the two guitar greats expressed their mutual admiration for each other, Bob went onstage to play.

No collaboration took place, but it would have been amazing if had. At least they got to meet.
Speaking of a mysterious Beatle collaboration, The Rock And Roll Detective’s new book,
The Beatle Who Vanished will be available near the end of this month. For release information, go to: www.thebeatlewhovanished.com



© 2013 Rock And Roll Detective®, LLC.