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Post by lightson on Jun 8, 2007 21:30:21 GMT -5
Sir Paul has just been on the Jools Holland show in the UK. He played Dance Tonight and Only Mama Knows, then, surprisingly for me, I've Got a Feeling and Lady Madonna.
It was his appearance that was most surprising though. Aside from the dark brown hair, and a face that could pass for anywhere between 45 and 75 depending on the angle (almost certainly had more facial work done recently), he also looked quite a bit smaller in height and frame. I know he's probably shrinking slightly in his old age, but he looked much smaller than he did in the Dance Tonight video, so surely it hasn't happened that quickly. It reminded me of some whispers on here about the replacement being replaced, but to my ears the shrieky bits in I've Got a Feeling were identical to the rooftop performance, so that made me think that whoever I was watching, it's the same man as back then at least, and that man definitely wasn't small.
Perhaps by now he's learnt all the tricks to looking smaller. The band members either side of him (roughly a few metres away horizontally, and slightly behind, if I recall correctly) both looked much taller, combined with some discreet knee-bending and sideways turning to narrow the shoulders, thereby creating the illusion maybe? If that is the reason, why take this much care over the issue now but not other times where his tallness has been very obvious?
Sorry that I don't have any pictures or video to demonstrate this, hopefully someone is uploading it to youtube as I type. If the program is repeated I'll record it this time.
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Post by JoJo on Jun 8, 2007 21:50:59 GMT -5
I mentioned this before, but when I saw him in 2005, the first thing I noticed, especially after all the posts about him being so much taller than JPM was: how much shorter he was than I expected. (the other surprise was his clearly blue eyes, but never mind..)
There's a problem with getting locked into a rigid mindset.. The guy in the Hello Goodbye video was clearly lanky. The guy in the Let It Be movie was another story, watch the rooftop concert part.
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Post by CoconutFudge on Jun 9, 2007 1:21:14 GMT -5
That's very interesting, I'd love to see these clips.
I'm not set on a replacement of the replacement or the opposite quite yet... I am doubtful, personally, but anything is possible. It is a bit confusing to me sometimes, though, that he seems to many times get better and other times get worse at maintaining this facade, through his lyrics, interviews, stories, songs, performances, etc. Hmm.
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Post by lightson on Jun 9, 2007 20:06:51 GMT -5
Here are the vids: Dance Tonight - www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrwT-QPIvVsOnly Mama Knows - www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFIh7YoQodQInterview - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl2nStgBfxoI've Got A Feeling - www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoSSYBlZxcMLady Madonna - www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRHUs5XMbQI wasn't as taken aback when watching this poor quality footage as I was seeing it clearly on TV, but I still get the same feelings about his general size, particularly of his torso. I'm not really arguing the case for a replacement of the replacement (... yet  ), it's just something I remember someone on here speculating about recently, and it popped into my head at the time. I don't think any proof was offered up. Jojo, not sure I understand you, do you mean that it's dangerous to get locked into expecting him to look a certain way because there are many examples that prove and disprove the point? If so, are you implying that any ideas about his appearance garnered from photo/video evidence may be severely flawed? p.s. I really hate the way his band members sang John's part in I've Got A Feeling! |
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Post by JoJo on Jun 9, 2007 21:46:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the links Lightson. I would say his voice is well rested compared to 2 years ago, it sounded much less "weathered" on the Youtube clips. Perhaps being single agrees with him?
Agree about the band members doing John's part, they are good with harmonies, but this was kinda lame. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Rusty's solo material for example, and he did a great guitar solo in House of Wax.
Well, back when I was first watching my first acquisitions of Beatle material, often with a friend who would discuss it with me, she said something like this when we watched Let It Be when it got to the rooftop concert: "What did they do, shorten his legs?" Meaning, she saw the 1967 material and agreed that we were seeing a way too tall Paul, so she couldn't reconcile that with the guy on the rooftop.
Speaking strictly to this height issue, rather than the entire body of evidence, I noticed that the early insistance that his height was always noted as taller than JPM must apply from 1966 Africa footage on to the present day, with anything that contradicts this idea ignored or even greeted with a bit of agitation.
Truth: (IMO) Paul got taller in 1966.
Truth: (IMO) Paul shrunk back down a couple or three years later.
Why?
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Post by lightson on Jun 10, 2007 0:33:14 GMT -5
Thanks for clarifying that. Hmm, very interesting. Admittedly I'd kind of got into the "he's much taller than JPM" mindset. Not that I've been ignoring anything that shows him to be shorter, more like making excuses for it, assuming that it's because of (intentional or unintentional) trickery then trying to work out what kind of trickery.
I do still think though that the rooftop Paul, if shorter in leg than lanky Paul, was fairly tall and wide, noticably more so than the Paul on this show IMO, which to me makes at least 3 separate era Pauls that don't match up well physically.
I'd be very interested to hear what your opinion on that last question is. How do you fit these differences into your view of the bigger picture? Is it at all possible that they're the same man?
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Post by ezwizard on Jun 10, 2007 8:07:30 GMT -5
For what it's worth - I caught McCartney on SNL last night and noticed that he was, more or less, the same height as Steve Martin. Martin is listed as 5'11".
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Post by mommybird on Jun 10, 2007 13:09:21 GMT -5
I caught SNL last night also. I thought that skit with Steve Martin was very telling. "Paul Simon" indeed !   |
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Post by CoconutFudge on Jun 10, 2007 23:40:46 GMT -5
Thanks for those clips, lightson! Wow, he really does look kind of stubby to me.
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Post by lightson on Jun 15, 2007 22:06:16 GMT -5
Bit of interesting related gossip from popbitch last week:
" >> Wig can work it out <<
Paul McCartney and the phantom syrup
The backstage area of Later With Jools
Holland this week was buzzing after one
of the show's team loudly claimed that Paul
McCartney had a hairpiece.
FYI: Everyone was calling Macca "Cilla Black"
behind his back, thanks to chipmunk teeth
and skin stretched way too tight on the face."
... if anyone else is interested in that kind of stuff!
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Post by Mellow Yellow on Jun 15, 2007 22:45:26 GMT -5
Yeah, I'd imagine Sir. Paul is pretty scary looking without all the make-up and such.... That is, if some of the theories on this board are correct.
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Post by Doc on Jun 16, 2007 3:48:05 GMT -5
Bit of interesting related gossip from popbitch last week: " >> Wig can work it out << Paul McCartney and the phantom syrup The backstage area of Later With Jools Holland this week was buzzing after one of the show's team loudly claimed that Paul McCartney had a hairpiece. FYI: Everyone was calling Macca "Cilla Black" behind his back, thanks to chipmunk teeth and skin stretched way too tight on the face." ... if anyone else is interested in that kind of stuff! Proving once again that the world is, truly, sometimes a bitchy place. Must have been some bitter queens...........(I can say that.....) |
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Post by CoconutFudge on Jun 16, 2007 5:35:32 GMT -5
Bit of interesting related gossip from popbitch last week: " >> Wig can work it out << Paul McCartney and the phantom syrup The backstage area of Later With Jools Holland this week was buzzing after one of the show's team loudly claimed that Paul McCartney had a hairpiece. FYI: Everyone was calling Macca "Cilla Black" behind his back, thanks to chipmunk teeth and skin stretched way too tight on the face." ... if anyone else is interested in that kind of stuff! Ahahaha. Poor guy. |
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Post by TotalInformation on Jun 17, 2007 10:22:49 GMT -5
He's a septuagenarian and vegan, it's more than possible age & malnutrition shrunk him by a couple inches to 5'11 over the past several years.
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Post by knowthe411 on Nov 24, 2009 5:47:58 GMT -5
The Paul on the Jools Holland show was most likely the real JPM, not Faul or any other double. I've seen JPM on the Ellen Degeneres show (look for it on YouTube) and he IS shorter now. He seems to be doing a lot of TV shows and public appearances now. I've seen JPM on Letterman, on CBS and elsewhere. Maybe he just likes doing short, live performances as opposed to recording or concerts. He's 67 (as of late 2009) for one thing. A vegan diet can't be good for your bones. And yes, JPM does wear a hairpiece. He told a reporter at a press conference in the early 60s, "I'm bald actually. This is a wig."
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), it's just something I remember someone on here speculating about recently, and it popped into my head at the time. I don't think any proof was offered up.
