# Paul is dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802 "2003-10-11T04:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/1 "2003-10-11T04:19:45Z")
Like many people I remember the “Paul is Dead” theory being taken seriously at one time. (I was reminded of this by the 365Days website: [http://www.otisfodder.com/365days/365archive.html](http://www.otisfodder.com/365days/365archive.html) ) Nowadays, of course, Paul McCartney is seen in the news all the time. I don’t think anyone thinks he’s dead anymore. Was there a period when he dropped out of the public eye for a time? Did he ever make a dramatic re-appearance? When was the legend laid to rest at last? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/2 "2003-10-11T04:32:31Z")
He actually did drop out of a the public eye for a short time between **McCartney** and um… **Ram** I believe, extremely depressed over “losing his job” after the Beatles broke up. I don’t know if that helped fuel the rumor though. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/3 "2003-10-11T05:15:10Z")
The “Paul Is Dead” rumor surfaced with an anonymous call to disc jockey Russ Gibbs of station WKNR-FM in Detroit in October 1969, before the Beatles broke up. It seems to have originated in the fact that Paul McCartney was in a automobile accident on Nov. 6, 1966. But the accident was minor and McCartney wasn’t hurt. Nevertheless, the legend was that McCartney was killed, leading the Beatles to find an impersonator to replace Paul. “[Clues](http://www.angelfire.com/pa4/beatlemania/paulisdead.html)” about Paul’s death were allegedly scattered throughout the Beatles’ songs and album covers from then on. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/4 "2003-10-11T05:24:10Z")
The [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A506648) says that it was actually a motorcycle accident that Paul was in, and the date was Nov. 9, 1966. The accident resulted in only a chipped tooth, and a scar to his lip. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/5 "2003-10-11T05:27:37Z")
For more, see [this link recommended by Snopes](http://www.recmusicbeatles.com/public/files/faqs/pid.html). ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/6 "2003-10-11T05:32:41Z")
The Beatles did stop touring in 1966 and went for a period of relative seclusion for quite a while. Paul never went into Howard Hughes style seclusion, but they wanted to end all the “Beatlemania”. That might have triggered some rumors…no one was sure why they seemed to be trying to shed their audience for a while. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/7 "2003-10-11T05:39:01Z")
What about those pernicious rumors that John Lennon and George Harrison are dead? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/8 "2003-10-11T05:43:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*He actually did drop out of a the public eye for a short time between **McCartney** and um… **Ram** I believe, \*\* Wings was the name of the band, Ram was the name of one of their albums – or maybe their only album, I forget. And the band was never called Paul McCartney and Wings by McCartney, but was by everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/9 "2003-10-11T06:13:45Z")
The album _Ram_, released by Apple in May 1971, is credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, not Wings. The first Wings album was _Red Rose Speedway_, released by Apple in April 1973, and sorry, **Julius Henry** , it was credited to “Paul McCartney and Wings”, as was the album _Band on the Run_ (Dec. 1973). Their next, _Venus and Mars_ (1975) was credited just to “Wings”. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/10 "2003-10-11T06:20:00Z")
Um, Julius, my post had nothing to do with Wings. He released an Album called **McCartney** then kind of hid in Scotland for awhile with Linda, and then released **Ram**. ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/11 "2003-10-11T06:40:17Z")
McCartney was his first solo album. Check it out. Standouts: Junk, Maybe I’m Amazed. The line CRANBERRY SAUCE in the end of strawberry f forever was misheard as I BURIED PAUL, and Monsieur, Monsieur how about another was misheard as something equally stupid. Number nine in Rev. 9 played backwards says TURN ME ON DEAD MAN (no, not really). Do a search for Paul is dead on google and you’ll be aware of all the stupid conspiracy theories. No one but serious nutjobs, uber gullible idiots and your standard line of conspiracy theorists actually believed it. The legend lives on through them. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/12 "2003-10-11T08:21:50Z")
The UL made it into an issue of Batman. Though the names were changed(Paul McCartney became Saul Cartwright) the meaning was obvious. The cover actually has Batman saying “One of them is a fake! But, which one? This album cover will tell us!”. He and Robin devote the resources of the BatCave to discovering if Saul has indeed been replaced by a double. It is revealed thatSaul is the real thing. It’s the other 3 who have died and been replaced. Saul then leaked rumors of his death to draw attention away from the actual doubles. And, no. I am not making this up. I even have the issue. I just don’t know where it is at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/13 "2003-10-11T13:11:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*Um, Julius, my post had nothing to do with Wings. \*\* I really need to quit trying to read after midnight. Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/14 "2003-10-11T14:39:08Z")
Ooh, I remember the whole “Paul is dead” thing! It was a real hoot at the time – we all knew it was silly and stupid, but it was fun! I even had a friend hook up a turntable in reverse to listen to the backwards Number nine and, I believe, something off Magical Mystery Tour (?), and it was unintelligible gloopy stuff but my idiot friend insisted he could hear it. Riiight. For a while I collected all the “Paul is dead” clues just to torment my sister with, who was (and is) a huge Paul fan. Hey, if you can’t torment your siblings… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/15 "2003-10-11T16:44:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*The album _Ram_, released by Apple in May 1971, is credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, not Wings. The first Wings album was _Red Rose Speedway_, released by Apple in April 1973 \*\* Actually, the first Wings album was _Wild Life_ (November 1971). Although no one takes the “McCartney is dead” rumor seriously, there still seem to be some who believe that the Beatles intentionally planted the clues as a prank. ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/16 "2003-10-11T20:19:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mama Tiger \* > \*\*something off Magical Mystery Tour (?), and it was unintelligible gloopy stuff but my idiot friend insisted he could hear it. \*\* Strawberry Fields Forever. See my post above. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/17 "2003-10-11T20:53:28Z")
The “Paul is Dead” item in my link in the OP is pretty funny … a lengthy radio program exploring every way-out theory, taking itself completely seriously, complete with oogy sound effects (other than the records played backwards.) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/18 "2003-10-11T21:29:30Z")
Well I lived through the era of the “Paul Is Dead” rumor. Yes, it was October, 1969 - probably the _best_ time of the year to start such a rumor - days getting shorter, Autumn has arrived, dying leaves and of course Halloween !!! Adding to that (as someone else mentioned) was that the Beatles did become rather reclusive after August, 1966 - their last official public appearance. The only thing you heard about the Beatles after Aug 1966 was their music. Finally, the release of “Abbey Road” (here in the USA) was in the Fall of 1969. “Abbey Road” seemed to get the whole thing rolling. There were so many “clues” - “Come Together” - ‘One and one and one is three’ - 3 Beatles of course. The reverse side of the album has a bunch of dots before the name Beatles - connect the dots and it makes the number 3. There are _many_ other clues which you can find elsewhere on the Internet. As **Mama Tiger** said, no one really believed it, but it sure was fun trying to find clues no one else found. Some people thought that it was a publicity stunt concocted by the Beatles. And yes, some of the theories were _way out_ - holding up album covers to mirrors which revealed phone numbers to call, etc. As a musician/techno type I found a great way to play the music backwards _without_ physically turning the record backwards. (Involves a stereo and a monaural tape recorder - both reel to reel kinds. - I don’t think cassettes existed back then anyway.) If nothing else, it was interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/19 "2003-10-12T03:28:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wolf\_meister \* > **Adding to that (as someone else mentioned) was that the Beatles did become rather reclusive after August, 1966 — their last official public appearance. The only thing you heard about the Beatles after Aug 1966 was their music.** In the period August 1966 — October 1969, John starred in the movie _How I Won the War_, the Beatles appeared live on the _Our World_ international broadcast, made the TV movie _Magical Mystery Tour_, were on the cover of _Time_ magazine, attended manager Brian Epstein’s funeral, appeared in the live ending of _Yellow Submarine_, debuted their _Hello Goodbye_ music video on _The Ed Sullivan Show_, went to India to spend well-publicized time at the Maharishi’s ashram, Paul announced his engagement to Jane Asher, John and Paul were guests on _The Tonight Show_ in New York and announced the formation of Apple the following day, John and Cynthia divorced, Paul and Jane Asher broke off their engagement, Ringo appeared on Cilla Black’s new TV show, the Beatles performed _Hey Jude_ on the _David Frost Show_ and later filmed a music video of the same song, filmed a music video of _Revolution_, John and Yoko were arrested in London for marijuana possession, George temporarily left the group, and Paul and Linda were married. > [@](#): > > **As a musician/techno type I found a great way to play the music backwards _without_ physically turning the record backwards. (Involves a stereo and a monaural tape recorder — both reel to reel kinds. — I don’t think cassettes existed back then anyway.)** Cassettes were introduced in [1965](http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recording/tape4.html). ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802/20 "2003-10-12T04:01:27Z")
**Walloon** Granted, after August, 1966, the Beatles did not go into total seclusion, completely cut off from the entire world with no one knowing their whereabouts, etc. However, you must admit that the Beatles became much less public after August, 1966. If nothing else didn’t this at least _partly_ contribute to the “Paul Is Dead” rumor? It wouldn’t have gone anywhere if the Beatles were on a constant touring schedule. Okay, cassettes were introduced in 1965. I stand corrected. Gee, and I thought you might be curious about the method for playing music bacwards using 2 reel to reel tape recorders. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-is-dead/206802.md?page=2)