Over the course of Beatle history, few things have been stranger than the whole Paul Is Dead hoax. Websites like this one and this one examine the issue at length. It's hard to believe that there may still be some people who wonder when they see Paul McCartney today that they might actually be seeing someone else.
Andru Reeve, who has written a complete history of the story in his book, "Turn Me On, Dead Man: The Beatles and the 'Paul-Is-Dead' Hoax", says first and foremost, he is not a believer of the story.
“I do not believe the rumor, never have.” But, he says, “the story, as a cornerstone of the whole Beatles story, is fascinating.”
“It also shows how huge the Beatles really were,” he says. “This could never happen to another band, never to this degree.”
Reeve says the whole story also would never grown as big as it did back then if it happened today.
“Back in 1969, when Paul McCartney ‘died,’ there was really no way to prove something instantaneously. So a rumor would develop slowly. And if it did die eventually, it would die very slowly or maybe not die completely at all. There was no internet when the ‘Paul Is Dead’ rumor started. It would never have been as big as it was.”
Common thinking is that it all started back in 1969. But Reeve says it actually took root two years earlier, and strangely enough, with something associated with the Beatles.
“I was able to trace it all the way back to print to 1967. The Beatles Book Monthly reported it in the back of their magazine. And it says, ‘False rumor.’ (The story concerned rumors of) Paul dying in a car crash and the date of the car crash was Jan. 7, 1967. The date of the magazine is one month later, February of 1967. And that’s the earliest printed incident of the rumor.”
Reeve said it didn’t pick up again until two years later in 1969. “That’s when Russ Gibb was doing his radio show. And one of the listeners called in.”
The way Gibb, who broadcast on WKNR in Detroit and was called Uncle Russ by his listeners, remembers it, though, is that there were several phone calls.
“Well, that’s one of the interesting things about the story, the mystery part. I have had three people claim they are the ones that called me,” he told us. “However, you have to remember we took a lot of calls that morning right when that happened. And who am I to say whoever said they did it and gave me the first call is wrong. They may have very definitely called because the calls coming in and the fact is we practically shut down the station’s phone system.”
But the real fury started when Gibb did something a little different with a Beatles record.
“All of a sudden, one of the kids said, ‘Have you ever played the record backwards?’ Now I’d never even thought of playing the record backwards. I was happy to play them forward. And so what happened was he said, ‘Try it.’ Now in those days, we had turntables you could turn back. They were huge, not like the equipment you had today.
“So I played it backwards, “number 9, number 9, number 9.” And it said very clearly, ‘Turn me on dead man. Turn me on dead man.’ Now that freaked me out. So I put it on the air. All hell broke loose. It was the most incredible thing.”
- In the concluding part 2, you'll find more clues and comments from another listener, now famous, who played a central role when he was a student. You can find that second part here.
Comments
Look at the facts presented. Paul is the enlightened man that we all soon shall be! Soon we will all be magic supermen!
I know from first hand experience that the PIDers are certified crazy. I've been the victim of their visous slander online.
Hey, I at least am still a member on the Icke forum where they all got kicked off.
The author owes a huge debt toJoel Glazier, the Delaware man who was the first one that analyzed the Paul is Dead hoax, and to Joe Pope who published his article in Strawberry Fields Forever Fanzine back in 1978!
Just found this on YouTube and thought it was a must see. One of the cutest Paul is NOT dead videos I've seen. It offers the most obvious answer: the dude gets a year older every year like the rest of us!
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=huNOsFQa_Ns&feature=fvw
It's been proven by forensic science that Paul was replaced
plasticmacca.blogspot.com
Yeah, and that blog site starts off with saying they used a double for John in "How I Won the War." Umm....
I often spoke to Russ on the phone and was one of the later phone-in tipsters over the course of the first weekend (it ran over two consecutive weekends). I chronicled it here: http://floydslips.blogspot.com/2007/04/paul-is-dead-during-magical-myste...
Just for the record, Kathyrn's been banned from PID MH and MFH for trolling, stalking and sending numerous harassing and psychopathic emails to the owners. There are plenty of PID members on Icke's site and at least they're not known as trolls like she is with her "dolphinoflight" choice of forum names and contrary to what she claims, she did not meet George in '92 and she seems to refer a lot to seeing Paul in '92, at the same time taking acid and being an addict as she herself admits. Kathryn thinks she talks to Stella on a regular basis. Kathryn sends threats to people and posts about slandering them in PID stories! Yeah she's a barful of laughs...NOT!
Paul is dead and was replaced. They downloaded Paul's mind into Faul's brain and all the other Beatles were replaced too. In fact, most celebrities have been replaced and I know this for a fact because it says so on the internet.
Google: PID Miss Him forum.
Tina Foster
P.S. I'm not mad - honest.
I have written a book that explores the Paul Is Dead myth and is based on interviews with people from The Beatles' world, titled Love Is All You Need. It is available on Kindle (Amazon.com) and paperback through me. For more info, email artists-unlimited@nc.rr.com.
I don't believe McCartney died and was replaced, but I do believe The Beatles perpetrated a hoax that got out of hand.
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