Jimmie Nicol, the Londoner who became a Beatle for 13 days, captured by Adelaide photographer

Works by Adelaide photographer Vic Grimmett are up for sale and among them are photos of The Beatles with one accidental bandmate.

Few people may know that when The Beatles departed the UK for their first ever world tour in 1964, they did so without Ringo Starr, who had gone down with severe tonsillitis and was temporarily replaced by Jimmie Nicol.

The 25-year-old drummer was reportedly over the moon and went on to play nine shows across six cities until Starr made a recovery and stepped back on stage at the tour stop in Melbourne.

Nicol’s fame was fleeting, his profile elevated, but then plunged back into obscurity within the fortnight that he spent as one of The Beatles, playing in Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Adelaide.

This piece of history was captured, however, by Adelaide photographer Vic Grimmett – one of the lucky few to gain access to The Beatles during their two-day visit to Adelaide. Five of Grimmett’s photographs were purchased by The Australian Women’s Weekly, and the rest were locked away until after he retired in 1995. Grimmett died in 2017.

For the first time, these images, which captured Nicol as the unassuming substitute Beatle alongside John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison at the height of Beatlemania, will now see the light of day. Each original image is being offered up for sale through Leski Auctions, with estimates between $500 and $2000.

Charles Leski, lead auctioneer with Leski Auctions, says the photographs are of extraordinary significance to the history of the band. “Interestingly, the tour nearly didn’t happen after George refused to travel without Ringo. He was convinced to stay by the band’s manager, Brian Epstein,” explains Leski. 

“It was the start of their phenomenal career, so in the hope that fans wouldn’t notice Ringo’s absence, Jimmie’s hair was cut in the style of The Beatles and he was dressed in Ringo’s clothes.”

Despite struggling to find his footing in the industry after his departure from The Beatles and his short-lived fame, Nicol told an interviewer in 1987 that he didn’t want to profit from his story. Hence, Nicol’s involvement with The Beatles remained not widely known.

For Beatle fans and music history fanatics, however, these photographs represent an opportunity to get a glimpse into “the rise and fall of an accidental bandmate,” says Leski.

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The auction of Grimmett’s collection also includes four original prints of Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev, widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation. Grimmett captured Nureyev in action during his performances in Adelaide in March 1970.

The auction will be held on 29 October from 12pm.

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