Paul McCartney Died in 1966
My favorite conspiracy theory
What we’ll talk about in this article:
Did Paul McCartney die in 1966?
Were clues left by other Beatles members?
Remember when conspiracy theories were fun and weren’t about secret world cabals and adrenochrome-drinking celebrities? Oh, those were the days.
George Harrison’s bad experience
Recently I came across an interview with George Harrison. In it, he talks about how at the height of fame of the Beatles, the band members were going a tad insane and he said that the ‘real’ George Harrison came into the world in 1966. He’d been present before but in 1966, he says “I woke up out of my dream.”
He talks about “one experience which I don’t really like to talk about too much” which was followed by somebody putting ‘something’ into his coffee and then he went off to India to, as they say ‘to find himself’.
What then was this ‘one experience’ that he didn’t really like to talk about?
The Paul McCartney death rumor
During the autumn of 1969, a wash of hysteria swept over Beatles fans. The rumor was that Paul McCartney had died in a car crash and had been replaced by a lookalike. Beatles fans uncovered startling ‘evidence’ from hidden messages on album covers and from song lyrics and this led to plenty of news articles and the occasion new report too.
On November 9th, 1966 the Beatles were recording new material for their upcoming Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Paul and George had a massive argument and Paul left the sessions in a foul humor.
Paul got into his car and sped off. In a resulting crash occurring at 5am, he was decapitated and MI5, The UK’s national security service, no, not the Bond dudes, that’s MI6, advised Beatles management to replace Paul with a doppelganger because they feared mass hysteria would descend upon Beatles fans and lead to both civil unrest and a huge suicide numbers.
See…what’s not to love about this conspiracy theory?
Paul’s double
It’s said that a Scottish man fit Paul’s description, mostly. His name was William (Billy) Shears Campbell. He was recruited by the band, had a wee bit of plastic surgery, taught how to play bass, and learned how to put on a Liverpudlian accent.
OK, so this all sounds doolaly. The first time the issue was addressed was in the Beatles’ official monthly magazine, The Beatles Book, also known as Beatles Monthly where the rumors of Paul’s death were denied. Let me tell you something. On my first day of studying journalism, our lecturer said “Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.”
So, this article came out in 1966 and the rumors trailed off until 1969 when a caller called into a Detroit radio station with a strange request. He wanted to tell the host, Rob Gibb, about the theory and he was going to prove it via lyrics found in Beatles’ songs.
University of Michigan student Fred LaBour was listening that day and at the time was writing a review piece of their latest release, Abbey Road. Incidentally, Fred, is now known by his stage name Too Slim. He’s a Grammy award-winning musician, known for his work with Riders in the Sky. No, I’ve never heard of them either.
Fred’s interest was piqued though and instead of writing a dull track-by-track review, which was the style of reviews at the time, Fred, instead decided to take a deep dive into the album art and lyrics to find anything related to what some crazy chap was saying on his local radio station.
Abbey Road
Now, we’re all familiar with the Abbey Road cover, the four Beatles walking across a zebra crossing in London. It’s just four dudes walking across a street right? Well, people who think Paul died would have it that the ‘album cover depicts a funeral procession: John Lennon, dressed in white, is said to symbolize a heavenly figure; Ringo Starr, dressed in black, symbolizes the undertaker; George Harrison, in denim, represents the gravedigger; and Paul McCartney, barefoot and out of step with the others, symbolizes the corpse.” Spooky eh?
Fred’s college article was picked up and syndicated across multiple US colleges. It was even used as a source in an ABC News broadcast on October 24, 1969, about the topic. Life magazine then sent a journalist and photographer to Paul’s Scottish farm where a furious McCartney chased them off his land. Realizing they now had unflattering photos of him losing his temper, he invited them in for an interview. Life’s front page headline the following week read “Paul is still with us.”
So, the rumor should have died? Well, yeah, it probably should have but it didn’t. Y’see, so guilt-ridden were John, George, and Ringo about hiding Paul’s death that they began ‘leaving clues’ about what had happened.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Find yourself an image of the album cover…
Have you noticed that Paul is facing forward while the other Beatles are slightly turned towards him? Would this make them Paul-bearers, like at a funeral? Above Paul’s head, there is a hand with an open palm. According to some, this is a sign of death in some branches of Eastern Mysticism. OK, they’re a stretch but the next one is a bit mad.
If you hold a mirror across the middle of the bass drum you can read ‘1 One, IX, He Die’ What was the date he was supposed to have crashed? 11th November….1-One is 11, or the 11th month, which is November, IX = 9, he die… well, y’know, well, maybe he did die on 9tjh November? Or, if we read it in the UK way of reading dates, the ninth month is September…so, September 11th…and we’re not going there!
Below this, we see a freshly dug grave with a left-handed guitar shape in a floral arrangement. You can even make out the letter P-A-U-L and a question mark in it.
Let’s do two more…on the inside cover Paul, or the new Paul, is the only member to have a patch on his shoulder, it reads OPD. In the UK, they don’t say DOA (Dead on Arrival), they say Officially Pronounced Dead (OPD). And, on the back of the album, Paul is the only Beatle not facing forward and George’s finger is pointing to the lyric ‘Wednesday morning at five o’clock’ the time, and day, the accident is said to have occurred.
Other Clues
Really, I could spend all day writing about other supposed ‘clues’ but with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band being the closest one to the alleged date of the accident we’ve had enough fun.
Below, I’ve included the video of George’s interview and one where a YouTuber called Vinyl Rewind takes a deep dive into the theory and does a good rebuttal too.
Do I think Paul McCartney died in November 1966? No, of course I don’t but it’s a fun one to play with, especially with all of the lore and, ahem ‘evidence’ that fans have found over the years. Oh, and Fred LaBour, the University of Michigan student whose piece got picked up? He admitted years later that he’d made it all up.
Video 1:
Video 2:
Hi, I’m Paddy. Thanks for reading my article. I’m a counselor, coach, and meditation teacher.
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