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- Written by Randal C. Hill Randal C. Hill
In September 1969, the student newspaper at Drake University in Iowa published an article entitled “Is Beatle Paul McCartney Dead?”
Apparently, numerous students had gathered myriad “clues” from previous Beatles LPs, as well as from the newly released Abbey Road album. Within a month, the rumor spread worldwide, and diehard fans were left devastated — and confused.
According to the story, McCartney had argued with the other Beatles during a recording session on the evening of Nov. 8, 1966 (and a little more than two months after the quartet had officially called it quits as a touring group).
Early the next morning — on Wednesday, Nov. 9 — he supposedly bolted from the studio and roared off in his Aston-Martin sports car. Later, at about 5 a.m., he was said to have crashed his car and died instantly in a small, unidentified English town.
To spare the world of the agony of enduring a Paul-less Beatles, a man named Billy Campbell (who had supposedly won a local McCartney lookalike contest) had been brought in for photo shoots.
Let’s consider the albums that fueled the flames of this cleverest of pranks:
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The opening vocal track mentions Billy Shears, but some rumor-promoters thought the words might have actually been “Billy’s here!”
On “A Day in the Life,” John Lennon says that somebody had “blown his mind out in a car,” that he “didn’t notice that the lights had changed,” and that the crowd that gathered at the scene “had seen his face before.”
On the front cover, we see the “funeral” of the old Beatles, with a hand raised above McCartney’s head (a death omen in some cultures). A white toy Aston-Martin rests nearby upon a doll’s knee.
On the ground, a yellow wreath forms the shape of a left-handed bass guitar. (McCartney was the only leftie in the band.) The instrument reveals only three strings instead of four. Tilted counterclockwise, the guitar becomes the letter “P.”
Inside the foldout album, McCartney wears a circus-band uniform with an arm patch that reads O.P.D. In England, our American term of D.O.A. (dead on arrival) is expressed as O.P.D. — officially pronounced dead.
On the back cover, McCartney is the only Beatle with his back to the camera.
Magical Mystery Tour – At the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” Lennon states, “I buried Paul,” although he slurs the last word. At the end of “I Am the Walrus,” Lennon asks, “Is he dead? Sit you down, Father. Rest you.” (This is from Shakespeare’s King Lear.)
On the cover, somebody is dressed as a walrus (another death symbol in some cultures). In the inside booklet, McCartney sits at a desk behind the nameplate IWAS (I WAS).
In another photo, he plays his bass guitar with his eyes closed, and his (removed) shoes nearby show a red stain on them. In a later photo, the other three Beatles wear red flowers in their lapels; McCartney’s is black.
The Beatles (“The White Album”) – On “Glass Onion,” Lennon asserts, “I told you ’bout the walrus and me, man. You know that we’re as close as can be, man. Well, here’s another clue for you all: the walrus was Paul.”
Between the LP tracks of “I’m So Tired” and “Blackbird,” we hear mumbling. When the disc is reversed, Lennon clearly says, “Paul is a dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him.” (Lennon sounds on the verge of tears.)
On “Revolution #9,” if the record is reversed, Lennon commands, “Turn me on, dead man” several times.
Abbey Road – Walking in an orderly line across northwest London’s busy Abbey Road (also the name of the band’s recording studio), Lennon is shown in long reddish hair and dressed in white — an obvious Jesus symbol. Ringo Starr, clad as an undertaker, follows.
McCartney is the only Beatle with his eyes closed, the only Beatle without shoes (in some countries people are buried shoeless), the only Beatle out of step with the others, the only Beatle shown smoking. (Left-handed McCartney holds his cigarette in his right hand.)
George Harrison, bringing up the rear, wears a gravedigger’s outfit. The license plate of a VW Beetle (get it?) in the background reads 28IF. McCartney was 27 in 1969; however, in some cultures a person is counted as 1 year old at birth.
On the album’s back cover, a series of dots before the word BEATLES form the number three if connected. On BEATLES, a crack runs through one-quarter of the S. Tilted counterclockwise and angled slightly to the left, shadows on the wall next to BEATLES form a human skull.
The world’s greatest rock group never did admit to what was obviously a well-crafted and well-executed hoax, always claiming that the plentiful clues were merely a set of interesting coincidences.
Yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah, right!
Randal C. Hill is a rock ’n’ roll historian who lives at the Oregon coast. He may be reached at wryterhill@msn.com.