Fifty years ago, a Detroit DJ accidentally started the “Paul is dead” craze, which began in the late 1960s. The theory claimed that Paul McCartney died in 1966 in an automobile accident. The Beatles were said to have covered up the death, despite inserting clues into their songs and artwork. The theory began when Russ Gibb was asked to spin the “number nine, number nine” intro from “Revolution 9” backwards on his show on WKNR. In February 1967, a strange aside appeared in the Beatles Monthly Book, the band’s official fan magazine.
The butcher cover’s symbolism depicted the carnage of McCartney’s death, but it also had an explanation for the mild cover. The “Paul Is Dead” myth began in 1969, and it meant the Beatles were hiding a secret: Paul McCartney got killed in a car crash back in 1966, and the band replaced him with an imposter. The truth about the urban legend is finally revealed by George Harrison in newly discovered secret audio tapes: Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash in 1966.
The Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road photo added to a wild rumor circulating about Paul McCartney. The conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney died and was replaced in The Beatles with a look-alike became one of popular hoaxes in rock and roll history.
📹 Did Paul McCartney really die in 1966? The history of the conspiracy theory | Vinyl Rewind
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📹 Paul is Dead | A Beatle Conspiracy
The Beatles: the greatest band of all time, who revolutionized Rock and Roll and captivated generations. But: also a group who …
Keep in mind that not only did they find an imposter that looked exactly like Paul, and was also able to become left-handed and learn all of Paul’s stuff, but the Imposter was a bigger musical genius than anyone else in the band, since the Imposter wrote songs such as Let It Be and Hey Jude. And then post-beatles, the Imposter had the biggest solo career of any of the four. And the Imposter became the richest musician in the world. That’s like saying Eddie Van Halen died in 1978, so they found someone that looked exactly like him, that turned out to be an even better guitar player and songwriter and the rest of Van Halen didn’t mind. Okay.
Paul took LSD for the first time in 1966. He went through a process written about by ken Casey called Ego Death. Due to drug references being banned in records back then. The clues on the Sgt Pepper album were intended to show this. The band wanted people to get onboard with the hippy movement. Paul had undergone a change and he wanted to tell everyone. I don’t think he has ever openly admitted this probably due to the drug references and possibly because you are either on the bus (the magical mystery tour) or not as you might say.
My mom began to weirdly subscribe to this theory in her final years. It was surreal, the biggest Beatlemaniac in my life, who is the reason i love their music, convinced that the band had a doppelganger Paul? It was bizarre. I wish she could have lived long enough to see Peter Jackson’s Get Back. Seeing Paul create music and spontaneously bring up things from when they were kids, or recall stuff personally? The only rebuttal needed is the Get Back doc.
The Sgt. Pepper album was the first album that I bought. I knew about all of the clues except the mirror on the drum kit. I also knew about this conspiracy theory, but I never heard of the “decapitation” but until now. One other thing, Paul wasn’t the only left handed member. Ringo is also left handed, but his grandmother made him start using his right hand out of superstition.
If the original Paul died, the new Paul did a damn fine job. Given the timeline of the conspiracy, new Paul had as many hits, if not more, than old Paul. Not to mention being an insanely talented left handed bassist who can also play guitar and piano. Those people don’t come around every day. I think this is a fun theory, but there’s no way the amount of people who would have had to keep this secret would be able to keep it for so long. Not to mention the difficulty of finding a similar aged, talented, similar looking, left handed player.
In Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary anyone won watch John and Paul talking about the early days in Cavern or StarClub, and even fooling around with some of the oldies. So how would’ve been possible to teach that Billy Shear all those details and the past shared memories in order to reach such level of cumplicity and partnership? I can imagine a disciplined Paul going along with this hoax through lifetime, but not as erratic a guy as John Lennon was back then.
The Beatles were funny guys. These “clues” found were most likely jokes. They probably thought it is funny that people thought that Paul was dead. Paul isn’t dead. They just made jokes. Also Billy couldn’t of had the same writing as Paul. John had a different style so this has to be Paul. Paul is alive.
Don’t know how anyone could have believed this. So, they had a line-up to chose a Paul lookalike and just happened to find one that not only looked like Paul but sang like Paul, played left handed guitar like Paul, could speak like a Liverpudlian and was an extremely talented song writer. and, the other wannabees were never tempted to go to the press and sell their story to the highest bidder? Utter nonsence lol
If paul were actually dead, the other three would’ve been choking up especially John he would cry for days from losing a close friend. they would’ve quit if paul actually died and the other members would me talking about Paul dying same with the interviewer asking about pauls death. They probably did blood tests, memory tests, and more tests on paul to see if it is actually him or an imposter. So paul never died in 1966 he is still living.
A forensic scientist once gave scientific evidence that Paul is clearly not dead simply by showing Paul’s eyes. Paul has what they call, “strabismus”, which is where one eye looks off center from the other. This is commonly known to cause lazy eye as you get older. You can clearly see today, in Paul’s old age, he does have a prominent lazy left eye. But in the earliest of Beatle photos, you will see his left eye is always looking off slightly, and that grew more and more prominent throughout his career. Some of those early photos do show his eye is somewhat lazy, but since he was young his skin was tighter and his expressions were more youthful and animated. But most photos of Paul with a straight face and looking at the camera, or looking off to either direction left or right, will reveal the early stages of his now prominent lazy eye. This forensic scientist said the chances of finding a person that looked, sounded and had the same prominent musical skills as Paul McCartney with the exact same eye condition is billions to one. As a side note, James McCartney has the exact same lazy eye as his father.
Something that stops me from believing Paul is dead, is by hearing recordings and seeing photographs of John and Paul in 1967-1970 they still had that great bond they had in 1962-1965 You can’t have that bond instantly to a person. If I knew that my beat friend died and was replaced by a completely different person, I wouldn’t really have that fun and happiness anymore, because it’s not them. Anyone agree??
Neil Innes and Eric Idle made fun of this whole conspiracy in “The Rutles: All You Need is Cash,” and even went to the length of recording a backwards track on the song “Piggy in the Middle.” A section that sounds like gibberish actually says: “This little piggy went to market” when played backwards. Paul is still very much alive, and let’s hope he stays around for awhile longer.
What were the odds that the winner of a Paul McCartney look-alike contest would also be the most talented songwriter in history save perhaps the person he replaced? Left handed? One the the best bass players ever? Sound the same, to the point where computer voice analyzing software identify him as the same person? It has to be less than one in three.
The Beatles heard of the rumor of Paul’s death and went with it. All of the cryptic pics in the albums was done on purpose. Then, the audio tracks were done on purpose as well. This really pushed the records sales as people wanted to find answers of the rumor. Denying all the mysterious audio tracks and photos on the albums is just to skew the truth. Nothing like keeping a mystery as a mystery.
Yes, the other three Beatles, Brian Epstein and George Martin were really lucky to find another left-handed bassist who looked very similar to Paul, played like him, moved like him, was the same height and build, and not only sang exactly like him, but could also write songs like him and imitate his speaking voice…. add to that, that when it came time to divide up their fortune as Apple dissolved into chaos and Paul sued the other three, not one of them said ‘wait a minute, this guy didn’t write any of the early stuff – he’s a fraud and doesn’t deserve his fair share of the publishing’…. and, when John Lennon was angrily firing off insults all over the place, due to both his frustration and heroin addiction, not once did he inadvertently imply this wasn’t really Paul. Nor has Yoko since, even when bitterly defending the order that the names Lennon and McCartney appeared on the ‘co-written’ songs. And Allen Klein was doing his utmost to discredit Paul when he was representing the other three Beatles – don’t you think they might have whispered in his ear at that point “by the way, Allen – he’s not the real Paul.” You ‘Faul’ people don’t know how bloody ridiculous you sound – of course he’s the real Paul – all that happened was he fell off a moped and broke his front tooth, cutting his lip in the process. You can see the resulting gap in his teeth in the ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain’ promotional films, shot in Chiswick House gardens. No doubt the real Paul was also on the Grassy Knoll, firing a bazooka at JFK.
Made my own cassette tape back in August of 1980 where I spun the records backwards and slowed them down while playing them forward. It is still just crazy that all this stuff is actually on the albums and songs 🙂 I know that Paul is alive, it is just so funny that anybody could of concoted all these facts. LOL
Songs penned by “Faul”: ‘Penny Lane’ ‘Hello, Goodbye’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ ‘Fixing a Hole’ ‘Lovely Rita’ ‘Getting Better’ ‘She’s Leaving Home’ ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ ‘Sgt. Pepper´s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ ‘Your Mother Should Know’ ‘The Fool on the HIll’ ‘Blackbird’ ‘Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da’ ‘Helter Skelter’ ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ ‘Rocky Raccoon’ ‘Wild Honey Pie’ ‘Back in the USSR’ ‘Lady Madonna’ ‘Hey Jude’ ‘I Will’ ‘Birthday’ ‘Honey Pie’ ‘Martha My Dear’ ‘Why Don´t We Do It in the Road?’ ‘All Together Now’ ‘Oh! Darling’ ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ ‘Her Majesty’ ‘Golden Slumbers’ ‘Carry That Weight’ ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ ‘The End’ ‘She Came In Through The Bathroom Window’ ‘Get Back’ ‘Two of us’ ‘Let It Be’ ‘The Long and Winding Road’ And that’s not including any of his solo career. “Faul” is one of the greatest musical artists of all time and should be given his dues, even if this ridiculous theory is true.
“Those freaks was right when they said you was dead” – Lennon in “How do you Sleep”. This may be John’s way of acknowledging the ridiculousness of the theory, and taking a shot at his former bandmate at a time they weren’t getting along. The Beatles were pretty funny guys, and just played along. This “evidence” was just their way of having fun, and playing with the minds of their fans. It created publicity and interest, and they used their songwriting abilities to integrate it into their music.
last week i had an assignment which was writing an reportage about any topic. i chose this theory and it was a deadass long essay. it was kind of disappointing because my teacher barely read it, but my classmates who did read thought it was great! 🙂 throughout the rest of the class we had this inside joke “if you see me on the street walking barefoot holding a cigarette on my right hand, just know that i’m dead.”
One thing nobody mentioned: Paul’s doggie, Martha (yes, that song is about her in case you don’t know), who he had gotten in June or July 1966, was never reported to act suspicious of Paul or “Paul” after the supposed identity swap took place, and she once bit John because he was roughhousing with Paul.
In short, Paul is still alive, but the closest he ever got to a near death experience was indeed the 1965 fall off a moped incident, and as a further tidbit it was being driven by none other than one Tara Browne, the man who blew his mind out in a car (specifically his Lotus)… the chipped tooth is visible in the “Paperback Writer” promo film.
A couple forensic expert from Italy looked at the different Pauls and determined they were not the same men. So did a voice-print analyst back in the 60s. A 24 year old does not grow two or three inches. The cheek bones don’t change. The chin doesn’t suddenly become longer. An unbrainwashed child could see they are two different people. The second Paul is Billy Shears, a professional musician who played with them and was thought to look a lot like Paul.
Plot twist: the one who died in the car accident of 1966 was William Campbell P.S: William cambell (Billy shears) does not exist or ever existed the name Billy shears is ringo’s alter ego in sgt pepper’s also the “photo” of “Billy shears” is actually paul wearing a costume because he didn’t wanted to be recognized in public.
Was “Billy” Paul’s nickname? Why do so many celebrities and close friends call him William or Billy? Why does Denny Lane call him Billy? Why does George’s wife call him William? Why does Dana Carvey call him Billy? Why did George refer to him as Beatle Bill? Must be a nickname if that’s supposed to be the same person.
That something like that could be concealed for 60 years, that you could find a double who looks, acts, sings, and writes songs with the exact same level of greatness, is absolutely ludicrous! Even an exact physical Duplicate would not be able to mimic the sheer Genuis in songwriting, nor could they mimic the exact same voice through the last years of the Beetles, through to the Wings era, then to his successful Solo career! That level of Talent can not be faked! The fact that he is undoubtedly THE most Successful of the Fab Four after the breakup! Let’s just put an end to this farce once and for all!
0:54 – The Nov 9, 1966 date of death – After an argument during a recording session: Not only was Paul away on holiday with girlfriend Jane Asher (with his alive-and-well presence noted on all the days after Nov 9), there was NO Beatles recording session on that date to walk out of. The most recent Beatles session was June 21, for the Revolver LP. The next session would be November 29, for the start of the Sgt Peppers LP. (I was 15 in the Fall of 1969 and remember this death hysteria well. I didn’t believe it then, either.)
So the guy had no background in music, had to quickly learn how to play guitar and bass and then in the space of 3 years wrote Blackbird, Back in the U.S.S.R., Hey Jude, Let It Be, A Day in the Life (partially), She’s Leaving Home, With a Little Help from my Friends, The Fool on the Hill, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Martha My Dear, Helter Skelter, Mother Nature’s Son, Oh! Darling and the Abbey Road Medley, not to mention the stellar solo career that’s lasted for fifty years? Ok.
Unfortunately…Yes he did….I did not believe this story when I first heard it; but then as a young teenager I was still way too naive to understand the workings of the world. A family from our neighborhood (WI) moved to England in 1965…. They moved back around 1969 or so,,,,People heard the “PAUL” rumour around here just before that. Appearantly it was common knowledge of Paul’s demise is the UK… Now at 68 all I can think about this subject is these people lost their friend . They could not mourn their friend in public…They were at the peak of their fame; how can they turn away from that (Not to mention the record companies; etc.) RIP Paul McCartney…
The George Harrison Tapes, should be a must to listen to, personally my self I will keep an open mind about it all, will say this there are those in power who will and do cover things up and get rid of people, MI7 – MOI – COI – GCHQ, at the time it would have been COI they are connected to the police, it was an officer high up in the COI who told Thatcher about Leon Britton, so a cover-up took place, It would have been the same sort of rank that would have been involved if Paul was dead. If it is true about Paul then the world is never going to really know for sure
I never bought into the conspiracy but, years ago, when I first heard of it, I spotted a “clue” that no one else ever seemed to pick up on to my surprise. On the cover of Sgt Peppers, you see wax figurines of The Beatles as they were in their “Fab Four” days. Ringo looks very sad like he just lost a dear friend and Paul is consoling him.
It’s not strange at all that a band with hundreds of songs recorded and fans all over the world should have what seems to be hidden messages in their records. I bet that if anyone looked closely to any other great artist, you would find tons of clues for that the artist is dead. And just think about it, if a band records more than ten hours of music, it’s not strange that some seconds played backwards can be heard as unclear messages
I absolutely adore this idiotic conspiracy. It’s so bone headed. The so-called clues are just misunderstandings or Lennon’s sarcastic humour. They evaporate as soon as they come into contact with reality. The Billy guy wrote most of Sgt Pepper (their best album) not to mention Blackbird and the Long and Winding Road? Looks like the Beatles traded up.
A Detroit DJ accidentally started the biggest hoax in rock & roll history: the “Paul is dead” craze. It blew up on October 12, 1969, when Russ Gibb was hosting his show on WKNR. A mysterious caller told him to put on the Beatles’ White Album and spin the “number nine, number nine” intro from “Revolution 9” backwards. John Lennon, calling the same Detroit radio station on October 26th, fumed, “It’s the most stupid rumor I’ve ever heard. It sounds like the same guy who blew up my Christ remark.” John denied any coded messages (“I don’t know what Beatles records sound like backwards Takeaway from this, Americans come up with the dumbest conspiracies, another example: Qanon. Enough said
I’ve come across two similar conspiracies that are unique in and of themselves. One is about Tupac and the other Stephen Hawking. I’d love to know everyone’s theories about those as well. This one, though, I had always been curious about but if it truly is a cover-up (there’s always that possibility), it’s the most well-executed, thought out and maintained in history.
I spent hours looking at his live music articles and film and there is one involuntary physical tell clue that he is Paul. This is when at times shakes or rocks his head from side to side shoulder to shoulder. This is when he is getting into whatever he is grooving on. If he was replaced that person would also have to have the characteristic as well cause it is not a move that is easily done and to look like it is done naturally. Also, if you observe that he often does it quickly and it just randomly pops up sometimes very slightly. You can see his face and there is no conscious thought applied. Now for a replacement they would not only have to copy that but, also try to make sure that it is coming out naturally and not a forced thought. As you watch concerts from different decades you will you see him be normal and do a front to back nod but on songs he really grooves on (She Loves you.) it comes out heavy and even today when he plays that song it pops up. perusal the 2018 live concert he does not rock his head much through the concert but, when he gets to Back in the USSR it comes out and totally natural for him. That, you can’t fake.
Look I don’t know if Paul was replaced by someone but here’s my real life experience. I hung out with a mate in Australia in 1980 to 82 when we were both 18 to 20 years old. We had moved from a country town to a small city Newcastle, and both loved basketball and played for a club together. As time went on I moved back home and then after a couple of years moved to Sydney and my mate stayed in Newcastle and I eventually lost contact with my mate as you did back in the early eighties. Then when at work at a club some 4 years later I saw my mate but he was like he was in his late teens a lot younger than he should have been but identical looking. He looked at me and looked away as he saw me staring at him as I was not sure it could be him as he had changed his hairstyle in real life when he got older. I couldn’t stop staring at him but knew he saw me several times and thought he would come and say hello at some point as I was working at it was busy. Well eventually I lost sight of this person but got a piece of chrome splinter in my finger and went to reception where the first aid gear was to get tweezers to pick it out of my finger. Unbeknownst to me this guy was there leaving the premises but was waiting for his friends or family and had noticed me trying to pick this piece of stubborn metal out of my finger. He came up to me and said jokingly ” thhhinnkk you’lll sthervive?” ( like the cartoon character Rodger Rabbit ) with a really bad speach impediment, and I knew immediately it wasn’t my mate from years ago as he didn’t have one, BUT he was identical in every way physically and facially other than his speach impediment, height body shape everything .
Paul put out 50 albums since beatles breakup not one song can I find that I like as well as the beatles he said he was trying to get away from stereo type oh so you abandon what made you famous a DNA test would have cleared it all up but he didn’t want to clear it up and Billy shears was a musician, what happened to his career? Paul died in 66 no doubt in my mind
I was obsessed when this hoax came out, believing it to be possible. My obsession stemmed from the supernatural quality of it all. But then I thought that John had placed all these clues about Paul being dead without Paul knowing about it just to piss him off. I thought John was getting restless, wanting to leave the group and was resenting Paul for being just a taskmaster. It just seemed like something John would do. The one thing that made me realize it was a hoax was all the incredible music Paul wrote after his supposed death. I could consider that they got someone to look like him who could play an instrument. But the music? You can’t teach someone to be so prolific and gifted to write the songs that Paul wrote. And the explanation as to why they had to replace him was ludicrous. Pandemonium, rioting in the streets, collapse of civilization was just so laughable and absurd. Anyway, JMO.
The Beatles had excellent senses of humour. Perhaps they were mocking those who believed in the ‘Paul is Dead conspiracy’ movement when they added cryptic messages in some of their songs. This could explain the messages. When I heard Paul induct John into the Rock and Roll hall of fame it certainly sounded like someone who was like a life long brother of John. Also when you take into account Pauls excellent work in ‘Wings’, it’s easy to see a continuity of the incredible talent of the younger Paul into the older Paul. What is the probability assuming that Paul was killed and replaced of finding another incredible talent?
I make the following comments predicated on working in a record store from 1962 to 1975. By 1966, the Beatles Craze seem to have run its course. I had seen it once before with the Kingston Trio. The Beatles popularity had waned so much that when Sgt Pepper was released, we only ordered three copies! And they sat and sat, until one day someone came in with their friend and started looking at the cover very strangely. Curiously, I asked what they were looking for and they said clues that Paul was dead. That was the day the Beatles were resurrected permanently and forever. A week later we couldn’t order enough copies to meet the demand. When things settled a bit, the Beatles released Abbey Road and things took off again. They even jacked the price up of their record a dollar but it didn’t matter. Was it a publicity stunt? Absolutely. Probably the cleverist in the history of the music business.
I was born in 1974, and I was never particularly a fan of the Beatles, per say but this theory and other FOAF folklore stories have always intrigued me, on a human level, but that is not to say I actually believe the ‘Paul is dead’ hypothesis . BTW, I am someone who will always be pro-vinyl, as it was quite simply a major part of my childhood and growing up. I just want to add that I have just discovered your youtube, thanks to this, but I am seriously loving your retro style, from the suit, to the hair, to your surroundings in this particular article !
When bands take pictures, there is sometimes a few, if not all members, trying to do something totally different for the photo to get attention, or just to create something interesting. This is all the BEatles were doing, people found what they were looking for. A ghost hunter hears a thumping, he found a ghost. A plumber goes into the same house, an finds a pipe rattling and fixes it.
I know the guy that was driving in Paul’s mini when it crashed. His name was Mohammed Chtaibi. He told me that he and the guys, the Beatles were partying and they ran out of pot. They sent Chtaibi in Paul’s mini Cooper to buy more and he crashed the mini on the way back. Panicked and left Paul’s wrecked car. Paul was never even in it. At least this is the story I was told in 2001 by Chtaibi.
No matter how people say it’s two different guys to me before and after 1966, different face shape (former one more rounded and cuter, later one in longer face and left face not shape in balance), the double chin not the same, different hair parting and pattern and type of natural curls, and the later one don’t have the same charm and confident/arrogant as the former one from the shines of their eyes, and two different personality just by perusal their interviews – former one is so talkative and has so much of his own opinions, the later one not showing much of his own keen, which is the thing that hardly change of a person).
Whoaah I believe this rumor actually. Paul died and Billy took his place, I guess… That’s it. In the song Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, who is the ‘one and only Billy Shears’ mentioned in the song? He said “So, let me introduce to you the one and only Billy Shears”. Who is he? Ringo? I don’t think so. But why? Why should Billy be introduced to us? It was the first song on the album.. That’s the mystery. So, if Paul has died, who created the top songs like Hey Jude, Let it Be, Helter Skelter, Golden Slumbers? Billy,? Hah I don’t think so. It must be John. 😂😂😂