The Greatest Hoax in Music History
Some say it was true, but just as many believed it to be the greatest hoax ever conceived in music history. The publicity generated by this rumor increased the sales of their records and brought more interest in the group. What was the hoax? It was the rumor that Paul McCartney died in a car accident in the early hours of November 1966. The claims go on to say that there are many hints in the both pictures and lyrics of Beatles albums to prove this was true. But are these musical clues truly anything more than appropriate lyrics to a song or pictures that can allow whatever conclusions a person wants to draw.
The story went that McCartney stormed out of a recording session after an argument with the others. He was supposed to have not noticed that the traffic lights had changed and as he tried to avoid hitting a young woman he swerved into a pole. The crash was supposed to be so bad that he suffered from extensive head injuries and died. Fearing the end of the Beatles, the other members of the group were supposed to have kept this secret and hired the winner of a Paul McCartney look-alike contest to take his place. The claim is that William Campbell was a good double, but he required a little plastic surgery to complete the look and that the only thing that was not fixed was a scar on his lip. It is supposed to be the appearance of the scar that shows when he took over. Others will say that the scar appeared after Paul had a minor accident on his moped.
If you want to look at the clues supposedly apparent on album covers, you can start with Yesterday and Today, The Butcher cover. On this cover are body parts. This is to signify how terrible the accident was. The set of teeth on Paul’s arm are to show that even his teeth were destroyed, which is why identifying him had been so difficult. The other cover released with Yesterday and Today has Paul sitting in an open trunk. This is supposed to signify a coffin. It is also the first cover that shows the scar on the lip. Therefore, it is supposed to be the first one to show the importer had now taken his place.
The most famous of the clues were supposed to come from the Abbey Road Album. The four Beatles and they way they are crossing the street represents what happened to Paul. John is supposed to be the preacher since the claim is he spoke at the real McCartney’s funeral. Ringo is the pallbearer, George is the grave digger and Paul is wearing no shoes, because when someone is buried they are barefoot. His eyes are also closed, as they would be if he were dead. He is also out of step with the others. The license plate that says 28IF represents the age Paul would have been if he lived.
There are many references to death; there are equally many references to car rides, the Beatles now being only three, coffins, burials and much more in many Beatle songs. Yet were these references to their deceased band mate or simply lyrics that could be otherwise interrupted. The imposter’s name was William Shears Campbell, was this Billy Shears of Sgt. Pepper fame? If McCartney really died in that car accident, why would the other Beatles constantly give hints to this tragic truth? Was it guilt or was it nothing more than mere coincidence left to the minds of publicity agents and curious fans.
