16 Strange And Surreal Myths About The Beatles Investigated
From November 2014
Last week marked 36 years since the release of the Beatles' 'White Album', a record dogged by rumours of containing subliminal messages that, when played backwards, seemed to suggest Paul McCartney was dead. The cult of myths surrounding the Fab Four goes far beyond 'Paul Is Dead' conspiracy theories, however. Here's that and 14 other strange, suspicious tales about the Beatles blown open...
Paul Is Dead: Rumours Macca was killed in a '67 car crash and replaced with a lookalike had already been doing the rounds before audio of Lennon seeming to say "Paul is dead man, miss him miss him" on 'I'm So Tired' sent the myth into overdrive.
The truth: If true, his imposter at least has Macca's sense of humour - in 1993, he released a live LP cheekily titled 'Paul is Live'.
All the Beatles died and were replaced: See that white VW on the 'Abbey Road' sleeve? Its license plate, '28IF', was interpreted by a legion of paranoid Beatles fans as an allusion to John's age - he'd have been 28 if he'd have lived to the album's release date.
The truth: The group laughed off the suggestion. But then, if they were doubles, they would, wouldn't they?The man in the background of the 'Abbey Road' sleeve is a 92-year-old man who's never listened to the album: Who's this? A Florida pensioner claimed to remember seeing "four kooks without shoes" crossing the street in the area while on holiday in London, but he's since been ruled out as the mystery man.
Source: NME
