Friday, March 18, 2011

THE BEATLES PAUL CONSPIRACY



In the summer of 2005, a package arrived at the Hollywood offices of Highway 61 Entertainment from London with no return address. Inside were two mini-cassette audio tapes dated December 30, 1999 and labeled “The Last Testament of George Harrison”. A voice eerily similar to Harrison’s tells a shocking story: Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash in November of 1966 and replaced with a double! British intelligence, MI5, had forced the Beatles to cover up McCartney’s death to prevent mass suicides of Beatle fans. However, the remaining Beatles tried to signal fans with clues on album covers and in songs. Until now, the “Paul is Dead” mystery that exploded worldwide in 1969 was considered a hoax. However, in this film, the mysterious voice on the tapes reveals a secret Beatles history, chronicling McCartney’s fatal accident, the cover up, dozens of unknown clues, and a dangerous cat and mouse game with “Maxwell,” the Beatles’ MI5 handler, as John Lennon became increasingly reckless with the secret. The voice also claims that Lennon was assassinated in 1980 after he threatened to finally expose “Paul McCartney” as an imposter! Highway 61 Entertainment has investigated this stunning new account of the conspiracy to hide McCartney’s tragic death and produced this unauthorized documentary that includes newly unearthed evidence. The mysterious voice on the audio tapes narrates the entire film in what may prove to be the most important document in rock and roll history, leaving little doubt that PAUL MCCARTNEY REALLY IS DEAD!


Beatles Conspiracy: Did They Cover Up Paul's 1966 Death?

1. Paul McCartney or an Imposter?
Paul McCartney or an Imposter?
 
When Paul McCartney was recently fĂȘted by President Obama at the White House and given a lifetime-achievement award by the Kennedy Center, no one mentioned that he may, in fact, have died years ago—and been replaced by a double. It's all part of an elaborate conspiracy theory that some music buffs have kept alive since Paul's alleged accidental death in 1966.
2. Paul McCartney (1942-1966?)
Paul McCartney (1942-1966?)
Getty Images
In October of 1969, three weeks after the Beatles' celebrated Abbey Road album was released, WKNR-FM's Russ Gibb took a call from a man who identified himself only as "Tom." The Detroit deejay listened as the caller carefully laid out clues hidden in Beatles' songs and album art, which he said indicated Paul McCartney had died on November 9, 1966, in an automobile accident. Listeners began deluging New York City radio stations with "evidence" and soon the rumor spread around the world. Was this a Beatles' publicity stunt, a fan feeding-frenzy fueled by clues left as an inside joke by John Lennon—or was Paul really dead?
3. How Paul Allegedly Died
How Paul Allegedly Died
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Piecing together clues from songs, films and album covers, conspiracy buffs have come up with this scenario: During the early-morning hours of November 9, 1966, Paul argued with his bandmates in the studio while recording songs for their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. He left in a huff just before 5 a.m. While driving to a friend's house, Paul picked up a female hitchhiker who couldn't control her excitement when she realized who was behind the wheel. She lunged to hug Paul, causing him to lose control of his Aston Martin. It smashed into a stone fence and burst into flames, killing them both. Paul was decapitated and burnt to a crisp, making a positive ID difficult. Despite no evidence to support either the story of the fatal crash or of a cover-up, the rumors persisted.
4. The Need for a Cover-Up
The Need for a Cover-Up
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The theory of why a cover-up of Paul's alleged death was necessary goes something like this: Because of all the money the Beatles contributed to England's tax coffers, their continued success was vital to the financial health of the nation. So the British government, in cahoots with the surviving members of the Beatles, their producer George Martin, manager Brian Epstein (pictured above), recording engineer Geoff Emerick and road manager Mal Evans, conspired to cover-up Paul's death. It was speculated that in return they were given a huge sum of money and guaranteed success in whatever future endeavors they engaged. They all denied any conspiracy.
5. Will the Real Paul Please Shake Your Hair?
Will the Real Paul Please Shake Your Hair?
Getty Images
In order for McCartney's death to be kept under wraps, the Beatles would need a look-alike to sub for him. It's said they found the perfect candidate in an actor named William Shears Campbell, the winner of a McCartney look-alike contest who resembled the singer so much that he was supposedly on the Beatles' payroll as a stand-in to throw off fans and the press. The name may ring a bell from the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" lyric on the album of the same name: "So let me introduce to you / The one and only Billy Shears / And Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Pictured: Paul and his double—or Paul doubled?
6. The Press Covers the Death Rumors
The Press Covers the Death Rumors
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The press was interested in the rumors of Paul's untimely demise. A November 7, 1969, Life magazine cover story approached the issue in a light-hearted manner, rather than as an investigative piece. The article quoted Paul, who paraphrased Mark Twain: "Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." He then wryly added, "However, if I was dead, I'm sure I'd be the last to know."
7. "Paul" Goes Solo
"Paul" Goes Solo
Around the time these rumors started, the Beatles were in the midst of breaking up and Paul—along with his wife, Linda Eastman, and their children—retreated to a farm on the isolated Scottish peninsula of Kintyre. There Paul recorded his first solo album, McCartney. Oddly, the cover of the album shows cherries scattered among a white rectangle (possibly representing a road) and a white bowl half filled with cherry juice (which could be blood). Once the rumor of Paul's death started, it spread rapidly, thanks to other "clues" fans seemed to find in every picture and recording by the Beatles. The following are prime examples...
8. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Clues
<i>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i> Clues
The cover of the groundbreaking album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, has multiple indications that Paul McCartney may not have survived. The Beatles, wearing their new hippy attire, stand in the middle of the cover overlooking what appears to be a flower-covered grave. To their right are wax mannequins—borrowed from Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum—of the younger Beatles sadly looking down toward the "grave."
9. The Drumhead-Reflection Cipher
The Drumhead-Reflection Cipher
The ornate drumhead in the center of the cover that says "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" may be the most deliberate clue of all. When you hold a straight-edge mirror perpendicular to the center of the drum, in the middle of the words "Lonely Hearts," the reflection reads, I ONE IX HE ♦ DIE ("One one nine he die," or November 9 he die). The diamond points to McCartney.
10. The Doll
The Doll
Also on the Sgt. Peppers cover, a doll of a girl sits on the lap of an old woman. "Welcome the Rolling Stones" is printed on her sweater. Were the Beatles insinuating that since Paul's death, the Rolling Stones had surpassed them to become the world's greatest rock band? On the doll's right leg sits a toy Aston Martin (the type of car that Paul drove) and at its left side is a bloody driving glove.
11. A Retouched Photo of "Paul"?
A Retouched Photo of "Paul"?
A mustachioed Paul (perhaps a double hiding plastic-surgery scars) has a patch on his left arm with the initials, "OPD," which could be an acronym for Officially Pronounced Dead. In the November 7, 1969, Life interview meant to address the death rumors, Paul (or his double) explained, "It is all bloody stupid. I picked up that OPD badge in Canada. It was a police badge. Perhaps it means Ontario Police Department or something." Hardcore conspiracy theorists maintain that the photo was retouched to make the imposter look more like McCartney.
12. Back Cover Clues
Back Cover Clues
The Beatles stand together against a vivid red background, representing blood, with the album's song lyrics superimposed over the photo. Paul stands with his back to the camera, as if he does not want to be closely examined, while Harrison's thumb points to the opening line of the "She's Leaving Home" lyric that reads: "Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins..." November 9, 1966, was a Wednesday and 5 a.m. was the purported time of McCartney's car crash.
13. I Am the Walrus
I Am the Walrus
Magical Mystery Tour was conceived as a television movie and album. It features both visual and musical clues starting with the group in disguise—with Paul dressed as a walrus. Allegedly, in the Nordic-Viking culture, the walrus is a symbol of death.
14. The Fab Three?
The Fab Three?
In the Magical Mystery Tour film, as the group performs "I Am the Walrus," Paul in stocking feet stands next to an empty pair of blood-spattered shoes and the drumhead reads "Love the 3 Beatles" (implying, perhaps, that there were only three surviving members of the group).
15. Magical Mystery Tour Movie Still
<i>Magical Mystery Tour</i> Movie Still
In an irrelevant scene from the film Magical Mystery Tour, Paul in a military uniform sits behind a mysterious psychedelic sign that reads: "I WAS."
16. John: 'The Walrus was Paul'
John: 'The Walrus was Paul'
On the album, The Beatles, which has come to be known as the White Album thanks to its white-on-white cover, John sings a song he wrote called "Glass Onion," an unambiguous line from which states: "And here's another clue for you all: / The walrus was Paul."
17. White Album Backmasking Clues
<i>White Album</i> Backmasking Clues
John Lennon began experimenting with backmasking (adding backward voices and music) in earnest on the White Album. When played backward, one of the songs, "Revolution 9," contains a voice that seems to say, "Turn me on, dead man" several times. And what sounds like "Paul is a dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him" is heard on the "I'm So Tired" track.
18. The Let It Be Album Cover
The <i>Let It Be</i> Album Cover
Let It Be was the second-to-last Beatles album to be recorded, but the last to be released. On the cover, Paul is the only Beatle whose face is partially obscured (by a microphone). He is also the only one not photographed in profile and with a white background. Paul's background is blood red.
19. Dressed for Death
Dressed for Death
On the cover of the last album that the Beatles recorded, Abbey Road, the band is photographed crossing Abbey Road in London, outside of British music company EMI's Abbey Road Recording Studios. Paul is out of step with the other Beatles, barefoot and with his eyes closed. In many countries, including England, bodies are buried shoeless. Also, the way that the Beatles are dressed on the cover is said to have this meaning:
       Lennon in white - the preacher
       Starr in black - the undertaker
       "McCartney" in a suit and barefoot - the corpse
       Harrison in blue jeans and work shirt - the grave digger
28 IF
28 IF
In the background on the Abbey Road cover is a Volkswagen with the possibly cryptic message, "28 IF," on its license plate. Proponents of the Paul-is-dead school take this to mean that had Paul McCartney lived, he would have been 28 years old. Life magazine quoted Paul (the real one or the substitute?) as explaining, "On Abbey Road we were wearing our ordinary clothes. I was walking barefoot because it was a hot day. The Volkswagen just happened to be parked there."
21. Maxwell of MI5
Maxwell of MI5
Rick Theis for truTV
The theory continues: An officer—known only as "Maxwell" from British intelligence unit MI5—was assigned to keep an eye on the group to make sure that they kept their mouths shut about the tragedy. The song, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," on the Abbey Road album, refers to Maxwell and his license to kill. This is one of many examples of a Beatles' lyric being employed in the service of the conspiracy theory.

The truth of the explosive rivalries that tore the band apart as Sir Philip Jackson remakes Let It Be - the iconic documentary that first exposed their destructive differences

  • Lord Of The Rings director Sir Peter Jackson is re-editing old footage for new film
  • Let It Be was supposed to show the geniuses at work but laid bare their rivalries 
  • Ray Connolly, the journalist by The Beatles' side at the time, tells the real story 
When Paul McCartney announced in April 1970 that he had no plans for working with The Beatles, the world fell in on him. 'PAUL QUITS BEATLES,' ran newspaper headlines around the world.
And, overnight, the most popular of the four was demonised as the killer of the most-loved entertainment attraction ever.
Although within a few days he would be maintaining to me that he had been misinterpreted, it was too late. The secret of The Beatles' rows and in-fighting was out. There would be no going back.
The Beatles listening to a playback of a song that they recorded for the film Let it Be in 1969 From left to right, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Paul McCartney
The Beatles listening to a playback of a song that they recorded for the film Let it Be in 1969 From left to right, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Paul McCartney
British rock group the Beatles performing their last live public concert on the rooftop of the Apple Organization building for director Michael Lindsey-Hogg's film documentary, 'Let It Be'
British rock group the Beatles performing their last live public concert on the rooftop of the Apple Organization building for director Michael Lindsey-Hogg's film documentary, 'Let It Be'
Paul's mistake had been to let the cat out of the bag about the rancorous atmosphere that, by 1970, was suffocating the group as they awaited the release of their movie Let It Be — dozens of hours of which are now being re-edited by Lord Of The Rings director Sir Peter Jackson for a new film of the group at work in the studio.
As Paul remembered it this week, the filming of Let It Be wasn't as argumentative as the rumours have since told — but maybe only because a lot of tongues were being bitten when the cameras were rolling.
Because, for sure, by the time the film was scheduled for release, Lennon and McCartney, the most successful song-writing duo in history, weren't even talking to each other — let alone writing or playing together.
Portrait of the The Beatles. From left to right: Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison, circa 1965
Portrait of the The Beatles. From left to right: Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison, circa 1965
There was never one single reason why The Beatles broke up. It was a collision of causes that had started nearly four years earlier, in 1966, when they had decided that the hysteria surrounding them made live appearances and touring impossible.
A band that plays together stays together. But The Beatles couldn't play together, in public, any more. The strain of simply being The Beatles had become unbearable.
Then, a year later, weeks after the release of their ground-breaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, their manager Brian Epstein was found dead after an accidental drugs overdose. He was 32 and had been part of the glue that held the band together. 'I knew we'd had it then,' Lennon would later tell me.
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View of the back cover of the record album 'Two Virgins,' by British musician John Lennon and Japanese-born musician and artist Yoko Ono, 1968
View of the back cover of the record album 'Two Virgins,' by British musician John Lennon and Japanese-born musician and artist Yoko Ono, 1968
'Let It Be,' on Savile Row, London, UK, 30th January 1969
'Let It Be,' on Savile Row, London, UK, 30th January 1969
Before the term was invented The Beatles were a boyband, with their girlfriends and wives left at home when they went out to work. But Lennon's new girlfriend, the avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, a feminist, didn't see things that way. Where John went, she went, and, while having had no interest in rock music before she met him, she immediately proceeded to voice opinions about what The Beatles were recording while in the studio.
John loved her making a contribution. The other three didn't, especially Paul. 'It simply became very difficult for me to write with Yoko sitting there,' he would tell me. 'If I had to think of a line, I started getting very nervous. I might want to say something like 'I love you, girl', but with Yoko watching I always felt I had to come up with something clever and avant-garde.'
In retrospect, Paul was, he supposed, 'jealous of Yoko...and afraid of the break-up of a great musical partnership'. Events would show he had reason to be afraid.
Yoko Ono, Ringo Star, and Jeff Bridges attend John Lennon Bus Tour
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John Lennon with Yoko Ono in Selfridges on Oxford street. She didn't like rock when she met him
John Lennon with Yoko Ono in Selfridges on Oxford street. She didn't like rock when she met him
Paul wasn't the only one to be upset. Though The White Album, which was recorded right through the summer of 1968, turned out to be another Beatles triumph, the general atmosphere in the studio was so acrid that, at one point, Ringo decided he'd had enough.
Downing his drum sticks, he left the studio and went on holiday, leaving Paul to take over the role of drummer for Back In The USSR.
Once he'd made his point Ringo came back, of course, and the album was finished. But the truth was now inescapable. John was no longer in love with The Beatles. He was mesmerised by Yoko.
Seeming to fuse his personality with hers, the two became a new entity, calling themselves 'John and Yoko', in which they dressed alike, wore their hair in the same way — and shared the same drugs.
They did everything together, to the extent that they took selfie photographs of themselves naked, back and front, and used them on the cover of an avant-garde album of 'experimental sounds'. Released at the same time as The Beatles' White Album, at Christmas 1968, it was called Two Virgins.
Paul wasn't amused, seeing the photos as an inexplicable act of sabotage of The Beatles' image. According to John, his co-songwriter gave him a long lecture. 'Is there really any need for this?' It was now becoming clear to the whole band that John was, piece by piece, taking a sledgehammer to the monument that The Beatles had become. And there was nothing any of them could do about it.
The previous year The Beatles' TV film Magical Mystery Tour had been both an artistic and commercial failure, which after all their success was something new for them. So now they decided to film the making of their next album.
It would eventually be called Let It Be, and would be filmed at Twickenham Studios rather than at their usual musical home of Abbey Road. Things didn't go well from the start.
It was only 12 weeks since they'd finished The White Album, and, while ever-busy Paul had already written Get Back, The Long And Winding Road and Let It Be, John didn't have any new songs to offer. 'Haven't you written anything yet,' Paul can be heard asking in unused out-takes of the film — which inevitably found their way into the hands of some fans.
Former Beatle, John Lennon, at Heathrow Airport, London
English guitarist and singer-songwriter, George Harrison from British rock group 'The Beatles' at Studio 2 in Abbey Road Studios recording the band's second LP called 'With The Beatles', September 12, 1963
John Lennon (left) and Paul McCartney (right), the most successful song-writing duo in history, weren't even talking to each other — let alone writing or playing together by the time the film was scheduled for release 
'No,' says John.
'We'll be faced with a crisis,' Paul frets.
'When I'm up against the wall, Paul, you'll find me at my best. I think I've got Sunday off,' says John.
'I hope you can deliver.'
'I hope was a little rock and roller, Sammy with his mammy,' mocks John, falling into word play.
There was nothing more that Paul could say.
'I think we've been very negative since Mr Epstein passed away,' Paul reflected, probably to director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, unaware that he was being recorded. 'We probably do need a central daddy figure to say, 'Come on. It's nine o'clock. Leave the girls at home.' '
But John wasn't going to leave his new girl at home. So, Paul was walking on eggshells, acutely aware of what might happen if he, or the others, complained too loudly.
'There are only two things to do,' we hear him reasoning. 'One is to fight and to get The Beatles back to being four people without Yoko, and to ask her to sit down at board meetings. The other is just to accept that she's there, because there is no way that John is going to split with Yoko for our sakes. He's going overboard. He always goes overboard.
'If it came to the push between Yoko and The Beatles it would be John for Yoko. John would just say to us: 'Okay. I'll see you then.' And we're not wanting that to happen.'
Nor was Yoko the only problem during the filming. George Harrison had long felt himself considered less equal than the main songwriters, Lennon and McCartney, and had struggled to get them to record his songs.
One afternoon, resenting being told how to play his guitar on one of Paul's songs, he lost his temper, left the studio and drove up to Liverpool to see his family. John understood George's frustrations. 'It's a festering wound,' he can be heard telling Yoko.
But he was surprisingly indifferent to the guitarist's absence. To him The Beatles didn't just 'revolve around four people any more....if George leaves, he leaves,' the tapes reveal him saying. 'If he comes back, we'll go on as if nothing happened.' And if he doesn't? 'We'll get Eric Clapton to do it.'
George did come back, bringing with him a new song, I Me Mine, which the others agreed to record. Whether Jackson's new film will use these comments when John hadn't realised he was being recorded, or the time when, bored and irritated by the behaviour of him and Yoko, Ringo said angrily, 'I think you're both nuts, the pair of you', we will have to see.
Original trailer for the smash hit film Hard Days Night (related)
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Lord Of The Rings director Sir Peter Jackson is re-editing old footage for new film
Lord Of The Rings director Sir Peter Jackson is re-editing old footage for new film
What ought to be there is an interview John did with the editor of Melody Maker in which he talked about The Beatles' company Apple being 'pie in the sky', adding that they would be 'broke in six months' if they didn't get someone in to sort things out.
Reading that, within a couple of days New York rock impresario Allen Klein had flown to London and convinced John to make him The Beatles' new manager.
John, who always acted on a whim, then recruited George and Ringo to the idea. Paul, however, said no. He didn't like Klein and didn't trust him. He wanted Lee Eastman, father of his new girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife Linda, to manage the group.
The Beatles had split into two camps, and neither side would budge. Over the next few months, while the Let It Be film was being edited, and during which The Beatles got together to make their final album Abbey Road, an uneasy peace reigned.
Then at a board meeting in the autumn of 1969, after listening as Paul tried to rally everyone around a new plan in which The Beatles would start behaving like a band again by making sudden unannounced appearances at small halls and colleges around the country, John came out with a bombshell.
Asked what he thought of Paul's idea, he told him: 'I think you're daft. I want a divorce.'
George, who wasn't at the meeting, was relieved when he heard the news. Ringo has never said, but Paul was in shock. He'd never had a job other than being a Beatle.
At Klein's request the break-up was to be kept a secret until the Let It Be film and album were released the following April — although John told me a few weeks later, if I promised not to write it. I kept my promise, half expecting John to change his mind.
Paul probably thought that, too, hoping for a call from his old friend. It never came.
Meanwhile, although the editing of Let It Be was nearing completion, the tapes of the songs from the sessions, more than 50 hours of them, had never been satisfactorily edited for the forthcoming album.
At Klein's suggestion, hotshot American producer Phil Spector was chosen to re-edit them. Paul didn't like that decision either — nor did he like Spector.
No longer speaking to any of the other Beatles, he was incandescent with anger when he was sent a finished copy of The Long And Winding Road and discovered that Spector had added a female choir to the recording. 'I would never have a female choir on a Beatles record,' he told me. But it was too late for the album to be changed.
Nor had he been idle while waiting for the release of Let It Be. Not having The Beatles to help him, he'd recorded his first solo album, playing all the instruments himself, which he wanted to release immediately.
That would have meant a clash with the release of Let It Be. So, wanting him to delay it for a few months, it was decided to send Ringo to his house to try to persuade him. No one ever fell out with Ringo, the most inoffensive of The Beatles.
On this day, Paul exploded. 'I called him everything under the sun,' he would admit to me later. Then he kicked the drummer out.
Within a couple of weeks, the break-up had become public knowledge.
So, why did The Beatles split? It has long seemed to me that the exhaustion of seven years of extraordinary fame and the pressure of having to live up to the unrealistic expectations they had set themselves must have made their lives impossible.
'It's going to be a comical thing in 50 years' time if people say that The Beatles broke up because Yoko sat on an amp,' Paul joked 49 years ago in a break in filming at Twickenham.
Well, they did break up, and although Yoko must bear some of the blame, it wasn't all her fault. The time had come. And although millions of fans' hearts were broken, John's decision to tear The Beatles apart was, albeit by accident, surely an inspired move.
By killing The Beatles, freezing them at their peak, as it were, it meant that they could never disappoint us, as inevitably they would have done as fashions changed and they no longer defined the moment.
Which is why they are still so loved. 
22. Maxwell and the John Lennon Murder
Maxwell and the John Lennon Murder
NY Daily News/Getty Images
Conspiracy lore says that in 1980, John Lennon was about to make public the cover-up of Paul's death when he was assassinated by Mark David Chapman—and that Chapman was hypnotized and conditioned to kill Lennon by MI5's Maxwell.
23. Paul (or His Double?) Today
Paul (or His Double?) Today
PA Photos/Landov
Since his "demise," Paul has led a full life. He has fronted a hugely successful post-Beatles band, Wings; has released several group and solo smash hits; was knighted by the Queen of England; and has been certified by Guinness World Records as pop music's most successful songwriter. Not bad for a man who's been "dead" going on 35 years. Certainly, the theory of Paul's death strains credibility, but it must have been fun for fans to hunt for clues in the band's photos, films and lyrics during the rumor's heyday.

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