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WP_123/ 2008
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Works on paper: Paintings 2 | | Medium: | acrylic on paper | | Size (inches): | 25.6 x 17.9 | | Size (mm): | 650 x 455 | | Catalog #: | WP_0123 | | Description: | Signed, date and copyright in pencil on the reverse.
I BURIED PAUL
Introduction
Rumors of Paul McCartney's death began to circulate in 1969, a time when the strained relationships among the Beatles were becoming public knowledge. Written versions of this story first appeared in college newspapers in the fall of 1969, but the precise origin of the rumor is unknown. The story caught fire with the public when it was broadcast by a radio station in Detroit. Russell Gibb, a disc jockey for WKNR-FM, received a strange phone call from someone who identified himself only as Tom. The caller told Gibb that Paul McCartney had died in 1966 and was then replaced by a lookalike. The Beatles had subsequently left clues on their albums about this deception. The caller claimed that the cover photo of Abbey Road, the Beatles' most recent release at the time, represented a funeral procession with John as the minister, Ringo the undertaker, Paul the corpse, and George the gravedigger. Other Beatles album covers also contained clues, the caller claimed, and a few Beatles songs contained clues about Paul's death—including some that could only be deciphered when the records were played backwards! Gibb related the rumor of Paul's death on the air, which brought a strong reaction from listeners and the story spread rapidly after that.
The rumor became so widespread that Life magazine sent a crew to Scotland to track Paul down and take a photo of him. Paul had taken refuge from the Beatles' legal battles at his farm in Scotland and he was not at all happy to be confronted by reporters. When the crew from Life magazine appeared on his farm, Paul became angry and doused the photographer with a bucket of water as he took pictures. The reporters quickly left and Paul, realizing that the photos would cast him in a negative light, followed after them. In exchange for the film of his outburst, Paul agreed to let the Life crew do an interview. The resulting article, which went into some detail about the supposed clues to Paul's "death", appeared as the cover story for the November 7, 1969, issue.
About the same time, a fan magazine appeared that reinforced many of the stranger elements of the "Paul is dead" rumor. A sloppy account rushed to newsstands to take advantage of the public fascination with the story, Paul McCartney Dead: The Great Hoax went into some detail in presenting the story of Paul's "death."
The story was that Paul McCartney had died in a car accident at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 9, 1966. Paul McCartney Dead: The Great Hoax suggested that Paul had picked up a female hitchhiker on his way to visit friends. The woman became so excited when she realized who had picked her up that she threw her arms around Paul and caused him to lose control of the car. Both Paul and his passenger were killed when the car swerved off the road and hit a stone fence. And here's where the story takes a turn toward the ludicrous—Paul was decapitated in the accident and the trauma to his head was so severe that even his dental records were useless in identifying the victim! Not wanting to lose potential record sales, record company executives suppressed the story of Paul's death and brought in a lookalike to replace him. For some reason (this is the part where you have to suspend disbelief) the surviving Beatles agreed to go along with this scheme, but they left clues on all of their subsequent albums about Paul's death and the imposter who took his place. Paul's stand-in was a man named William Campbell, who had won a Paul McCartney lookalike contest. With a little plastic surgery, William Campbell had taken Paul's place in photos of the group. The surgery had been successful except for a small scar above his lip. And, as luck would have it, William Campbell could also sing and just happened to be a songwriter with an exceptional ear for pop melodies.
Of course, Paul wasn't really dead, as he explained in a statement accompanying the Life article (and several years later to Chris Farley on "Saturday Night Live"),
but that didn't stop fans from poring over the Beatles' albums for "clues" to Paul's untimely demise. Many of the supposed clues to Paul's death are simply vague references to death. Other clues are pictures of the Beatles that show Paul in a manner that is different from the other Beatles in some way, especially involving the colors red (blood) or black (death). Most of the "Paul is dead" clues are simply the product of an obsessive search for significance, but a few are genuinely chilling. The Beatles all denied that they had perpetrated a hoax and insisted that none of the "clues" about Paul's supposed death had any significance whatsoever. According to Ringo, "It's all a load of crap." [1] When asked if he had intentionally placed any of the clues, John denied it in similar terms, "No. That was bullshit, the whole thing was made up." [2]
Yes, the whole "Paul is dead" rumor was absurd, so why did it create such a stir? It may have had something to do with the public's growing awareness that all was not well with the Beatles. It explained why the Beatles had stopped touring (their final concert had been in San Francisco on August 29, 1966), why their music and appearance had changed so dramatically in the late-1960s, and why the Beatles seemed to be drifting apart. In his statement in Life magazine Paul declared that he wanted "to go on making good music. But the Beatle thing is over. It has been exploded by what we have done and partly by other people." [3] Perhaps the antiestablishment sentiment of the time kept the rumor going. The rumor was initially told through alternative media at a time when mistrust for the "establishment" was high among young people. Deciphering the clues made fans feel as though they were in on the joke with the Beatles and, as a Chicago disk jockey put it,"The kids are enjoying the mysterious flavor of the rumor." [4] According to Ralph L. Rosnow and Gary Alan Fine, who wrote Rumor and Gossip: The Social Psychology of Hearsay, the Life article only served to reinforce the belief in an elaborate ruse among those who accepted the conspiracy theory. The article created a "boomerang effect" that actually extended the life of the rumor. [5] The Life article even contributed to the rumor by publishing sonagrams of Paul singing "Hey Jude," which would have been recorded after Paul's death, with Paul's voice from "Yesterday." The magazine quoted Dr. Henry Truby of the University of Miami, who found them to be "suspiciously different." "Could there have been more than one 'McCartney'?", the Life article asked. [6] After Paul appeared on the cover of Life magazine, coverage of the "Paul is dead" rumor declined rapidly. References to it have popped up occasionally since then, but the rumor had run its course after a few weeks.
Notes
1.John Neary, "The Magical McCartney Mystery" Life, November 7, 1969, p. 105.
2.Jann Wenner, Lennon Remembers (New York: Popular Library, 1971), p. 97.
3."Paul McCartney, 'I Want to Live in Peace'," Life, November 7, 1969, p. 105.
4.Brian D. Boyer, "Paul McCartney dead? Campuses swept by Beatle rumor" Chicago Sun-Times, October 21, 1969, p. 1.
5.Ralph L. Rosnow and Gary Alan Fine, Rumor and Gossip: The Social Psychology of Hearsay (New York: Elsevier, 1976), p. 18.
6.John Neary, "The Magical McCartney Mystery" Life, November 7, 1969, p. 104.
Copyright © 2002-2007 Todd Gardner.
-www.turnmeondeadman.net/IBP/Intro.php
The Origins of the Rumor
When Detroit DJ Russ Gibb spoke on the air about Paul McCartney's rumored death, the story had already been circulating on college campuses for some time. Rolling Stone reported that someone had approached the magazine with a list of clues that Paul McCartney was dead in the fall of 1968. Rolling Stone dismissed the story at the time because "the trouble with his death cry was that too many people had seen Paul alive and it was the same old Paul..." [1] But the rumor persisted and led at least a few inquisitive people to examine their Beatles albums and begin playing their records backwards.
Illinois University's student newspaper, the Northern Star, ran an article in the September 23, 1969, edition entitled "Clues Hint at Possible Beatle Death". The earliest piece, however, was by Tim Harper, whose article appeared in the college newspaper of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 17, 1969. Once the rumor became widespread Harper achieved some notoriety for being the first to put all of the clues together. The Des Moines Register reported that Harper had been paid for interviews in several states and that WLS-TV in Chicago had even chartered a private plane for him so that he could appear on their morning talk show. And he didn't even own any of the Beatles' albums! [2] "It was just a joke," he said. "I was the first one to put it all together. I knew when I wrote the story that it wasn't true." [3]
Perhaps the article that did the most to propel the "Paul is dead" rumor was one written by a University of Michigan student named Frad LaBour. LaBour's article appeared in the October 14, 1969, edition of the Michigan Daily, the University of Michigan's newspaper, just two days after Tom's call to Russ Gibb. Set with the task of writing a review of Abbey Road, LaBour wrote a tongue-in-cheek obituary of the Beatles. Even though it was not the first article about Paul's rumored death, LaBour's article in the was important because it fleshed out several aspects of the story. Many of the elements of the rumor that have been repeated countless times were products of LaBour's imagination. He created the identity of Paul's replacement, William Campbell, and he asserted the walrus was an image of death, stating "'Walrus' is greek for corpse." [4]
Actually rumors of Paul's death were nothing new. A version of the "Paul is dead" rumor had existed in the UK at least as early as 1967. Paul had been involved in an accident in 1966 but he had sustained only minor injuries. Much like the rumors about Bob Dylan's death followed his motorcycle accident, Paul was the subject of the same sort of speculation. J. Marks, writing in the New York Times, recounted that he and Linda Eastman, who had yet to meet Paul, had just finished working on a book together. Linda wondered aloud how she might meet Paul and then heard that Paul was dead and had been replaced by a double. Linda apparently was undeterred from meeting Paul and they were married within two years. When Linda and Paul married in March of 1969, J. Marks congratulated Paul with the message "Congratulations whoever you are!" [5]
Andru J. Reeve points to a record by Terry Knight as being important in starting the rumor that Paul McCartney had died. Knight was a radio personality in Detroit who formed a band called The Pack and later began performing solo. In early 1969 Knight went to London hoping to join Apple records but the trip proved unsuccessful. [6] Knight found that the Beatles were fighting amongst themselves. Just after he returned to Detroit the Beatles hired Allen Klein to represent them against Paul's wishes. As a result of his experiences with the Beatles, Knight recorded a song about Paul McCartney entitled "Saint Paul," which was released in May of 1969. This song laments the Beatles' troubles but clearly identifies with Paul McCartney. Knight evidently was aware that the Beatles were disintegrating, as in "You knew it all along/Something had gone wrong/They couldn't hear your song" and "Sir Isaac Newton said it had to fall." Those looking for evidence that Paul McCartney had died interpreted these lines as referring to Paul himself.
Notes
1.John Burks, "A Pile of Money on Paul's 'Death'," Rolling Stone, 11-29-69, p. 10.
2.Neil Fischer, "Drake Sophomore Wanted Alive in 'Death' of Beatle," Des Moines Register (Oct. 23, 1969), p. 1.
3."He's the Joker, Says Peorian," Chicago Sun-Times (Oct. 23, 1969), p. 3.
4.Fred LaBour, "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light," Michigan Daily (Oct. 14, 1969), p.2, reprinted in Andru J. Reeve, Turn Me On, Dead Man: The Complete Story of the Paul McCartney Death Hoax (Ann Arbor: Popular Culture, Ink., 1994), pp. 17-23.
5.J. Marks, "No, No, No, Paul McCartney Is Not Dead," New York Times, November 2, 1969, p. 13 (section II).
6.Mike Gormley, "Terry Knight Refuses Apple But Still Comes Out on Top," Detroit Free Press (May 2, 1969), p. 5C.
Copyright © 2002-2007 Todd Gardner.
-www.turnmeondeadman.net/IBP/Origins.php
"Paul Is Dead" Clues on Early Albums
Some of the early Beatles albums are said to have "Paul is dead" clues, though these clues would not be consistent with the story as it has developed. The clues discussed on this page are from albums the Beatles released before November 9, 1966, which is, by most accounts, the date of Paul's demise.
On the cover of Help! Paul is the only one without a hat (as in decapitation). The cover photo of Rubber Soul shows the Beatles looking down with morose expressions on their faces, as though they were looking at a grave. Also, on the cover of Revolver the drawing of Paul is different from the drawings of his bandmates. Paul is shown in profile unlike the rest of the Beatles. The original cover of the album Yesterday and Today, the infamous "butcher cover," showed the Beatles posing with decapitated dolls and slabs of raw meat. On the cover photo Paul is seated with a headless doll on either shoulder. George, who is standing behind Paul, is holding a doll's head over the decapitated doll on Paul's left shoulder. Also, a set of teeth rests on Paul's right arm—he reportedly lost his teeth in the accident (not to mention his head!).
Capitol records, horrified by the offensive cover photo, pulled this album from circulation a day after its initial release. The album was rereleased with an alternate cover pasted over the original cover. The new cover photo showed the Beatles around a steamer trunk. While the rest of the Beatles are positioned above the trunk, Paul is seated inside it. When turned on its side, Paul looks as though he is lying in a coffin.
None of these clues, however, fit into the most widely accepted version of the rumor, which held that Paul's fatal accident occurred on November 9, 1966. All of these albums would have been released before Paul's death. If Paul's accident had, in fact, occurred in November of 1966, the first album that could possibly contain clues to that effect was A Collection of Beatles Oldies, a greatest hits album released only in Britain on December 10, 1966.
The figure in the foreground on the cover is a mod, nonspecific Beatlesque character. The face of this figure is shown in shadow, much like the images of the Beatles' faces on the cover of Please Please Me. This figure's head is roughly at the same place on this cover as McCartney's had been on the cover of Please Please Me. The car is heading directly toward the head of this Beatlesque character, which suggests some sort of tragedy, perhaps involving Paul McCartney.
Copyright © 2002-2007 Todd Gardner.
-www.turnmeondeadman.net/IBP/Early.php
Sgt. Pepper
He Blew His Mind Out in a Car
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band is rife with "Paul is dead" clues. It was Paul's idea that the Beatles immerse themselves in another identity for this 1967 release. The name "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" was a play on verbose hippy era band names, such as "Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band." The cover photo, then, shows the Beatles assuming this new identity and laying to rest their earlier image as the Fab Four. People looking for clues of Paul's death, however, interpreted the cover of Sgt. Pepper as representing Paul's burial and the end of the Beatles as we had known them. The wax images of the younger Beatles look mournfully on the gravesite because the Beatles were no longer the same band.
Looking at the older, psychedelic Beatles, you'll notice a couple of odd things. While the rest of the Beatles are standing at an angle, Paul is facing the camera as though he were being supported by his bandmates standing at his sides. The Beatles are all holding band instruments, but Paul's is black (he's holding a cor anglaise) while the rest are holding brass instruments. A hand is over Paul's head, as though he were being blessed by a priest before being interred.
Across the gravesite is a bass guitar oriented the way Paul, who was left-handed, would play it. The strings of the instrument are made of sticks but there are only three sticks rather than four, just as there would only be three Beatles without Paul. With a little imagination you can see that the yellow hyacinths spell out "PAUL?" or, looked at another way, the flowers form the letter "P".
Perhaps the most imaginative interpretation of an image on the cover of Sgt. Pepper is that if you hold a mirror across the middle of the words "LONELY HEARTS" written across the center of the bass drum, you will see "IONEIX HE<>DIE". When arranged as "I ONE IX HE <> DIE," this image suggests the date (11-9, or November 9, 1966) that Paul died, as the diamond between the words "HE" and "DIE" points directly at Paul. One problem with this interpretation is that the British write dates as day-month-year rather than the American month-day-year, which would make this date September 11th rather than November 9th. You could read this, then, as "1 ONE 1 X", meaning that one of the four is gone, and then the "HE DIE" points to Paul as the missing Beatle.
The doll at the right side of the picture--the cloth figure of Shirley Temple--wears a sweater that reads "WELCOME THE ROLLING STONES". Perhaps the Rolling Stones were involved in the conspiracy, as Joel Glazier asserted. [1] This message also suggests that without the Beatles the Rolling Stones would have been the undisputed leading rock and roll band. A model of an Aston-Martin, the type of car that Paul was supposedly driving at the time of his fatal accident, is leaned against the doll's leg. The interior of the car is red, symbolizing Paul's bloody accident. Also, the cloth grandmother figure, on whose lap the Shirley Temple doll is resting, is wearing a blood stained driving glove.
The Japanese stone figure at the feet of the wax images of the younger Beatles has line on its head, representing the head wounds that Paul sustained in his fatal accident. The four-armed Indian doll at the front of the picture is Shiva, symbol of both destruction and creation. Two of the doll's arms are raised, one pointing at the wax image of the younger Paul and the other pointing at Paul himself. The television set on the ground to the right of the Beatles is turned off, suggesting that the news of the tragedy had been suppressed.
The album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band was innovative in several ways. It was one of the first to feature a gatefold sleeve and it was also the first album to have the song lyrics printed on the cover.
On the inside photo, Paul is wearing a patch with the letters "O.P.D.", interpreted as "Officially Pronounced Dead." According to John Neary, this phrase is the equivalent of "Dead On Arrival" in British police jargon.
In the Life magazine article Paul stated, "It is all bloody stupid. I picked up the O.P.D. badge in Canada. It was a police badge. Perhaps it means Ontario Police Department or something." [2] This explanation didn't help to clarify anything, however, because there is no such thing is the Ontario Police Department. The badge Paul was wearing actually reads "O.P.P.", which stands for the Ontario Provincial Police. The angle of the photograph makes the final "P" look like a "D".
On the original LP the song lyrics are printed on the back cover over a picture of the Beatles. Unlike the rest of the Beatles, Paul has his back turned to the camera, the three black buttons on the back of his coat representing the mourning of the other Beatles. Though John, Paul and George were all about the same height, Paul appears taller than the other Beatles, suggesting that he is ascending. Next to Paul's head are the words "WITHOUT YOU" from the song title "Within You Without You".
Also, George appears to be pointing at the words "Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins", which was supposed to have been the time of Paul's fatal accident. Note: the picture of the Beatles that originally appeared on the back cover of the LP is shown on pages 12 and 13 of the CD booklet, but the lyrics are not presented in the same way as they were on the LP.
George positioned his hand in this way not to point to the printed lyrics, but to make the letter "L", the first letter in the word "LOVE", as the Beatles appear to be spelling out the word "LOVE" with their hands. In addition to George pointing his fingers in the shape of an "L", John's hands are arranged in a "V" shape, and Ringo's clasped hands form an "E".
The "O" is missing as Paul's hands are not visible.
The lyrics themselves seem to be revealing information about Paul's death and replacement by a lookalike. The title song introduces Billy Shears, who then tells the audience in "With a Little Help from My Friends" "Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song/And I'll try not to sing out of key". Paul's replacement, William Campbell, but here referred to as "Billy Shears," was still working on perfecting his singing voice. Several songs have references to a tragic accident. "Good Morning, Good Morning" opens with the line "Nothing to do to save his life call his wife in." One story of Paul's fatal accident was that he had picked up a woman named Rita and she became so excited when she realized she was in a car with Paul McCartney that she threw herself on him. As told in the song "Lovely Rita," "I took her home/I nearly made it". In "A Day in the Life" John sings "He blew his mind out in a car/He hadn't noticed that the lights had changed/A crowd of people stood and stared/They'd seen his face before/Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords". (How would they know they had seen his face before if he'd been decapitated with such disfiguring injuries?)
Notes
1.Joel Glazier, "Paul Is Dead... Miss Him, Miss Him," Strawberry Fields Forever #51 (1978), pp. 21-22.
2."Paul McCartney, 'I Want to Live in Peace'," Life, November 7, 1969, p. 105.
Copyright © 2002-2007 Todd Gardner.
-www.turnmeondeadman.net/IBP/SgtPepper.php
I Buried Paul
Introduction
The Origins of the Rumor
"Paul Is Dead" Clues on Early Albums
Sgt. Pepper
Magical Mystery Tour
I Am the Walrus
The White Album
Revolution #9
Abbey Road
Let It Be and Beyond
"Paul Is Dead" Fiction
Further Reading
-www.turnmeondeadman.net/IBP/Early.php
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