BEATLES MYTHS : Fifty Years of Fact & ‘Fab’-rication

It’s now been 50 years since the four lads from Liverpool made their mark on Britain. In 1963 they launched a second single “Please Please Me” and followed it with an album which finally gave them recognition beyond Liverpool and Hamburg. By 1964 they had taken America and then the world by storm. Whilst naturally their popularity and music has faded a little with time it still resonates today.

In the Anthology TV and DVD series the Beatles painted a sanitized story of their history. Even the bitter break up was told as if it was a natural conclusion like a bunch of old army mates finally going their own way and it all ended in 1970. It didn’t.

There was a lesser known side to the Fab Four which this post will explore . Conspiracy, rumour, fact and a little “fab”rication all mixed together. Make your mind up about what’s true and what’s not. Even if you have only a casual passing interest in anything involving the Beatles I hope you find this interesting.

If you are a hardcore Beatles fan then maybe you can clarify some of the information presented.

DID JOHN LENNON SELL HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL?”

Joseph Niezgoda has an interesting theory in his book “The Lennon Prophecy”
According to Niezgoda, one evening in December 1960, John Lennon traded his soul to the Devil in exchange for 20 years of fame and fortune. Twenty years later, in December 1980, the Devil acted upon the contract and possessed Mark David Chapman to carry out the most evil of human deeds. The agreement was complete.

Is this there even a grain of truth in such a dark tale?

John Lennon had little regard for religion. His infamous comments in 1966 “Christianity will go, it will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that. I’m right and will be proved right. You just wait.. . .We’re more powerful than Jesus ever was..”, inflamed bible belt Americans and caused all sorts of pandemonium as they toured the Southern United States in 1966 (especially with people aligned to such groups as the Klu Klux Klan). Lennon also sang “God is a concept” and “...no religion too” later on in his career. Could these be tiny clues to his disposition after signing the most important contract of his life, or indeed, his death?

Liverpool writer Tom Slemen tells the story from his Haunted Liverpool book that occurs in December 1960

″…Lennon sneaked out of his house, 251 Menlove Avenue, where he was living with Aunt Mimi, and walked just over a mile through the December snow to the bridge of destiny, arriving there just before midnight. The Devil duly appeared as a tall shadowy figure with horns and uncanny-looking eyes . A bargain was struck. Within three years, millions upon millions of people would idolize Lennon, and the rest of his band – The Beatles.”

The bridge in question goes over the railway tracks in Mossley Hill not far from Lennon’s then home. The Beatles had also returned from Germany on December 10th 1960 and were to play at the Litherland Town Hall on December 27th. The night the “Beatlemania” started according to the band. So the story places Lennon’s meeting with Beelzebub almost exactly at a time when the flicker of fame was first lit and 20 years (almost to the day) before his death. A most violent one at that as well. In fact John is even alleged to have commented himself that he had sold his soul to the devil to achieve success in Ray Coleman’s book “Lennon”.

Ironically sometime before his premature death he was filmed reading out a prediction that he would be killed which can be seen in the film Imagine.

WHO WANTED PETE BEST OUT?

On the cusp of fame the Beatles dispensed with the services of drummer Pete Best and replaced him with Richard Starkey (aka Ringo Starr). But who really wanted him out?



On the night of August 15, 1962, after a gig at the Cavern Club, Beatles' manager Brian Epstein asked Pete Best to pop into his office the next morning. The Summer of 62 had seen the Beatles offered a recording contract and they were about to appear on the local Granada ITV channel. However it seems all was not well within the dynamic of the group. So why was Ringo Starr propelled into the hot seat at the last minute?

Lennon admitted that Brian Epstein was given the job of sacking Best because the other Beatles (and perhaps George Martin too) hadn’t the nerve to tell him they wanted him out. The motives for this are like a plot to an Agatha Christie novel. In the Anthology series it was implied that Pete Best was unreliable and George said it was karma that Ringo was meant to be part of the band. However back in 1963 ‘karma’ was probably not in George’s mind if he had an opinion about Pete Best. Ringo happened to be a good friend of George and was a drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes perhaps that was enough reason for George?
At the time Pete was sacked it was rumoured by a number of fans that he was too good looking for the rest of the group. That would seem to be counter-productive if anyone gives any real thought to it.

Knocking back a gay pass from Brian Epstein has also been cited as a reason for Best’s ejection. This again seems unlikely as the sole reason. Epstein was asked to give Best the push and it was certainly not his decision at the time. Although he believed it was necessary for the happiness of the group.

It is known that Mona Best, Pete’s mother, had previously arranged bookings for the Beatles and continued to pester Brian Epstein to get what was best (decide if the pun was intended yourself) for Best. Whilst Epstein would probably never have instigated the decision to remove Best alone perhaps his instincts told him to go with it and remove unwanted interference from Mona Best.

Pete was a decent live rock’n roll drummer. However it was often felt he used the same fills over and over and could not develop his style to some of the songs the band wanted to play. Paul McCartney was one who was often frustrated by his lack of versatility and the drums and bass are an important part of a band’s sound. George Martin must have heard Pete’s efforts on “Love Me Do”, available on Anthology 1, and been unimpressed with Pete sounding like he was playing bin lids during the recording.

John Lennon was marrying Cynthia at the time and perhaps played a passive role knowing what was coming for Pete. In later years he was to comment that Pete was a good drummer but Ringo was a better Beatle.

Neil Aspinall adds another twist to the tale. Three decades later he would oversee a Beatles reunion as head of a revived Apple Corps. Back in the early 1960s Aspinall had given up accountancy in the summer of 1962 to become the Beatles full time roadie. At the time he was lodging with the Best family and had made Pete’s mother pregnant. Pete had told Aspinall to leave if he wanted to continue on with the Beatles.


So whilst it seems there was no overall defining reason for Pete Best’s departure from the Beatles that the upper echelons of command of the group may have all seen an advantage in dispensing with their drummer and asking Ringo to join. Pete Best never saw it coming and never earned another penny from the band until the Beatles Anthology was released.

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BRIAN EPSTEIN'S DEATH

Beatles manager Brian Epstein died somewhat suspiciously in August 1967. Brian had a lot of skeletons in his closet and was an easy target for exploitation.
Born into a Jewish family, who owned a furniture business in Liverpool, he had already led a colourful life before managing the Beatles. In 1950, at the age of 16, Brian began work at the family's Walton Road premises, although he wanted to become a dress designer - something his father strongly opposed.

He was conscripted to the army at 18, but was discharged after 10 months for being emotionally and mentally unfit. In his autobiography “A Cellarful Of Noise”, published in October 1964, Epstein explains this was for impersonating an officer. The hidden truth was that he had paid a tailor to make him an officer's uniform. A uniform he wore whilst cruising the gay bars of London. He was arrested by the military police, but avoided a court martial by agreeing to see an army psychiatrist who uncovered Epstein's homosexuality. This was a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Britain. The Lennon penned song “You've Got to Hide Your Love Away” is alleged to have been about Brian Epstein and there are persistent rumours that Lennon and Epstein had a fling whilst holidaying in Barcelona after the birth of Julian, Lennon’s son.

Why did John agree to go, and what did they do there? Only Epstein and Lennon knew with certainty, and both are no longer here to tell us. Before they died, they gave varying and ambiguous accounts of what happened. John told Playboy in an interview that, "Brian was in love with me." In Spain, "It was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated." Brian never publicly acknowledged his homosexuality.

As the Beatles fame grew, Epstein’s drug dependency did too. He was also a compulsive gambler and frequented casinos run by notorious East End London gangsters, the Kray Twins, and their associates. Epstein continued to gamble huge sums of money away and with concerns that his Beatles contract was coming to an end in 1967 tried to merge NEMS with Robert Stigwood’s organization for £500k. Not only that the Kray twins were blackmailing Epstein over his numerous ‘personal’ issues and informed a Glasgow gang leader Arthur Thompson they were about to take the Beatles from him. Thompson convinced them that this would destroy the Beatles and so they continued to blackmail Epstein for cash.

The Beatles had announced they would no longer tour in late 1966 and concentrated on long hours creating music in the studio. Brian felt he was losing control of the band and his day to day involvement was fading as the Beatles pursued other interests. He had also made some questionable business decisions that, although making the Beatles very rich young men, had meant that many others had cashed in at their expense. This had made him insecure that he could continue managing the group. Some more speculative theories link his death to the Paul McCartney death rumours which will be covered later.

Whilst the Beatles were in Bangor attending lectures in meditation and tranquility, Brian Epstein was found dead in bed on 27th August 1967. The official inquest declared it accidental due to the consumption of too many sleeping pills. However Peter Brown, a long time employee of Epstein claimed that he had removed a suicide note and a will from Brian’s bedroom prior to the arrival of the police to the scene. The note he claims was from an earlier suicide attempt that he had not gone through with. The Beatles without Epstein were like a rudderless ship and this was almost certainly the event that became a catalyst for their eventual break up in 1970.



Despite all the theories regarding Brian’s death, Paul McCartney (or his replacement) believes it to be an accident.

I don't think there was anything sinister in his death. There were rumours of very sinister circumstances, but I personally think it was a drink-and-sleeping-pills overdose. I think what happened was that Brian was going down to his house in the country. It was a Friday night, and there were going to be friends there. Brian went down with one of his friends, but no one had showed up - so he thought: 'Ugh - it's Friday night! I've got time to get back to London if I rush. It seems feasible to me, knowing Brian. Then he drove back up to London and went to the clubs, but they were all closing and there was no action. So he had a few bevvies, then a sleeping pill or two before going to bed Brian always did that.I think he woke up in the middle of the night and thought: My God, I can't sleep. I haven't had a pill.' Then he had a few more pills, and I think that could have killed him.
My feeling was that it was an accident.

-Beatles Anthology 1995

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PAUL MCCARTNEY DIED TO BE REPLACED BY A DOUBLE IN 1966

In the late 1960′s, rumours were circulating that Paul McCartney had died in a car crash and been replaced by lookalike William Campbell (Sheppard or Shears). Well could it have happened? Is Ringo the last surviving Beatle?

The story varies depending on the sources but one story goes something like this; Paul had a car accident early one Wednesday morning at 5 am in late 1966. He’d eyed up a pretty traffic warden, and missed traffic lights changing to red. He wasn’t killed straight away but his car then burst into flames leaving him badly burned and unrecognizable. A crowd of people gathered around but no one could save him. He later died from wounds to his head (and lost his teeth and hair). A local reporter prepared an article but it was censored by the Beatles and then manager Brian Epstein. A lookalike competition winner and (handily) talented musician, William Campbell, was approached to take over and the Beatles continue without Paul. Afterwards, because the Beatles couldn’t tell us up front about it they gave us hints and clues in a more subtle way.



Another story claims that both Paul and Brian Epstein were kidnapped, and everything went horribly wrong, resulting in their deaths. The UK government, aware of the commercial power of the Beatles, had everything hushed up and the remaining Beatles reluctantly agreed to go along with the story. A replacement was found for both Brian and Paul. Unfortunately the ‘fake’ Brian found the pressure intolerable and ended it all.

John Lennon decided he would place clues in his songs to the real horrific truth. “I buried Paul” – was disguised as “Cranberry Sauce” on Strawberry Fields”, the inner groove of Sgt. Pepper contains the hidden message “Paul who died he soon came back” when played backwards. Amongst many lyrics hidden away are “he say one and one and one is three. Got to be good looking cause he’s so hard to see…” on the song Come Together (the Beatles were now 3 and the replacement for Paul is so good as you can’t notice the difference)…The cover is obviously that of a funeral procession and Paul is curiously holding a cigarette in his right hand (he was left-handed). He is also walking barefoot (a sign in some cultures that he couldn’t afford shoes) but generally accepted as a sign of death. The VW Beetle (appropriate!) also has the registration LMW 28IF ..a secret sign meaning that Linda McCartney Weeps and Paul would reach 28 if he had lived…or whatever you want. It could just as easily have been Lennon Mostly Wonders if Paul had lived to be 28. However, having had enough of the whole damned thing, Lennon eventually broke the group up and left a final clue on his song “How Do You Sleep”.

“”Those freaks was right when they said you was dead; the one mistake you made was in your head. A pretty face may last a year or two, but pretty soon they’ll see what you can do.” “The sound you make is muzak to my ears; you must have learned something in all those years.” “The only thing you done was yesterday, now you’re just another day”

You can read the rest of the themes on this story on various websites and threads on ATS. One of the most enduring has been that the replacement Paul McCartney is noticeably vocally different and around 3 inches taller than the original Paul. They use a multitude of sound samples and photographs of the new Paul noticeably towering over George and John to prove their point.
It is thought-provoking but once you examine it does it have any basis in fact?

Abbey Road – A symbolic funeral procession?

Having trawled the McCartney solo songbook you can still spot his clues to the fact that the real Paul died and was replaced. Here’s a few I’ve found.
On the album ‘Ram’ - “Too Many People”

That Was Your First Mistake
You Took Your Lucky Break And Broke It In Two

Indicating that he had got lucky and then split up the Beatles.
On the famous ‘Band on the Run’ single…

Well, The Undertaker Drew A Heavy Sigh Seeing No One Else Had Come

Paul’s funeral ..no one there because no one knew he was dead.
On McCartney II he sings a song called ‘Nobody Knows’

Which One Of You Can Tell Me
What It Is I’m Looking At
Anyone Who Can
Has Got To Be A Crazy Cat
‘Cause I Believe That
That Nobody Knows, No Nobody Knows

Is he telling us still that ‘Nobody Knows’ he’s really a double?

And finally the song ‘My Brave Face’ is obviously about the large amount of plastic surgery the Paul double underwent.

Still not convinced that Paul McCartney is an imposter? Well then look here

www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

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LENNON AND THE NUMBER 9

Throughout his life John Lennon was obsessed with the number nine. From the day he came into the world to the day that he left. John was born on Wednesday October 9 1940. His death was recorded at 11.15pm in New York on December 8, 1980 but back home in Liverpool, the place of his birth it was already the early morning of December the 9th and 20 years on from his alleged deal with the Devil.

A number of John’s songs include the number, 'No. 9 Dream', 'Revolution No. 9' and 'One After 909,' the latter being written at 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, his grandfather's house where he was reared in his early years (coincidentally Newcastle has nine letters, as does Liverpool).

Lennon often found it interesting and used to comment, "I lived in 9 Newcastle Road, I was born on the 9th October. It’s just a number that follows me around, but, numerologically, apparently I am number six or three or something, but it's all part of nine."


Other notable 9s in his life :

The Beatles played at the Cavern Club for the first time on February 9
Brian Epstein saw the Beatles for the first time on November 9
The Beatles EMI contract was confirmed on May 9
The Beatles made their Ed Sullivan Show debut on February 9
John first met Yoko Ono on November 9
John and Yoko's son Sean was born on October 9 (the same date as his father)
Combinations of numbers that also added to 9 also intrigued him. He traveled on the No. 72 bus to the art college. John and Yoko had an apartment on West 72nd Street and their original Dakota Buildings apartment was No 72. Other combinations that formed the number 9 and which added to his obsession were 18, 27 and 126.

“You Are Here” from the album ‘Mind Games’ starts with a clip of Lennon exclaiming “9” before the song starts.

'No. 9 Dream' was in August 1974 for the album 'Walls and Bridges'. It was written at the time of John's 'lost weekend', a period of several months separation from Yoko and was composed on the 9th day of the month in which he wrote it.

Incidentally, the cover of the 'Walls and Bridges' album features a painting John did when he was only eleven, which features a footballer with a large No.9 on his back.

When John was shot he was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital - on 9th Avenue (Roosevelt also has nine letters, as does Manhattan, the district in New York where he lived and died).

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THERE’S UFOS OVER NEW YORK…

John Lennon not only sold his soul to the devil, but he also was witness to a UFO. On 23rd August 1974, whilst still estranged from Yoko, but now living back in New York with May Pang, John Lennon witnessed something so strange that it even inspired him to comment on it in his music.

Having recently recorded songs for the “Walls & Bridges” album on a warm summer evening around 9pm he was relaxing. “We had the window open and lo and behold there was this thing just hovering, sort of, a hundred yards away”, Lennon told a local radio station. He claims it was so close that he could have hit it with a brick if he’d thrown one at it. Lennon described the object as having flashing lights around the bottom of it and a red light on the top of it. He continues “….there was no noise and I could hear the freeway down below”. John first thought it was a balloon as the lack of sound ruled out a helicopter. But the strange lights and way it hovered meant it was something he couldn’t explain. It hovered for a further 5 minutes or so and then disappeared as it flew off over the river.
May Pang backs up this story and the couple also rang local police and a newspaper to report the sighting. Only to be told other people had seen the UFO too.
Pang claims Lennon even subscribed to a UFO magazine and had a keen interest in the subject. The topic is there in his music as well “...like a UFO you came to me” is a line from “Mind Games” track “Out of the Blue” . An album that pre-dates his sighting. In the liner notes to the “Walls and Bridges” album there is a sentence hidden away in a corner which states “On the 23rd Aug. 1974 at 9 o’clock I saw a U.F.O.” And of course in his posthumous release, “Nobody Told Me”, is the famous line “There’s UFO’s over New York and I ain’t too surprised”. Who knows what John Lennon saw that night?


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I'm a couple of posts in, interesting, will develop my thoughts and conclusions on this soon; I just wanted to talk about McCartney's death; I think it was definitely a hoax by them. I notice you mentioned Billy Shears as a possible double:

I don't really want to stop the show, But I thought that you might like to know, That the singer's going to sing a song, And he wants you all to sing along. So let me introduce to you The one and only Billy Shears And Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I told you about the walrus and me, man You know we're as close as can be, man Well here's another clue for you all The walrus was Paul.

It seems to me like they were having a good laugh about it. Back to reading.

LENNONO V MCCARTNEY

The family feuding began from the moment John and Yoko became inseparable.Part of the Lennon folklore has it that when McCartney sang “Get Back” in 1969 rehearsals he would glare at Yoko.









After the Beatles split John’s song “How Do You Sleep” (the biting guitar riff is played by George Harrison) on the Imagine album openly attacks Paul with no subtlety. But there were also less obvious signs of feuding after the bitter break up. Pictures of John fondling a pig (in response to Paul handling a sheep on the album Ram) and two beetles fornicating on the back of Paul’s Ram album are examples.

Throughout the 1970s the tensions ebbed and flowed between John, Paul and George. Ringo pretty much remained a good friend to all three.

One of the most interesting conspiracy theories comes at the very start of the 1980s. In January of 1980 Paul McCartney and Wings were about to embark on a tour of Japan. However he was arrested and imprisoned on his arrival for attempting to carry marijuana into the country and faced a 7 year prison sentence. George Harrison sent a telegram of support to his former Beatle.

According to several whispers John Lennon and Yoko Ono played a crucial role in the McCartney bust or release. One story has McCartney calling Lennon to share some of this "dynamite weed" he'd scored whilst in the US. Lennon blew McCartney off, but infuriated that the McCartney's would be staying in the Presidential Suite at the Hotel Okura, where the Lennon's had recently stayed each summer, and ruining their "hotel karma," he complained to Yoko. According to several Lennon insiders, Yoko used her influence and family contacts to tip off Japanese customs to the likely contents of McCartney's luggage.
However others believe she played a more congenial role and actually helped McCartney. With relations a lot more relaxed between the Lennon and McCartney dynasties a whole decade after the Beatles had split a contrasting story has Yoko making calls and aiding the early release of Paul from jail. Yoko has always denied any interference in the whole saga. 10 years after the Beatles had last recorded together McCartney’s band Wings were never to tour again and he became a solo artist.

Spats over the McCartney/Lennon credit

In 2001 there was a bit of a disagreement between the two families of the Beatles Empire. The Beatles “1” album was about to be released and McCartney asked Yoko for permission to change the credit to McCartney/Lennon on “Yesterday”. Yoko at first agreed then called back and refused permission. But was McCartney the one who started this petty attempt to re-write Beatles history?

In 1969, McCartney had no input whatsoever on the Lennon solo release “Give Peace A Chance”. At the time Lennon added McCartney’s name to the song credit as a thank you for the work on “Ballad of John & Yoko” and it’s hasty production and release. George and Ringo were unavailable and McCartney played drums.


Give Peace a Chance original single label



However on the Lennon: Legend album 1997 and Lennon Anthology 1998, the credit for the song is given solely to John Lennon.In 2003 the argument continued, McCartney had just finished a successful World Tour concluding in the Beatles home town of Liverpool. The live albums released from the tour “Back in US” and “Back in the World” contained a reversed credit of McCartney/Lennon for those songs he considered that he’d been the major, if not sole, writer for. Yoko Ono's lawyer, Peter Shukat, told Rolling Stone at the time, "What he did was absolutely inappropriate. John and Paul had an agreement. This is very petty."

Label of a 1962 pressing of Please Please Me album


In 1976, Lennon was still alive and in occasional contact with McCartney. His feelings over a credit reversal on the Beatles medley contained on the “Wings Over America” triple album have never been made public.
Track listing on the cover of Wings Over America album 1976

Such a minor detail seems to have been blown out of all proportions on occasion. Do Paul and Yoko really disagree over the fine details of song writing credits? Or is it all part of a clever plot to keep the Beatles in the news when there is something to sell?

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WHY WAS JOHN LENNON MURDERED?

After leaving the Beatles and moving to America, Lennon began to associate himself with extreme radical political activists and anti-war causes. The Nixon Administration feared he was a disruptive agitator with an awful lot of influence and had plans to have Lennon deported on drugs charges.

There are a number of FBI documents that actually confirm this. However there is a much deeper conspiracy which involves Mark Chapman being a subject of CIA mind control and programmed to eliminate John Lennon.
By the mid-1970s Lennon had let his recording contracts lapse and led a quieter life away from the public eye. However he was brutally gunned down just a few weeks after Ronald Reagan had won the 1980 US elections.

To this day many Beatles fans will not dare utter or even write the name of Mark David Chapman in contempt of the man who callously killed their hero. But the deeper question is why was Lennon killed? Officially Chapman was a lone crazed gunman. A theory that has explained a number of assassinations throughout history. But does it really explain Lennon’s?

I’ll leave this part short as this topic has been discussed in detail here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
There is documented proof obtained from FOIA requests to prove that security services were monitoring Lennon. However some believe that Chapman was set up as a Manchurian Candidate by the CIA to eliminate Lennon.
As a footnote: One of the more bizarre stories in recent years was the sale of the Double Fantasy album John Lennon signed for Chapman just hours before he gunned him down. It went on sale for $850k from an “anonymous” owner. Perhaps one of the most notorious artefacts in rock music?

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FROM HERE TO PATERNITY?

Back in 1984 Paul McCartney was faced with a paternity test. The claim was that he had fathered a child, Bettina Hubers back in Hamburg in 1962 after a 3 year affair with her mother. After baby Bettina was born in December 1962, her mother Erika did seek alimony and claimed McCartney asked her to abort the baby. McCartney denied the accusations and also that he was the baby's father. But he did pay her a sum of money.

In 1966 the Beatles were to start a European tour, McCartney was informed by the German courts that a matter of maintenance had to be settled or he couldn't go back to Germany.
Lawsuits flew until Bettina turned 18. In 1983, she and her mother went to court yet again to ask for maintenance payments.

McCartney apparently took a blood test that came back negative. But for some reason, the courts rejected the results and made him pay maintenance anyway. Four years later and settled in Berlin as a hairdresser, Bettina lost her court cases on appeal and was liable for legal costs of £60,000. McCartney’s lawyer advised Paul to pay it so as not to bankrupt Hubers.

The story did not go away. In 2007 Hubers claimed that McCartney sent a stand in to take the paternity test and wanted a new one conducted. She also claimed the signature was a false one in the original 1980s documents and was written by a right handed person. However after further investigations the case was dropped. Perhaps the courts believed the real Paul McCartney was long dead?

Can’t see the likeness myself!

There have been other dark rumours that Brian Epstein paid off 3 young women, that McCartney had fathered children to, in the early 1960s. Contracts were signed, money changed hands, and the secrets have remained to this day. However Paul has also claimed that there are some crazy disturbed people out there only too willing to try to cash in on his fame.
Of the Beatles legitimate children, Julian Lennon has often been missed off wedding and even funeral invitation lists and has often criticized Yoko Ono for wanting the English part of the Lennon family to be sidelined from Beatle history.


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I'll carry on tomorrow as it's getting too late here in the UK to finish this post off

reply to post by mirageman


An interesting read,I look forward to reading ther rest tomorrow.

S&F, I am loving it so far. Great work and many info tidbits I was unaware of. The Beatles made their US debut on Ed Sullivan Show on my 11th birthday, 9 Feb, 1964. Like others my age I was caught up in the British invasion, a time primed for a diversion in the suspicious aftermath of the Kennedy assasination.

The devil is crafty. It seems he only gives a good contract to those with natural talent. Heck, I would have sold out but the buyer never called. With age 60 just days away retrospect suggests I did get the best deal afterall.

Thanks again for this thread. I shall continue reading and enjoying now.

If Paul was being played by an imposter, then he was a great musician. That imposter pulled off all those concerts, and live performances, and still no one noticed that wasn't the real Paul? Im abit fascinated by this theory of Paul being dead, but i just cant seem to believe it.

Excellent job putting this info together.

I ran across the story of a supposed fake Paul in the last few years and I was dumbfounded. The rest of what you posted I was not aware of. Fascinating story...........Do you know about the cover of the Sgt Peppers album? I will have to go find that info.

Great thread so far! Hope to read the rest when it's all said and done.

I once knew someone close to George Harrison, but we've lost contact. I still think about him sometimes and wish I could talk to him.

Excellent thread, thank you! Lots of great starting points for further reading.

Great thread! I've grown up with the Beatles like most folks on here, which means these theories have always lingered. Definitely a lot of 'coincidences' to say the very least.

There's a great documentary (Or should I say, mockumentary?) called Paul McCartney Really is Dead
I was able to find it on Youtube... There is spanish subtitles, but hey- it's free!



^ Worth watching! I thought it was hilarious, right up there with Spinal Tap.

what an awesomely well put together post
I had no idea that the Beatles had such a secret background ,& I was alive whist they were still together

Thank you for posting this

Brilliant thread and tribute to a great British band, however, please don't tell me you buy in to the McCartney death/replacement bollocks.....

It has to be one of the worst conspiracies ever, the evidence, although intriguing, is ridiculous!

Unless McCartney had an identical twin, it's a load of cack!

As for Lennons death, it is simply another example of great musicians being taken from us before their time, like Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Jimmi Hendrix etc etc.

I often wonder what John or Freddie would be doing now if they were still with us, still writing great music is my guess (as well as applying for their OAP bus pass, lol).

This was the first song at my wedding......there is a video of that somewhere, but I wont subject you all to my terrible footwork.

I've been hearing all about the "Paul is Dead" stuff for years and I believe its bunk. Paul's "death" sure didn't seem to hurt his songwriting ability.

I think Pete Best was a bit of an outsider: he didn't wear the Beatle "moptop", was kinda quiet but was popular with the girls due to his good looks. I think McCartney in particular was jealous of him. His drumming was just ok, from the stuff I've heard. But when George Martin told Epstein and the rest he wasn't good enough for studio recording, that sealed his fate. I think Ringo was the better Beatle and drummer.