Jimmie Nicol - Later Career and Life

Later Career and Life

Hoping to exploit the enormous exposure that playing with the Beatles had bestowed, Nicol reformed the Shubdubs, renaming themselves Jimmy Nicol and the Shubdubs. They released two singles "Husky"/"Don't Come Back", followed by "Humpty Dumpty"/"Night Train"; neither of which were a commercial success. He was later called upon again to stand in for an ailing drummer when Dave Clark of The Dave Clark Five fell ill, replacing him in the band for a season in Blackpool, Lancashire. Whilst there Nicol was reminded of just how popular, albeit briefly, he had been as a stand-in Beatle; receiving via the postal system a bundle of 5,000 fan letters passed on to him from an Australian radio disc jockey. Nicol sent a message back thanking the fans, promising that he would one day return to Australia permanently. He was later reunited with The Beatles when his band was set down on the same bill as them and The Fourmost on 12 July 1964 at the Hippodrome in Brighton. In 1965 Nicol declared bankruptcy with debts of £4,066, nine months after being a temporary Beatle. Later that year he joined the successful Swedish group The Spotnicks, recording with them and twice touring the world. He left them in 1967, spending time in Mexico studying samba and bossa nova rhythms, whilst also diversifying into business. In 1975 he returned to England and became involved with housing renovations. In 1988 it was rumoured that Nicol had died, but an article in 2005 by the Daily Mail confirmed that he was still alive and living in London as a recluse.