‘Oh, untimely death...’ - A Look at the "Paul is Dead" Rumours (Part 1)
‘Oh, untimely death...’ - A Look at the "Paul is Dead" Rumours (Part 1)
After well-known psychic Jeane Dixon foretold that the Beatles would die in an aeroplane crash after a concert, tons of unfounded rumours that one of the band's members had passed away started circulating. So, because of its seeming absurdity, the report that Paul McCartney had died never made the headlines when it first began to circulate in London in September 1966.
However, this rumour wasn’t taken as lightly by people in the Beatles’ own inner circle. Tony Barrow, the former press officer for the Beatles, also recalled in his book “John, Paul, George, Ringo and Me” (ReadHowYouWant, 2005) a curious story:
“In the first week of September [1966], while John went to work on his solo movie project, the other three Beatles took a short break. George took Pattie to India where he received sitar lessons from his idol Ravi Shankar in Bombay. Ringo and Maureen went to Spain. Apart from a weekend in Paris, Paul. spent much of September settling into his new home in Cavendish Avenue, St John’s Wood. Around this time I suddenly found myself taking an alarming number of phone calls from Fleet Street news desks enquiring about Paul’s whereabouts and state of health. Some reporters veiled their questions: “Have you talked to Paul today? How is he doing? Is he OK?” Others were more direct: “The rumour we’re hearing is that Paul is dead. Can you confirm or deny this?” It was not unusual for me to deal with bogus reports that a Beatle was seriously ill, had been badly hurt in a road traffic accident or even killed in some macabre way. At least one such call came into my office each week. Sometimes the source of the rumour would be an ingenious fan, keen to find out where her favourite Beatle was today and sure that the news desks of Fleet Street could track him down for her. I didn’t always check out these stories with the boys because, to be frank, they — and I — had better things to do. The sudden spate of calls about Paul, a dozen or so in a single afternoon, had me worried.”
Tony Barrow’s account is confirmed by a number of other people, who also remembered hearing this rumour back in late 1966 and early 1967.
For example, Beatles historian Hunter Davies mentioned in his autobiography “The Beatles, Football and Me” (Headline Review, 2006) that, during this period, “there were rumours … [that] Paul was secretly dead.”
Two people particularly remember hearing rumours about Paul being injured in a traffic accident around this time - Writer Ernie Schultze recalled in his book about the Beatles “Carry That Weight” (Xlibris Corporations, 1997) that “In (or around) 1966 … The BBC … had reported Paul McCartney of the Beatles having been involved in an auto accident and that it was fatal.”
Photographer Emilio Lari, known for having photographed the Beatles, remembered in an interview for the YouTube video “Emilio Lari thoughts on Paul McCartney [EN sub]” (Mikey L1038, 10/04/2014), being in London in 1966, and getting told that Paul McCartney had been “killed in a car crash on the M1 [Motorway].”
Going back to Barrow’s account, his concerns about the rumour were totally founded, because there is evidence that the health of Beatle Paul McCartney was deteriorating by 1966.
Feeling perhaps that something won’t allow him to discover the joys of life in the near future, McCartney told Journalist Maureen Cleave in an interview published in the Evening Standard, on 25 March, 1966, “I’m trying to cram everything in, all the things I’ve missed.”
This potential reason for Paul's sudden interest in catching up on life was revealed by McCartney himself in the Beatles’ press conference at the New York Warwick Hotel, on the 22nd of August 1966, where he said: “I haven’t been too… I don't know… too well on the tour; I just felt a bit ill, that’s all... and I was sick.”
This is corroborated by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas, who had recently met the Beatles in June 1966. In the NME's "America Calling" article from 17 June, 1966, she claimed Paul was ill around the time the Beatles started filming the promotional videos for "Paperback Writer" and "Rain."
Now, McCartney’s health prompted the Beatles’ management to make some interesting decisions.
Paul claimed in an interview from March '66 with DJ Tom Lodge that "[The Beatles ha]ve got doubles."
His claim is confirmed in the book, “The Beatles' Conspiracy” (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 1996) where its author, David Malocco, interviewed Pat Conroy, a friend of The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, who recalled a curious event that took place in early 1965.
One day, when visiting him, Conroy noticed a person next to Brian, who, he claims, resembled Paul McCartney.
“His demeanour was different. He didn’t know me. He was much taller than Paul and he had a different nose, but having said that, he looked very much like Paul. I didn’t think much of it at the time, [...] he just ignored me, like, he didn’t even say hello.”
Thinking that the person next to Brian was Paul McCartney, he asked the manager if anything had happened to Paul. Brian responded:
“That’s not Paul, he is a lookalike. We’re bringing him on tour with us to America,” then adding, “Paul isn’t always well, and if he can’t perform for any of the concerts, we then use BILLY.”
…Billy?
In the book, ‘Maximum Volume. The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years (Chicago Review Press, 2017) its author, Kenneth Womack, mentions the Beatles’ 1964 visit to Denver, Colorado and one particular night the band and George Martin made their way to a hotel there for the night.
“The promoters were forced to resort to a diversion in order to misdirect the horde of people awaiting their arrival. George Martin went on to say that the diversion ‘consisted of a number of people pretending to be Beatles and drawing up in limousines at the front of the hotel, while [the real Beatles and Martin] went in the back, through the kitchen entrance.’”
Who were these people, pretending to be the Beatles? The May 1966 issue of RAVE Magazine gives us the answer:
“The Beatles Decoys, as they are known, had their first taste of ‘decoying’ on the Beatles’ last U.S. tour. Ron Rictor, posing as Ringo, and BILL DAVIS, as PAUL, walked out of the front of a Baltimore theatre where the Beatles had just appeared - and had their jackets and shirts torn to bits while the Beatles made a safe exit out of the back door!”
Born circa 1940 in Liverpool, Bill Davis spent his childhood close to where British star Cilla Black used to live as a kid. The friendship between Davis' and Cilla's mothers fostered a connection between their respective children. Cilla Black, in her autobiography 'What’s It All About?' (Ebury Press, 2003) described Davis as 6'2" and 'a really gorgeous-looking man.' Ruth McCartney, possibly too young to distinctly recall Paul before 1966, noted in a podcast that '6'2 and a half [is] exactly how tall “Paul” is.'
Tony Barrow wrote an article about Cilla Black in the Liverpool Echo and Evening Express on the 18th of February, 1966, further corroborating Davis' association. Barrow mentioned, 'Cilla’s first boyfriend [was] Billy Davies [sic]… Billy, once employed by Brian Epstein in Liverpool, was, by this time, living and working in Washington DC,' a statement validated by historical records.
He moved there, but why? Was he maybe more of a need in the States, in case Paul became sick during their travels there? He wouldn't have been able to just fly in from England to take Paul's place in such a short time. RAVE magazine revealed that Bill - or any of the other Decoys as a matter of fact, would have been able to convincingly impersonate the Beatles on stage:
“Each decoy even plays the same instrument as the Beatle he portrays, and their Paul (Bill) is left handed!”
By late 1966, however, there is proof that something happened that made it impossible for the Beatles (or perhaps just one of their members) to continue touring. And no ‘lookalikes’ could have saved this situation. At least that's what they must have initially thought.
The Beatles' inner circle, including the band themselves, want you to believe they decided to stop touring well before their August 1966 concert at Candlestick Park (as early as 1965!). However, there is a wealth of evidence that suggests otherwise. It actually seems to suggest that a sudden and significant event forced the cancellation of Beatles tours around early October 1966.
Take a look at this article from the New Musical Express for example, from the 4th of March 1966:
courtesy of the-paulmccartney-project.com
It's revealed that, having finished up their US tour in August 1966, the Beatles were going to “undertake a British concert tour.”
Later in June, according to Peter Brown, a confidant of the band who detailed the event in his book "The Love You Make" (Thomas Dunne Books, 1983,) road manager Neil Aspinall informed the Beatles that “[Brian Epstein]’s got another world tour already booked for next year.”
Further confirming the Beatles wanted to go on another UK tour in late 1966, Paul McCartney himself confirmed to the press in an article from the 10th of September, 1966 for Disc And Music Echo:
“I don’t think we’ve really thought about NOT doing a tour in Britain this year. You don’t really miss touring.”
Next, there's an article published in the 29 August, 1966 issue of The Liverpool Echo reveals that Tony Stratton-Smith said that his band, The Koobas, were potentially going to join The Beatles as a supporting act on their upcoming "provincial tour during the winter." This means that the planning for a Winter 1966 UK tour had progressed quite far, even securing supporting acts.
courtesy of newspapers.com
Finally, and most importantly, according to the September 1986 issue of the Beatles Monthly book, Brian Epstein actually finished working on a draft of the schedule of this cancelled UK tour, which, for some reason, 'was destined to remain nothing more than A DREAM.'
Yet, after September 1966, there were no mentions of this grand, upcoming UK tour. This can only mean one thing: it was cancelled.
Now, what else was cancelled in September 1966? Brian Epstein's non-Beatles "Star Scene '66" tour, the one showcasing all his other artists. Clearly, Epstein had bigger fish to fry, and the "bigger fish" we can only assume were the Fab Four.
Something serious was going on within the band, forcing Brian Epstein to entirely focus his attention on them, despite the fact that the band appeared to be on holiday.
George Harrison was in India, learning the sitar... John Lennon and Ringo Starr were filming in Spain....
What was Paul McCartney doing in late 1966?
Even Neil Aspinall, one of the Beatles' closest friends, was unable to answer that question in the Beatles Anthology documentary. Paul simply disappeared for several months.
to be continued...
Written by Max C and Bernard L
.(We would like to add that we aren't advocating any particular theories here, but rather presenting a number of facts that can be interpreted according to the reader's own points of view to fit accordingly with their beliefs. But whether or not you think Paul was replaced in 1966, you have to acknowledge that something odd did occur to him in late 1966.)
