I Almost Was the Fifth Beatle (1995)

This dark photograph from a newspaper is the only one I could find of Bobbie Clarke and Ringo

 I Almost Was the Fifth Beatle

By Marian McMullen

December 4, 1995

Coventry Evening Post 

    He's been a Wildcat, a Playboy, and a Noise but Coventry drummer Bobbie Clarke lost the chance of a lifetime when he narrowly missed becoming the fifth Beatle

    . The Fab Four searched all over Europe and London for the city rock and roller. When Ringo Starr fell ill before an important tour, they wanted him to stand in for the sick Ringo, but Bobbie was unaware of all the fuss. He was at home in Coventry with his mum. "They needed another drummer quickly, and they were trying to find me", says Bobbie. "They were phoning all over Paris and London, but I had come home to see my mum, and they couldn't get in touch. I didn't find out about all this until much later. I could have been the fifth Beatle." 

     But Jimmie Nichol was eventually chosen to step in when Bobbie couldn't be found. Bobbie had lived the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle. He played with Marty Wilde and the Wildcats, BillyFury, French pop star Johnny Halliday, Jeff "Hi ho, silver" lining", Beck and Rod Stewart, 60s group, Vince Taylor and the Playboys and toured with his own band, Bobbie Clarke's noise. He was also Deep Purple's original drummer. He was fired because of "musical differences". 

    Bobbie was working in Paris with Johnny Halliday when he first met the Beatles in 1964. They were rehearsing upstairs, while the Beatles played downstairs on stage at the old L'Olympia. He says they were "big at the time, but not as big as they became. "

    Johnny Halliday invited them to come to his birthday party, and they all went out. "When they heard me talking, they came over and said, 'Oh, you're English. Thank God. We can't understand anyone here'. We grabbed a bottle of whiskey, and Paul McCartney and I had a drink and got chatting. I told him I had played with Billy Fury, and he shook my hand and said, 'I've got your autograph'. He'd once queued an hour in the rain in Liverpool to get Billy's autograph and those of the rest of the band, and he still had them."

    Ringo Starr came and joined the group, and afterwards, Bobbie took them out on a tour of all the best Paris nightclubs, ending up at the Champs-Élysées, which served meals at six and seven in the morning.

     The next day. "At rehearsal, Ringo came upstairs and was looking over my new drum kit, which had two bass drums," recalls Bobbie. "I invited him to have a go, but he said he couldn't play the drums, really. He told me, 'I can't play like you'."

     Bobbie regrets he never got to meet John Lennon or George Harrison, but he says he became very close to Paul and Ringo, and they often went out together in Paris . "When they left, Paul said, 'Whenever you come to London, you've got to come and see us.'"

     Bobbie lived and worked in France for several years, and still has an army of fans in Europe. He even supported the Beatles in Paris in 1965.  He has also rubbed shoulders with the superstars like Ray Charles and Sammy Davis Jr, and even gave an impromptu dancing lesson to Petula Clark.

     The drummer now lives in Tile Hill and Coventry, but his love affair with rock and roll has never died. He even named his son James Elvis.

     He helped put together a new CD of 60s pop group Nero and the Gladiators, and says he may return to France with his own band next year. 

    "My one regret is that when I met Paul McCartney, I didn't ask the photographer to take a few pictures," he says. "I have photographs of me with Ringo, but none with Paul. I didn't even think to say, 'Take our picture'. We were just chatting. It's my biggest regret."