“Flying”, from the 1967 release Magical Mystery Tour, was the first song credited as being written by all four members of The Beatles. The writing credit is attributed to “Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr”. It’s a simple 12-bar blues chord progression instrumental track, though it does include some chanting.
It was rare for The Beatles to record instrumentals, and it was also rare for a song to be credited to all four members of the band.
“Flying” was originally titled “Aerial Tour Instrumental”.
Ringo Starr and actress Barbara Bach first met on the set of the film Caveman in February 1980. They married just over a year later on April 27, 1981, shortly after the film’s release.
Ringo and Barbara were dating and spending a holiday together in December 1980, when the news broke about the murder of John Lennon. The couple flew to New York to comfort John’s widow, Yoko, and the Lennon’s son Sean.
Over the years, Bach has appeared in some of Starr’s music videos, and has accompanied him on his tours. She also appears with Ringo in Paul McCartney’s 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street.
Just before her 18th birthday, Barbara was in attendance at the famous Beatles’ August 1965 concert at Shea Stadium in New York. Not really a Beatles fan, she was only there as a chaperone to her younger sister Marjorie, as Barbara preferred the music of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Bob Dylan. Coincidentally, another future Beatle wife, Linda Eastman, was also at the Shea Stadium concert.
Ringo Starr was the drummer for Rory Storm and The Hurricanes before joining The Beatles in August 1962. Starr’s first concert with The Hurricanes was in March 1959. It was during his tenure with the band that he changed his name to Ringo. Up until then he had been known as Ritchie. With the Hurricanes, Ringo had a solo spot called “Starr-time” and he was the vocalist on songs such as “Boys” by The Shirelles.
In October 1960, while Rory Storm and The Hurricanes were performing in Hamburg, Ringo met The Beatles who were playing there also. Promoter Allan Williams had arranged a recording session for Lu Walters (of The Hurricanes) for October 18, 1960, at the Akoustik Studio. He had asked John, Paul, and George from The Beatles to play and sing harmonies on the session. Beatles drummer Pete Best wasn’t available, so Ringo was asked to fill in. This was the first time that the future famous line-up of The Beatles played and recorded together.
Back in the UK, Starr sat in for Best as The Beatles’ drummer on several occasions. The first time he played with them live on stage was February 5, 1962, when Best fell ill and The Beatles had two performances scheduled for that date. Ringo would permanently replace Pete when he was fired from The Beatles on August 16, 1962.
During their existence, The Hurricanes were one of the most popular music acts on the Liverpool and Hamburg club scenes, but their attempt at a recording career never took off.
“All Those Years Ago” is a George Harrison song that was a tribute to the then recently assassinated John Lennon. It was released May 11, 1981, five months after Lennon’s death. The recording of the song featured all three remaining former Beattles (Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney). It is one of only a few non-Beatles songs to feature those three in the lineup. Paul, with his wife Linda and their Wings bandmate Denny Laine, contributed backing vocals on the recording.
The writing and recording of the song actually began before Lennon’s death. George originally wrote the song with different lyrics for Ringo to record. Starr recorded it but felt the vocal range was too high for him to sing and he didn’t care for the lyrics. Harrison kept the track, and after John’s death, he rewrote the words to pay tribute to his friend and former bandmate. The song makes reference to a couple of Lennon compositions, “All You Need is Love” and “Imagine”.
The song went to #1 on the American adult contemporary chart. This was Harrison’s first #1 on this chart as a solo artist.
“All Those Years Ago” is available on the new CD compilation Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison
Jimmy Nicol temporarily replaced Ringo Starr after he collapsed and was hospitalized with tonsillitis on June 3, 1964. It was the eve of The Beatles’ 1964 Australasian tour. Rather than cancel part of the tour, manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin decided to use a stand-in drummer to take Ringo’s place. Martin suggested Nicol because he had recently drummed on a Tommy Quickly session. Also, Jimmy was familiar with the Beatles’ songs as he had drummed on an album of Beatle covers called “Beatlemania”. With a last-minute phone call from George Martin, Nicol rushed over to Abbey Road Studios, where he and The Beatles did a quick rehearsal of six songs from their tour repertoire. The next day he would be playing live with them in Copenhagen, Denmark.
On stage, Jimmy wore Ringo’s suit after some alterations. From June 4-13, 1964, Nicol played ten shows in six locations with The Beatles in Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong, and Australia. On June 14, Starr returned to the band in Melbourne, Australia. Nicol said he was “praying he [Starr] would get well at the same time I was hoping he would not want to come back.” For his efforts, Brian Epstein presented him with a check and a gold Eternamatic wrist watch inscribed: “From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy – with appreciation and gratitude.”
In later years, it was rumored that Jimmy Nicol had died in 1988, but a 2005 report by the Daily Mail confirmed that he was actually still alive and living as a recluse in London.
