Paul Was Dead--for a day or so

Paul Was Dead--for a day or so

In 1970 I was employed by the Detroit Free Press as what was to become known as a “rock journalist”.

One morning I arrived at the paper, sat down at my desk by the window overlooking the disgruntled Leland House Hotel and received a call from either Time Magazine or Newsweek, I don't really remember which one. They were asking about the rumor that Paul McCartney had died. Understand, at this time The Beatles were still a band and their popularity had hit such an iconic peak that sainthood wasn’t out of the question. The possible death of one of them was earth shattering to millions.

The basic story was, on November 9, 1966, McCartney, after an argument with his band mates had angrily driven off in his car, crashed it and died. He was then replaced by ‘William Campbell’, the winner of a McCartney look-alike contest. Admittedly to this day I at times look at McCartney and wonder, “Bill, is that you?”

It turns out Russ Gibb, a Detroit concert promoter who had a show on the local WKNR-FM had talked about it the night before. A listener identifying himself as "Tom” called the show and announced McCartney had been killed, possibly referring to an article entitled "Is Paul McCartney Dead?”, written by Tim Harper in the Drake University paper, the Times-Delphic, on 17 September 1969. The caller asked Gibb to play The Beatles song “Revolution 9” backwards. Gibb, a man who liked to experiment, proceeded to give it a try and thought he heard the words "Turn me on, dead man."

Two days after hearing the WKNR broadcast, according to Wikipedia , students Fred LaBour and John Gray published a satirical review in the Michigan Daily of The Beatles' “Abbey Road” album called "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light", itemizing various "clues" of McCartney's death on Beatles album covers. Evidently the students had invented many of the "clues" and were reportedly astonished when the story was then picked up by newspapers across the United States. Some of these have since become well known, such as the fact the cover of The Beatles album Abbey Road symbolizes a funeral procession. It’s a stretch, I know, but obscure clues along those lines became gospel to millions of people around the world.

John Small was the Program Director at the radio station. Gibb couldn’t be reached so John got the call to find out what was going on. He related this incredible story about how there are all kinds of clues heard on Beatles records if you play them backward or in some cases remove tracks of the music and delve deep to where messages and audio scenes of car crashes take place.

Ok, while not wholly believing in ghosts, it seemed very intriguing and I found myself on the way to the station fairly quickly. And they played what they had for me and it was eerie! They played tracks they said were buried under and within the actual recording. I’m here to tell you, there was something going on down there. There actually was some scene that included the sound of tires screeching and people yelling "he is dead". Well, it sounded like “he is dead”. Whatever it meant, whether it was true or not…those Beatle boys had put something under the surface for all to listen to if they had the means and the desire.

I do know I went to bed that night feeling the ghost of Paul lurking about. Yes, I believed it, for about 24 hours.
But the next day the whole thing seemed implausible, but damn it was intriguing there for a day or so.

It isn’t headlines these days but, the story won’t quit. According to Wikipedia, as recently as 2009 a Wired Italia magazine article by forensic scientist Gabriella Carlesi concluded that selected photographs of McCartney, taken before and after his alleged demise, might not be of the same person (but noting that there was less certainty than with cases that allow a rigorous analysis of a corpse).

Backward masking (playing records and tapes backwards that WKNR tried) has become a science of sorts… check out the Reverse Speech site http://www.reversespeech.com/words_of_creation.htm. And at http://www.plasticmacca.blogspot.com/ you can see comments from fans supporting the Paul Is Dead rumor….dated Aug. 8, 2010.

I doubt it matters, or ever did matter really. But it is one fun topic. Try it at your next cocktail party, or over dessert. You can just sit back and let the conversation roll.

And if Paul is dead, I want to know who that lucky s.o.b. is who got to become a Beatle for the rest of his life.