scapp70's Full Review: R. Gary Patterson - The Walrus Was Paul: The Great...
Paul McCartney Is Dead – And What This Book is About
I just finished reading this book and I; yes even I did not know all of the clues listed in this book to the mysterious death of Paul McCartney. This book was truly a fascinating read.
Some of you may be confused about what I am saying when I write that this book is about the "mysterious death of Paul McCartney." Because, isn't he alive and all? Well this book covers exhaustively the urban legend that the "real" Paul McCartney had indeed died in 1966 and was replaced by a look-a-like William Shears Campbell. In 1969, this urban legend started on a radio show when a listener called up and started spewing out these clues that The Beatles themselves had left on their albums to inform the public. Fans will still discuss the clues today, and try and find new ones to share. Even I toward the end of this review had given a couple of my own.
I love that the author takes you back to the very beginning, that one dark night in 1969 on a radio station where the DJ kept Tom on the phone a long while and discussed this revelation. The DJ also rolled his eyes and scoffed at such nonsense, but eventually it made the scoffer think too.
The story is that Paul died on Wednesday morning at five o'clock on November 22, 1966 in a car accident. This was such a car accident that either decapitated him or causes a serious head injury that had lead to his death. The Beatles were the most successful rock band on the planet, and to keep the band going, it was decided that they should replace Paul with a look-alike and keep the death secret. The fans would probably not go for another musician to take the place of Paul, so hide the fact that it is someone new. The clues were found in the Beatles song lyrics, and on Beatles album covers mainly.
For instance, their last studio album Abbey Road has many clues that Paul is dead. There is the front cover picture where Paul is barefoot and out of step with the other three Beatles. There is the punch buggy's license plate that reads 28IF. On the back cover there is a crack in the word BEATLES and a sideways shadow of a skull. Why do these things mean that Paul is dead? Well, read the book and find out.
The book goes through chapter by chapter explaining the origins of the urban legend and the movement. Author R. Gary Patterson makes it such an easy and enjoyable read, for me anyway.
I'm not sure how non-Beatles fans would take to a book like this.
Patterson includes a chapter on convicted murderer, Charles Manson, and the effects that Beatles music had on him. Then on a much lighter note, there is a fun chapter that is dedicated to a quiz that Patterson had put together. Just like a teacher, which Patterson is, he includes most of the answers to the questions in this quiz are found in the chapters of this book. That is kind of how this little book is set up actually, a high school text book that reviews the history of this point in time, and this one facet of a story of a phenomenon that can be viewed, studied and analyzed from countless sides and point of view.
There were not only clues, but little tidbits included in these pages that I had no idea were true or even Beatle history. For example, did you know John Lennon recorded himself typing his first name and included it in his 1967 super hit Strawberry Fields Forever.
Why I Loved It
From the title and cover, I got the impression that this book was just going to read like a checklist with some commentary. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not like that at all.
The author R. Gary Patterson starts at the beginning and works through the history of clues on each consecutive Beatles album. He warns you in the beginning that there are three types of clues presented in this book; there are the legitimate clues that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, there are the mediocre clues, and the just plain ridiculous. I must say that there were quite a few clues that my eyes rolled at and my voice pshawed.
A hypothesis is also put forth that The Beatles did put in clues in order to sell more records. A point was made that when Abbey Road was released in late 1969, it didn't do too well, and when this conspiracy theory became widespread, then not only new release Abbey Road started selling, but also some of the older records in the Beatles catalog as well. Interesting? Or was it the release of George Harrison's amazing song Something or John's Come Together that boosted sales of the album?
One of the ridiculous clues makes the reader say come on already. The issue of the magazine Time with Paul on the cover is also considered a clue, no matter how ridiculous. Paul is on the cover with his wife Linda and the caption reads "Paul Is Still With Us" in order to refute the insanity of Paul Is Dead (this shows how widespread and popular this theory was), and the Beatle conspiracy fans put a spin on even this. It turns out that on the backside to the magazine cover is an advertisement for a car. They say when you hold it up to the light; the car is heading right for Paul's head. This is the definition of reaching.
I think the one major thing that I learned from this book that I did not understand before, is that 'Paul is Dead', was sort of like a cultural movement in the world of the music fan. It was a game that Beatles fans got together and played, and anyone could play, as long as you have an imagination. It was perhaps the subject of discussion in a smokey basement. You would go home and discover, then bring it your table of friends the next day and test it out. Those were the best of times, and they were the worst of times. Paul could be dead, which would be sad - yet on the other hand, you have a fun subject of conversation and competition.
One of the greatest things about this book, is that this is one of the very few instances where we can actually pinpoint the birth of an urban legend. Most of these urban legends that we hear of, we could never try to guess the origin of most of these.
Some Clues That I Have Uncovered
I thought of a couple of more "clues" not mentioned in this book. For example, on the back cover of Ringo's solo album, Rotogravure there is a door with a lot of writing, and the address of the building is three, possibly symbolizing that there are only three remaining Beatles at that time (1976).
How about this one? Also from a Ringo solo album, Paul wrote Ringo a song called Six O'clock in the Morning and the first words of the lyrics are:
"Six O'clock in the morning
You've just gone to sleep
I wipe a tear from my eye"
You see? If Paul got into the accident at five in the morning, then maybe six o'clock was the time of death? Ringo is wiping "a tear from his eye".
Another one that I thought of is really sort of far fetched. Toward the end of the song All You Need IS Love, John says something that sounds like "Yes, he's dead". Now that clue has already been discovered, but what happens immediately after he says that could be taken as another clue possibly. As soon as John utters, "Yes, he's dead", part of the string arrangement immediately breaks off and starts to play the melody for Greensleeves. Now the melody of this old renaissance song, Greensleeves has also had another life as a Christmas hymn called What Child Is This?. So, "Yes, he's dead"..and what child is this?. It's like he affirms Paul is dead, and who is this imposter pretending to be Paul McCartney?
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Once the bestselling title in the Beatlefest catalog, this is a fun, definitive book on the Paul is dead hoax surrounding Paul McCartney.192 pp.More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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