One of the Metropolitan legends harder to die is that linked to Death of Paul McCartney: whoever believes in this story claims that the famous songwriter and composer of the Beatles would be died in a car accident In the 1966 and that it was promptly replaced by a impersonator. This is a news whose alleged truthfulness would be confirmed by small clues left by the band in the covers of the albums, in the lyrics of the songs or in some strange sounds audible only by reproducing the group’s vinyls on the contrary. At the moment, of course, There is no concrete tests of any kind regarding death and subsequent replacement, but it is worth spending two words to understand how the legend of “was bornPaul is dead“And how it has evolved over time.
The birth of the legend “Paul Is Dead”
Like any self -respecting metropolitan legend, we do not know exactly where and when it originated. One of the first tracks can be found in the university newspaper of the Drake University of Iowa, published the September 17, 1969. Within an article the student Tim Harper He wonders about the possible death of Paul McCartney: this doubt was not born from nothing, but from the fact that in November 1966, three years earlier, the singer -songwriter had been involved in Two distinct road accidents. Fortunately, the artist managed to survive both, but someone began to rumor that he was dead and that, in his place, the band had recruited a impersonator.
The news – not verified – came to a local radio, and from here to some broadcasters in the New York area: the hoax began to expand to wildfire, reaching in a few years popularity at an international level. The truth “quality jump“However, it only happened in 2015.
The fake interview with Ringo Starr
An apparent turning point took place in 2015, when the disinformative portal World News Daily Report he published aInterview with Ringo Starr – that later it was discovered to be totally invented by the authors of the article. Within this chat that has never happened, Ringo would have confirmed that Paul would have died on November 9, 1966 in a car accident. To avoid problems with the public and with the record company, the remaining members of the Beatles would have called a Competition of Summary, electing as a winner (and new member of the band) such William Shears Campbell. These are the alleged Ringo statements reported on Wndr:
We didn’t know what to do and Brian Epstein, our manager, suggested that he hired Billy Shears as a temporary solution. He had to last only one or two weeks, but time passed and nobody seemed to notice it, so we continued to play. Billy proved to be a rather good musician and managed to play almost better than Paul. The only problem was that he could not get along with John.
Always continuing on this trail, the group would have inserted a whole series of hidden messages in the subsequent albums, to “prepare” the public for the announcement of death. On the cover of Abbey Roadfor example, Paul is the only barefootand in some cultures this is considered a symbol attributable to death.
Paul McCartney’s reaction
Over the years Paul McCartney has denied these voices, although he prefers not to talk about this theory in order not to give rise to those who consider it truthful. Among all, one of the most famous interviews on the subject dates back to 1969, When I parò with the journalists of the magazine Life. Here a small extract:
It’s all damn stupid (…) I walked barefoot because it was a hot day. (…) Maybe the voice was born because lately I have not been very present in the newspapers. I made enough advertising for a lifetime and I have nothing to say in these days. I am happy to be with my family and work when I work. I was turned on for ten years and I never turned off. Now I turn off every time I can. I prefer to be a little less famous in this period.
