He’s a star, he’s a
legend, he’s loved by fans all over the world, but most importantly he’s one of
kind. Or is he? There is a long time conspiracy theory that the great Sir Paul
McCartney actually died in 1966, but the band wanted to keep his death a
secret, so they hired an exact look alike and sound alike of him so that they
could stay on top of the music business world. Everybody who believed this
conspiracy had claimed that he died in a car wreck in 1966. It was a travesty
the world would never quite get over. People and fans live for the drama of the
world and are always looking for an excuse to talk about the latest news and
“juicy” information. This theory all started with an eventful emergency, the
bands will to not lose their popularity in music, and fans around the world
buying into one little lie and it spreading like a wildfire.
Digital image. wikia. Web. 3 April,2015.
Even though reporters had
claimed that he died in 1966, the rumor didn’t start until about 1969. “The
story supposedly goes that it was an early morning, around 5AM on Wednesday November
9, and Paul, angered, had stormed out of a session for the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band album. He then got into his car; specifically an Austin Healey
and had very soon after crashed and died” (The Beatles Bible, web. 03). According
to The Beatles Bible, there is
absolutely NO WAY this crash could have happened because McCartney had been on
vacation with his girlfriend Jane Asher traveling France and Kenya between
November 6th through the 19th. On the unlikely chance
that Paul McCartney had died, they had allegedly replaced him with an exact
lookalike who goes by the name of either William Campbell or William Sheppard,
who, had coincidentally won a look alike contest of Paul McCartney earlier in
his life. As we all know, we all have certain people who look like us. In fact,
there are about 7 people who resemble every single person on this earth. And we
have all heard of the world doppelgänger. A doppelganger isn’t necessarily a
twin, but an exact look alike. So the whole concept of getting a Paul lookalike
isn’t really so crazy, but “you can’t duplicate perfection” (REBEAT magazine).
It is not realistic to be able to find someone who has all the exact same
qualities of Paul such as looking, sounding, singing, and acting perfectly
alike. Plus, there are always factors that nobody really thinks of because they
just want to believe the interesting news that they will go with anything
people tell them. First of all, unless she is a complete imbecil, “Jane Asher
would have noticed that something was different about her husband” (REBEAT
magazine). Of course she could have helping the rest of the band cover up his
death, but that would a lot to ask of from a widow had he died. Not only would
Jane have noticed the difference between the two men, but so would have the
millions of intense, dedicated, loving fans of The Beatles. That is, if they
were true fans. Many resources have led me to believe that the “two” Pauls had
not even exactly resembled each other. “Paul has more brown dark eyes, while William
happened to have more of dark green or bluish eyes” (REBEAT magazine). It’s not
like the band members could just make peace with this loss so easily either.
Why would they just pick up their songs where they left off with a complete new
stranger who they barely knew and didn’t know how the music business worked or
even the way The Beatles did things.
According to some Paul is dead conspiracy theorists; the
Beatles obviously didn’t want the secret to get out too soon, but they did
eventually want to spill the news. So they did it slowly, and sneakily, but
they sure did it. Maybe. Fans and reporters had claimed that the members of the
band had started sneaking hints and clues about Paul’s death into their CD’s,
songs, and albums. It had all started with the Abbey Road album. Paul says,“It
is all bloody stupid. I picked up that OPD badge in Canada. It was a police
badge. Perhaps it means Ontario Police Department or something. I was wearing a
black flower because they ran out of red ones. It is John, not me, dressed in
black on the cover and inside of Magical Mystery Tour. On Abbey
Road we were wearing our ordinary clothes. I was walking barefoot because
it was a hot day. The Volkswagon just happened to be parked there” (41 years
since Paul pronounced Not Dead). Listeners of the albums have also brought to
our attention that The Beatles members had purposely put quotes in their song
lyrics explaining Paul’s death. There is one certain song that if you play the
song backwards someone is recorded saying “Paul is dead, miss him” (41 years
since Paul pronounced Not Dead). This is somewhat hard to believe. I even took
a listen to it myself and did some research. From my experience along with
others who had listened to the song, it honestly just sounded like a whole
bunch of mumbling. Which they all tend to do in once song or another.
To sum it up, people like
to make things up just to get things stirred up. A rumor was started that Paul
McCartney had died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced with an exact look
and sound alike to keep the bands good reputation. It almost seems impossible
to match perfection such as Paul McCartney, or anyone for that matter.
Reporters had claimed that the Band members had tried to exploit the bad news
through their most famous album Abbey Road. But Paul claims that it was all
just pure coincidence. Whether we like it or not; the world never will know for
sure if the Great Sir Paul McCartney ever died in the coincidental car crash.
Digital image. Ultimate Classic Rock. Web. 3 April,2015