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

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed the read.

For those of you who haven't seen this documentary it's a good insight into how awkward and disjointed the relationship between The Beatles had become... mostly due to Paul so it seems to me?

stagevu.com...

Originally posted by allstonmurdaz
The beatles were satan-worshipping muslims, end of story. You won't convince me otherwise, no matter how many songs they sing about june bugs or whatever it is they sing about.

If they were Muslims, then they weren't Satan worshipers. That's a pretty silly statement to make. George was a Buddhist, and the others dabbled in Buddhism, but that's about as far as it goes for the Beatles and religion.

To the OP. Great Thread! Excitedly waiting for more!

Originally posted by allstonmurdaz
The beatles were satan-worshipping muslims, end of story. You won't convince me otherwise, no matter how many songs they sing about june bugs or whatever it is they sing about.

LOL i hope your joking.

Posted my last one before I saw the last post of the Op.

Anyway, PID is pretty interesting, to those who say that plastic surgery wasn't up to snuff back then, I'd like to remind you that, according to the story, they did find a look alike in Texas(?) name William Sheers so his face wouldn't have to be altered as much. Paul's face shows a few odd things after he's gotten older that seem to tell of plastic surgery.

As far as Lennon being killed by a CIA Manchurian candidate, well it's a good story, and it makes sense. I've been a huge fan of the Beatles ever since I was little and my parent's listened to the Oldies stations a lot.

Also, that reply with the video of the former caretaker of McCartney's childhood home.... That guy looks a lot like Paul, so much that he could pass for his twin. Could he actually be a brainwashed Paul McCartney? I don't know, but he does look like him. However, the entire PID conspiracy revolves around Paul dying unexpectedly and being replaced by a look alike to prevent fan hysteria and suicides that would have likely occured. People don't realise just how big the Beatles were. Young people and old people liked them. They changed Rock and Roll, and music in general drastically. Nobody since, not even Micheal Jackson, are as fondly remembered by so many people.

Originally posted by poloblack

Originally posted by primus2012

Originally posted by woogleuk
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.

No it's not simply like Freddie or Jimmi's deaths. Freddie died of AIDS and Jimmi OD'd. John was murdered, altogether different.
Kurt supposedly committed suicide, and that story itself is a conspiracy, so maybe you could draw a correlation there.

Jimi didn't die from an overdose.Do some research, because that is a myth, my friend.

Ok, if not overdose, it was asphyxiation by his vomit due to barbiturate intoxication. IE DRUGS.

Absolute bull as far as the McCartney myth is concerned. I was at the 2 November 1964 performance, Kings hall Belfast, (I know nothing about a earlier performance as supposed, but if it happened, it happened) However, the man that brought the Beatles to Belfast for their last performance there, just happened to be our bands manager at the time, and he wanted to also put us on in the show, but it did not happen, upshot of that, our band got close up seats. The upshot of that was a miniscule view of the Beatles music, best song of the night being "I wanna be your man" IMO. The sound system was not good, and "If I fell" was just lost in zilch mixing... AKA there was none. However, the Paul McCartney seen then, is the Paul McCartney you see today.

The current Paul McCartney is not an imposter. He had an accident on a scooter with his girlfriend. He flew over the handle bars headfirst into a curb. He busted the side of his head, his lip and broke a front tooth. This happened in 1966. That was when he was first introduced to plastic surgery. And he got lots of it to maintain that look he wanted. Entertainers have plastic surgery all the time to maintain an appearance for their audience. Their music changed because they wanted out of the teen scene or bubblegum music as it was called.

As for his change in hieght and face shape he probably had a growth spurt, people have those all the time. It was just uncommon at his age. He also could have been given growth hormones.

Would you have rather seen a short, chubby, Paul McCartney or a tall, more masculine looking one?

His musical partners jibbed him about his accident in the backmasking, music and lyrics they published. Probably to keep him out of trouble. Nothing more.

Originally posted by eManym
The current Paul McCartney is not an imposter. He had an accident on a scooter with his girlfriend. He flew over the handle bars headfirst into a curb. He busted the side of his head, his lip and broke a front tooth. This happened in 1966. That was when he was first introduced to plastic surgery. And he got lots of it to maintain that look he wanted. Entertainers have plastic surgery all the time to maintain an appearance for their audience. Their music changed because they wanted out of the teen scene or bubblegum music as it was called.

As for his change in hieght and face shape he probably had a growth spurt, people have those all the time. It was just uncommon at his age. He also could have been given growth hormones.

His musical partners jibbed him about it in the backmasking, music and lyrics they published. Probably to keep him out of trouble. Nothing more.

edit on 4-2-2013 by eManym because: (no reason given)

Not quite what I was expecting, but there you go, he chipped a tooth, which slivered into his lip, that's about it for the time, well not quite, his 'girlfriend' was Tara Brown, a fella' on another scooter.




Ah well, a day in a life.

Interesting..

Tho I would think, John Lennon being a non religious (Christian or otherwise) person, He would not believe in the Roman Catholic invented myth, of the "Devil/Satan" etc. Quite a ridiculous idea.

Just to clear up the "Once Again" USA centric thinking.

No, The Beatles didnt take the USA, THEN then rest of the World by storm in 1964.

The Beatles were ALREADY huge around the World, Before they even stepped foot in the USA.!!!

America Didnt discover the Beatles, until late in the proceedings.

In fact, the 1964 tour, by the time the Americas saw the Beatles in late August, They Had already been on their World Tour for 6 months.
Europe in April- May, Australia/NZ in June, Japan in July...then eventually the USA at the end.

EMI Australia first started pressing The Beatles records in February 1963, and they were a hit from then on.

At this Same time, Americans thought a Beatle, was something you squashed on your shoe.

Originally posted by jvdas
Thanks for the post, I enjoyed the read.

For those of you who haven't seen this documentary it's a good insight into how awkward and disjointed the relationship between The Beatles had become... mostly due to Paul so it seems to me?

stagevu.com...

Thanks for the link. Not sure I've seen that one. I'll have to check it out. I love Beatles docs. I recently watched the one about Harrison, Living In The Material World. Definitely worth the watch for a big Beatles fan.

Originally posted by dave_welch
Anyway, PID is pretty interesting, to those who say that plastic surgery wasn't up to snuff back then, I'd like to remind you that, according to the story, they did find a look alike in Texas(?) name William Sheers so his face wouldn't have to be altered as much....

...As far as Lennon being killed by a CIA Manchurian candidate, well it's a good story, and it makes sense....

Also, that reply with the video of the former caretaker of McCartney's childhood home.... That guy looks a lot like Paul, so much that he could pass for his twin.....

Regarding the supposed replacement, there are a lot of different theories and stories flying around. It is an established fact that at least one or two look-alike contests were held around this time. Allegedly the winner of one of these contests was a guy by the name of Keith Allison. You can see some pics of him here, and yes, there is a resemblance: waddywachtelinfo.com...

One theory says that the lookalike's real name was not "William Shears" but "Willaim Campblell" or "Sheppard." Were this the case, "Billy Shears" might be a play on words. "Billy's here." This is one of the many theories I've heard bounced around. "William Shears" may be some kind of clue, but IMO the replacement-is-Shears is a red herring or misinterpretation, like with the "60if document."

The name of the caretaker of McCartney's old home is John Halliday. And yes, that man is almost the spitting image of an early McCartney. Almost more so than the present Sir Paul. Was that vid posted here? I didn't recall seeing it.




Take a look around the 21-22 second mark, where he turns to face the camera. I nearly soiled myself the first time I saw this one. There is a longer vid out there somewhere.....

And whoever said plastic surgery wasn't that good in the 1960's simply doesn't know what they're talking about. It was plenty advanced enough, and if you had someone who already resembled a person to a high degree, the changes necessary would be minimal. Besides-- we've already established that many don't think post-fall-'66 McCartney looks exactly alike-- so clearly if that's what happened it wasn't perfect.

On the other hand, maybe sir Paul just got plastic surgery like so many other stars. It's plausible. Though I don't think probable. Not until at least well into the 1970's or 1980's. He certainly had some dental work after his bike accident. However, the bike accident didn't mess him up badly enough to need facial surgery. Go to youtube and look up the video for the song "Rain." I believe this is one of the few videos where you can see paul with the chipped tooth. His face looks okay to me (aside from the tooth seeming to make him self-conscious.)

The reason I'm not sure elective plastic surgery for reasons of vanity makes the most sense, is this:

Why would a young guy, a young pop star famous for his looks, and considered by many to be "The Cute One" get elective plastic surgery just for the hell of it?

I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense to me.

Originally posted by smurfy
Absolute bull as far as the McCartney myth is concerned. I was at the 2 November 1964 performance, Kings hall Belfast, (I know nothing about a earlier performance as supposed, but if it happened, it happened) However, the man that brought the Beatles to Belfast for their last performance there, just happened to be our bands manager at the time, and he wanted to also put us on in the show, but it did not happen, upshot of that, our band got close up seats. The upshot of that was a miniscule view of the Beatles music, best song of the night being "I wanna be your man" IMO. The sound system was not good, and "If I fell" was just lost in zilch mixing... AKA there was none. However, the Paul McCartney seen then, is the Paul McCartney you see today.

edit on 4-2-2013 by smurfy because: Text.

Cool story, and thanks for sharing. But respectfully, McCartney today looks little-to-nothing like the McCartney of 1964. Which does, of course make sense given his age. Further, many fans don't think he even looked the same just a few years after you saw him-- so if you're basing your opinion entirely on his appearance, I'm not sure how much validity I'd put into that as "evidence." It very well may be that you're right. One guy, always has been and will be. I don't "know" for sure, nor will I pretend to. Just pointing out that I'm not sure how you could make that visual assessment with his radically differing appearance. If you had seen him up close then, and up-close in 1967 or something, I might be more likely to take that as "evidence."

I was there. I lived through the rise of the Beatles in America. Besides the extraordinary music (for their time, ahead of their time) they were unsure of their continuing appeal and made up these little "fanasties" (like Paul dying) to bolster album sales. I rememeber. People bought the albums to pour over the art and photos to find the next clue. On Abbey Road, Paul is bare footed (oh my he's gonna die). Teenage girldom wept. Then on Sgt Peppers they embellished that theme (which meant nothing actually) and the picture is of all famous dead people and towards the bottom is a guitar made of flowers. (Pauls grave). Teenage girldom wept.

It just made you buy the album. I know...




Edit: They were afraid that their popularity would wane and so every trick was employed to promote sales. Now we look back and the its the music... the music.

Some people in music today think Sgt Peppers was one of the works of Rock and Roll that changed the genre for all time. Its a masterpiece.

You had to be there.

heres an idea i came up with when listening to the radio a couple weeks past, the program mentioned a whole bunch of stuff, it was early am in the states and was from bbc, and was a show dealing with the beatles, the M tour and the first television xmas special. a lot of the things in the program were tripping bells in my head and i had a wonky idea that somehow the people behind it(9/11) were using the timeline of magical mystery tour as a guidline or something. but im to young to really "know" the beatles other than sitting back with a nice ciggarette ^^ and enjoying.


does the magical mystery tour have anything to do with 9/11?

Originally posted by intrptr
Besides the extraordinary music (for their time, ahead of their time) they were unsure of their continuing appeal and made up these little "fanasties" (like Paul dying) to bolster album sales.

I don't discount that possibility. In fact, it's a highly plausible one. However, even if you're very much on the right track, I suspect it would be something a bit more complex than you're making it out to be. I could be wrong, and it could be that simple. However....

...as I pointed out in one of my earlier posts in this thread, a few people have speculated that The Beatles actually planned out a kind of puzzle. A crackable code, if you will, and made Sgt. Pepper the centerpiece and main key of that puzzle (although clues to this supposedly appeared on a number of later Beatles and solo works). I linked to a thread on the Nothing Is Real forums that explains the sort of idea I'm trying to relay.


"Solution to the Sgt. Pepper Enigma" Thread


If you listen to OP's theory in this thread, which he presents over multiple posts on the first couple pages of said thread, the cover of Sgt. Pepper is the key to the puzzle, and it also involves heavy word-play and possible symbolism. He believes the code may relate firstly to a particular story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Gold Bug, which features a beetle (and of course, Sgt Pepper featuring Poe on the cover.) And secondly, the puzzle may have a bit to do with Lewis Carroll as well. Carroll is also one of the figures on the cover. And Carroll aside from being a known idol of Lennon, is alluded to quite heavily in a lot of the beatles music. From Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds ("Lacie" is supposedly a nickname Carroll gave to his character "Alice"..rocking horse people, looking-glass "ties" [connections] etc..) to I am the Walrus and tons more. If you're a big fan, just keep this in mind the next time you're listening to post-Pepper stuff. I'll get back to "looking glasses" in a moment I really recommend you check the thread out if you find this idea interesting-- as this guy makes a brilliant case, much more elaborate than I've touched on...





Anyway, here's what I feel is one of the more interesting clues. Speaking of a "looking glass," if you hold a mirror horizontally across the drum head on the Sgt. Pepper cover, you reveal a possible hidden message:




I ONE I X ♢ HE DIE -- where the little diamond/arrow is pointing at Paul Some have theorized this may mean November 9th or September 11th is the date he died. In the theory from the thread I mentioned above, he ties that in with the Poe story, as Paul is symbolic of the "dead man" in the Poe story, which is supposed to lead one to "buried treasure." Proponents of the esoteric symbolism theory would suggest this is because Paul, the symbolic initiate, has died and was reborn into the mysteries. Classic esoteric death-and-rebirth symbolism.

Regardless of how you interpret it, if you think it's just "coincidence" then IMO you're the one who may be grasping....

Maybe one coincidence, sure. But many things taken together?

How about this one: On one demo version, of the song Let It Be, McCartney can be heard singing the lyrics Read the record mirror, Let It Be. A clip of this can be heard in the iamaphoney vid I linked earlier (and a couple other online docs), and the beatles wiki page Acknowledges this weird lyrical departure.



On that note, if you hold up a mirror vertically at the right spot on the same cover, you get an image which many see as A Walrus.




Wait... didn't Carroll write something about a Walrus and an Egg Man?

Goo Goo G'joob.

Oh, and if you want what I feel is real proof that Paul McCartney is a really funny guy (or else something really funny is going on...)





+ "looking glass" =





Billy's Here?

Originally posted by woogleuk
reply to post by primus2012

 

I wasn't making reference to how they died (of which I am fully aware), just that they were taken from us before their time, calm down laddy!

As for Cobain, I fully believe that skank was responsible for his death, either directly or indirectly.

edit on 4/2/13 by woogleuk because: (no reason given)

Right, because the fact that Kurt was an emotional and mental wreck as well as a habitual drug abuser had nothing to do with his death. He was a genius as a musician, but a failure as a human.

reply to post by iwilliam

Thanks so much for the work you put into laying that out here. I enjoyed reading it. It opened the door to a world I had not thought much of before. The "Beatles Conspiracies". I must admit that as I was growing up I heard of these stories behind the Beatles from others but never paid them much mind.

When you say I oversimplify it is because back when it was happening, before they became a legend, the stories were really simple. They seem to have grown over time into way more a complex thing than necessary, IMHO. But I really don't know about how deep the rabbit hole goes either. They exploded on the American scene in a timely way that was perfectly choreographed. That was by design.

What those stories got me to do was buy an album, Sgt. Peppers. I was hooked. To me it was the music. It still is.

The first of its kind in so many ways. It took the evolution of music to a whole new level. I was in a fledgling band at the time and although that never went anywhere for me, I played base and dug on the Beatles more than anything. To this day I hear musicians talk about the revolution that was the Beatles and how it moved and inspired them. There was the before and after the Beatles. A milestone in our day.

So with all due respect, you can have all that conspiracy stuff, I'll take the music.

Case in point. Before Moog synthesizers and electronic music effects, there was only a simple reverb and tremolo. The instruments and the skill to play them were all. In this one, for the first time, an entire symphony orchestra was utilized to assist in the making of "A Day in the Life", off Sg't Peppers. The head conductor never had to direct such a piece before (if you can call it that). For them, the winding crescendo of all the instruments was obscene at first. After they were finished and he heard the tracks he considered it "brilliant" and "genius".

Pretty high praise from a symphony orchestra conductor (at that time).

Thank you for this most excellent thread. Very interesting and well presented. I hope you receive some Mod Applause because it is deserved.

I am a big Beatles fan and thought I knew quite a bit about them but I learned some new things today.

More Modern rubbish about the Sgt Peppers cover art work.

Many of you are too young, probably, to remember a TV show that aired in 1987 called "Sgt Peppers 20 years ago today"..
In that EVERYTHING was explained about the time, the group, the art work, songs etc.....Not sure if it is on the tube, I still have it on VHS.

A great Doco. of a great time..

Do you realise that the picture on the Sgt Peppers album is Real Life size.....yes, all the plants are real (no they were NOT maryJs) all the mannequins life size.....AND they had to get permission from every celebrity featured (or their estate) including Mae West.....A photo of Gandhi was suppose to be on it, but Lord/Sir Such&Such of EMI, said he didnt want to upset the Indians.....so it was left off.

No secrets on that album......of course if you play the last 5 seconds backwards (you know the backwards warble voices)....it apparently sounds like..."Will Paul come back as Superman", and that was talked about in the late 60s......

There ya go fans.....

reply to post by dave_welch


Actually, George was Hindu.

Just throwing it out there.

Excellent thread, thoroughly enjoyed it.
S&F Keep up the good work!