By Brad Gallagher:
Over the centuries there have been many stories that have been believed by the masses that have turned out to be false. Some of these stories include Chicken Little telling everyone that the sky was falling, or those who truly believed and told everyone that the world was flat and if one sailed far enough they would sail right off the edge of the earth. More currently was the famous 1938 story told on live radio by Orson Wells known as “War of The Worlds” in which thousands of listeners panicked, believing whole heartedly that the earth was under attack by aliens. Many of these stories were told by people who truly believed what they were saying, but others told these stories with the express intention of deceiving those who were listening. These were the stories that became known as hoaxes.
Modern music has had it’s fair share of these stories, or hoaxes. For example, to this day there are still many people who believe that Elvis and Jim Morrison are still alive and living in seclusion somewhere. Then of course there is the whole Milli Vanilli Lip-syncing story. True or hoax? You decide. But it is my opinion that the greatest “True or Hoax” story in rock history was that of the Beatles.
As The Story Goes: (should you choose to believe it)
Back in 1966, during a recording session for the “Sgt. Pepper” album, the band members got into a heated argument which lead to Paul McCartney leaving the session and driving off angrily in his car. There are different theories as to what happened next, 1: some people maintaining that he picked up a young female hitch hiker who, when she realized that he was Paul McCartney, threw her arms around him causing him to run off the road and crash the car killing them both. Others hold to theory 2: that he was distracted by a meter maid (the “Lovely Rita”), and didn’t notice that the light had changed and crashed the car. But whichever story was true, the result was his death. What? Paul McCartney died? Well, that is the story, should you chose to believe it.
At the time of Paul’s death, the Beatles were at the peak of their career. Their producers determined that the knowledge of his death would destroy their continued success, so they decided to cover it up. They had recently had a look-alike contest and some people believe they asked the contest winner, William Campbell, to step in to act as Paul moving forward. Still others (myself included) believed that they enlisted the help of MI6 who found a look-alike named Bill Shepherd, (his name was later changed to Billy Shears and featured in the song “With A Little Help From My Friends”). Again, whichever story was true, Paul was replaced by an imposter. “Coincidently”, it was at this same time that the Beatles stopped doing live performances and worked only in the studio. No sense having Billy Shears out there for all the world to see. Right? But as hard as the producers tried to keep Paul’s death a secret, the word got out and the rumors circulated quickly. The Beatle’s press office eventually issued a statement denying the rumors of his death, but the rumors kept going.
As the days and weeks went by, the surviving Beatles, John, George, and Ringo started feeling remorse for deceiving their fans and decided to try and subtly confirm the rumors of Paul’s death by leaving clues for their fans. Some of these clues appeared in the lyrics of their songs, while others were depicted on the artwork of their album covers.
As I mentioned before, in the song “With A Little Help From My Friends”, off the Sgt. Pepper album, which was sung by “the one and only Billy Shears”, he sings
“What would you do if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song and I’ll try not to sing out of key.”
An apparent admission that knowing he was a fake he could not sing as well as the real McCartney. Also off of the same album was the song “A Day In The Life”, which tells the story of the car crash.
“He blew his mind out in a car, he didn’t notice that the lights had changed.”
Or how about the clue in the song “Strawberry Fields Forever” where John says at the end of the song, “I buried Paul”. Of course when he was asked about it in an interview, he said that the words were actually “Cranberry Sauce”. But what does cranberry sauce have to do with strawberries after all? And then there is the back masking (where you get hidden messages if you play the album backwards) in John’s song “Revolution 9”, where he repeats the words “Number Nine, Number Nine”. When these words are played backward you hear him say “Turn me on Dead Man, Turn me on Dead Man”. And more back masking in their song “I’m So Tired”, when played backward it yields the words “Paul is dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him”.
Some of the clues they left on their album covers included the famous cross walk picture on the Abbey Road album. It is a depiction of a funeral procession. John dressed all in white is said to be a heavenly figure. Ringo, dressed all on black is said to be the undertaker, while George is said to represent the grave digger. Paul, (or Billy) in the picture is barefoot and walking out of step of the other three signifying that he is the corpse. In addition, the VW Bug in the background has a license plate that reads “LMW 281F”. LMW is said to stand for Linda McCartney Widow, and Paul would have been 28 on his next birthday “IF” he had not died. Also, the cigarette in the right hand of Paul in the picture lends to the belief that the man in the picture is an imposter since Paul was left handed.
So, if the cover of Abby Road depicts the funeral procession, the cover of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band depicts the burial. For instance, in the picture on the cover, Paul is wearing a patch that reads “OPD” or, Officially Pronounced Dead. There are also flowers growing at the gravesite in the shape of his left hand bass guitar. And the hand that is raised above Paul’s head is said to be a symbol of the blessing given by a priest before being interred.
These clues were all intended to confirm to their fans the truth of the rumors that Paul had actually died and that the man playing the role of Paul was actually an imposter, and that the producers were trying to cover it all up.
So, you ask….. Did Paul really die in a car crash? Did Billy Shears really take his place? Did the fans get the messages left by the other band members in those subtle clues? Did anyone believe, or was this all just a big hoax? Well, I don’t know for sure, but there are rumors that after being stabbed 40 times in December of 1999, George Harrison, thinking he was on his death bed, confirmed that Paul had died in that crash. Of course this admission by George is also just a rumor.
And Paul, of course over the years, has been asked on numerous occasions about this hoax, and he has emphatically denied the story of his death every time. But then, if he is actually the imposter Billy Shears, why in the world would he admit it?
So, that’s my story for today. Take a look at the clues, and you be the judge. Paul, or Billy?
And come back and see me really soon right here on As The Story Goes.
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AS THE STORY GOES 