The Beatles World tour

June 4, 1964 George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Jimmie Nicol headed to Copenhagen, Denmark to start their world tour.

"It was very strange, them going off without me. They'd taken Jimmie Nicol and I thought they didn't love me any more - all that stuff went through my head. "-Ringo Starr, The Beatles Anthology

Ringo was absent during the first few concerts after collapsing during a photo session with Saturday Evening Post newspaper due to tonsillitis. University College Hospital took care of Ringo where his tonsils were removed. Starr later joined The Beatles on June 15 at Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia.

"In June 1964, the world tour began. We went to Scandinavia, Holland, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Ringo missed part of the tour because he was in hospital with tonsillitis. We couldn't cancel, so the idea was to get a stand-in. We got Jimmie Nicol, a session drummer from London. He played well - obviously not the same as Ringo, but he covered well."-Paul McCartney, The Beatles Anthology

 It was George Martin who suggested the 24 year old, Jimmie Nicol to fill in for Ringo. Nicol was a promising choice due to the fact George Martin had seen him recording for a session with Tommy Quickly and drummed on an album "Beatlemania" made of all Beatles covers so he knew how to play the songs.

"They nearly didn't do the Australia tour. George [Harrison] is a very loyal person, and he said, 'If Ringo's not part of the group, it's not The Beatles. I don't see why we should do it, and I'm not going to.' It took all of Brian's and my persuasion to tell George that if he didn't do it he was letting everybody down.
Jimmie Nicol was a very good drummer, who came along and learnt Ringo's parts well. Obviously, he had to rehearse with the guys. They came and worked through all the songs at Abbey Road so he got to know them. He did the job excellently, and faded into obscurity immediately afterwards."- George Martin, The Beatles Anthology

 Nicol played five concerts and a TV appearance, where the group mimed to their songs, while with The Beatles. The five concerts he performed at were; Denmark, Netherlands, Hong Kong, and two in Adelaide, Australia. After the group performed in Denmark they found themselves at the Royal Hotel where Paul sent a telegram to Ringo reading, "Didn't think we could miss you so much. Get well soon."

Ringo returned on June 14 while Jimmie left to Britain. Unable to say good bye to The Beatles due to them sleeping, he received a wristwatch with the engraving, "From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy- with appreciation and gratitude."

"The boys were very kind but I felt like an intruder. They accepted me but you can't just go into a group like that - they have their own atmosphere, their own sense of humour. It's a little clique and outsiders just can't break in."-Jimmie Nicol

 From Melbourne all of The Beatles continued the tour stopping at Sydney, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; Auckland, New Zealand; Dunedin, New Zealand; Christchurch, New Zealand; and ending the tour in Brisbane, Australia.

That summer the Beatles then started their UK and Sweden Summer tour followed by their first US Tour and kept touring till August 28,1966 were they played their last concert at Candlestick Park.