“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.
The Beatles are nicknamed “The Fab Four”, but they were in fact once a 5-piece band. This line up consisted of guitarists John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and drummer Pete Best. Sutcliffe was a Beatle from January 1960, until he left the group in June 1961. With his departure, McCartney switched from guitar to bass to fill that vacancy. Best was a Beatle from August 12, 1960, until he was dismissed from the band on August 16, 1962, when he was replaced by drummer Ringo Starr.
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Who was the original drummer of The Beatles?
Ringo Starr is the only Beatle to appear on the song “Good Night”. Ringo is the lead vocalist on the song, with The Mike Sammes Singers providing backup. The music consists of an orchestra arranged and conducted by producer George Martin. Martin’s arrangement was intentionally very lush, as John Lennon is said to have wanted the song to sound “real cheesy”. Lennon originally wrote the song as a lullaby for his young son Julian.
“Good Night” is the last song on their 1968 album ‘The Beatles’ (much better known as ‘The White Album’).
