Did Paul McCartney die in 1967?
No, but the conspiracy theory lives on and on….
So here’s another clue for you all/The Walrus was Paul The Beatles Glass Onion
Did the Fab Four become a not-quite-so-Fab Three in February 1967? Or perhaps in November 1966? For nearly 60 years a sizeable number of dedicated sleuths have claimed that Paul McCartney is no longer with us — in body, at any rate. They are convinced that the ‘real Paul’ has long departed for the celestial Hall of Fame.
Macca dead before the White Album? The ramifications are head-spinning. Then who married Linda? Who sang Penny Lane? Who is now Sir Paul McCartney still rocking out across the globe?
Well, wake up, Sheeple! That guy giving you the thumbs up sign is not the real Sir James Paul McCartney (MBE). That’s Fake Paul or Faul to those who refuse to be fooled.
How did it start?
On the night of January 7, 1967, ‘a rumour swept London that Paul McCartney had been killed in a car crash on the M1’. It became so widespread that the February 1967 issue of The Beatles Book fanzine felt obliged to reassure worried fans.
The article appeared to confirm that Macca was alive and kicking, with three more years of Beatles in-fighting to look forward to. That part was true but the rest was inaccurate and misleading. And, as ever, it was the cover-up that fueled the conspiracy flames.
This — as Sixties folk liked to say — is what really went down.
McCartney’s Mini Cooper was involved in an accident on the M1 motorway outside London, as a result of which it was written off. The car was being driven by a Moroccan student named Mohammed Hadjij.
Hadjij was an assistant to London art gallery owner Robert Fraser. The pair turned up at McCartney’s house on the evening of 7 January, and were later joined by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones. The party decided to head to Jagger’s home in Hertfordshire … with McCartney in a second car, travelling with Jagger in a the latter’s Mini Cooper.
The two cars became separated during the journey. Hadjij crashed McCartney’s Mini and was hospitalised with {minor} injuries. The heavily customised car was highly recognisable, so rumours began circulating that McCartney had been killed in the incident. Source
So, Paul’s ‘highly recognisable’ black Mini Cooper had not been ‘safely locked up in the garage’ on the night in question, and had been out on the town with its owner and some Rolling Stones.
By the end of this evening the Mini Cooper was a mangled wreck and a mysterious young Moroccan was licking his wounds in Accident & Emergency. Meanwhile, its pop star passengers, anxious to avoid unpleasant headlines, had slipped quietly into the frosty night.
Pretty low rent rock n roll hell-raising then. Nonetheless, Paul McCartney tearing around London with the rough boys was not a story The Beatles management wanted publicised. Hence the False Rumours press release, which in turn lead to further rumours of a cover-up. These soon morphed into a new, much more elaborate conspiracy theories.
More theories
An earlier rumour resurfaced, dating back to December 1965 when he Paul fell off his moped in Liverpool visiting his family with Tara Brown. This had lead to chipped tooth and the first Beatles moustache to hide it. A new version of the tale had Macca decapitated, which was very much off brand.
Another story confirmed Paul’s untimely demise but returned to the grisly car crash theme. This apparently occurred in a different McCartney owned vehicle, (his Austin Healey) and on another date: November 9, 1966. It supposedly followed a late night Abbey Road recording session (didn’t happen) and involved an the explosive late night row.
Immigration records show that Paul McCartney was out of the country on 9 November, 1966, enjoying a holiday with his (then) girlfriend, Jane Asher. And we can cofirm there weren’t many icy roads in Kenya on which Paul could crash the Austin Healey he didn’t take with him.
Secret messages
On 12 October, 1969 a bizarre on-air phone call to Detroit radio station gave new life (!) to the controversy. A caller, identified only as ‘Tom’, had some startling new information. ‘Tom’ revealed that The Beatles had been sending secret messages through their recorded songs.
‘Play ‘Revolution 9’ backwards,’ ‘Tom’ said mysteriously. ‘And you’ll hear what I mean!’
The DJ duly spun the disk (backwards). After somehow deciphering discordant wailing, he pronounced judgement. ‘Wow! John is saying “dead man!” He’s trying to tell us that Paul McCartney is dead!’
A week later a Michigan University student published an article: “McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light”. The article built a pretty spooky — if not quite legally watertight — case for suspicious minds.
Most famously, it drew attention to ‘Paul’ crossing Abbey Road on the album cover barefoot. And walking barefoot — a scientifically proven symbol of death!
And why does Paul have a cigarette in his RIGHT hand? Everyone knows Paul McCartney is LEFT handed! How do you explain that, eh?
Then there’s the number plate on the white Volkswagen Beetle: “LMW 28IF”. Another message! Paul would have been twenty-eight on the day he walked across Abbey Road. Or didn’t walk across.
Okay so not according to Paul’s ‘birth certificate’. That obvious fake has him twenty-seven but if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you.
Tall Story
Some sceptics have suggested that this ‘evidence’ is a little fanciful. Believers counter with what they consider a crucial forensic fact: pre-death Paul was shorter than his imposter, Faul (see photo below).
Of course, spoilsports quibble about camera angles and cuban heels. But the camera never lies, right?
Fake Paul
So who is this imposter, this Faul so skilfully impersonating Paul McCartney over the past five decades? Step forward one William — or Mike according to some Faulologists — Campbell.
Apparently, there are secret MI5 files that prove that Brian Epstein secretly recruited Mr Campbell (William or Mike) to step into Paul’s shoes (or out of them on the Abbey Road cover) after the fatal accident.
Eh? William/Mike who? Oh yes, Mr Campbell was the winner of the offical 1965 Paul McCartney Lookalike Competition. Evidently, he also sang like McCartney, too — and wrote songs in the same style.
Who would have thunk it?
Beatles Bass Player Bites the Dust exclusive eyewitness report of fatal car crash *
