Post by lenmac on Jul 12, 2006 9:55:38 GMT -5
Have you ever seen this before? I got it from a site that has Beatle/Paul books online to read. Its from Paul Mccartney in his own words:
RAT
SUBTERRANEAN NEWS
“It’s High Time Our BILLY Received The Credit He Deserves” - DAD
(Editors' note: Lee Merrick, an old friend of ours, sent this RAT exclusive by cable just a day before publication.)
by Lee Merrick
London - October 26. Paul McCartney is dead. All the Beatles, of course, know it but they aren't talking. All the insiders at Apple Corporation have known it for a long time without ever leaking a word. It's been the world's best-kept secret. But, in the last few days I have discovered absolute proof of Paul's death; and I think it's time that the world knew the truth. The hoax has gone on long enough.
I have gotten to know a lot of people at Apple Corp, pretty well during the six months that I've hung around jamming and doing various studio gigs.
I had seen the Beatles, including ‘Paul’, many times around the studio and offices. Rumors about them are a dime a dozen. I had heard the one about Paul's death, but it was just one of scores that went around. Even when the death rumor received international press coverage, I didn't take the whole thing very seriously.
But my opinion changed radically as a result of a party I attended last Wednesday. The party, at the house of a London rock musician, included the usual assortment of hip writers, rock-stars and hangers-on. Several Apple friends also showed up. The latest Beatle rumor was, of course, the main topic of conversation. Everyone there considered himself to be very in with the Beatles, and they all joked about the obvious foolishness of the latest out-cropping of Beatlemania.
After a while, several of my Apple friends and I decided to split to one of their apartments to smoke a little dope and check out some new tapes that had just come in. People eventually drifted off to crash or ball, living only myself and my friend. I had noticed earlier that the light talk about Paul's rumored death had put him very up tight, and the idea to leave had been his in the first place. In the past few months we had grown pretty close - and we were pretty stoned - so I began to question him about the whole affair.
The story I drew out of him over the next few hours went like this:
Remember the first cut on the Sgt. Pepper album? The one with the line "And now we introduce to you the one and only Billy Shears"? Did you ever wonder just who ‘Billy Shears' actually was? Of if he even existed?
Billy Shears was a young London rock musician who did short gigs in London nightclubs and occasional tours, waiting for the chance to make it big. As the fifties rock-and-roll craze spread across to Europe, he got a chance to play various clubs on the Continent. In 1962 Shears played on the same nightclub bill as Paul McCartney. In fact, he was virtually a dead ringer for Paul. Of course, you could tell the difference if they stood side by side. Billy had a somewhat over-sized, beak-shaped nose. But in photographs or at a distance, they were absolutely indistinguishable.
Their friendship remained intermittent over the next year or so as their respective tour paths occasionally crossed. When fame came to the Beatles in 1964, however, they lost touch with obscure Billy who drifted from small bandsman to studio musician.
In November, 1966, Paul McCartney was involved in an auto accident - a fatal accident. John, George and Ringo first wanted to stage a gigantic funeral in memory of Paul. But super-sharp manager, Brian Epstein, feared that Paul's death would destroy the Beatles mystique and managed almost entirely to suppress the news. Epstein's calculating mind had already devised a scheme for keeping the Beatles intact - at least for the public. With a minor nose job, Billy Shears would make a perfect replacement for Paul. Though hesitant at first, Shears soon accepted Epstein's offer. What musician could resist the opportunity to step into the shoes of one of the superstars of the rock world.
In the first album after Paul's death, Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles cryptically introduced the new "Paul" in the first cut. The album closes with "A Day in the Life", the story of Paul's death. (" ...He blew his mind out in a car/He didn't notice that the light had changed/A crowd of people stood and stared/They'd seen his face before ... ")
Knowing perhaps that the ruse couldn't last, the Beatles have hinted at the truth in every successive album. On the Sgt. Pepper album centerfold, only 'Paul' faces away from the camera. Epstein did not want a large close-up of 'Paul' to be shown until people became accustomed to the slight difference from the deceased Beatle. On the Magical Mystery Tour insert, only 'Paul' wears a black rose. "Revolution Number Nine", on the double album, contains the phrase "I buried Paul" when played backwards. The cover picture of the most recent Abbey Road shows the Beatles walking single file. The first two, Ringo and John, wear mourning clothes; 'Paul' is barefoot and dressed as for burial; George follows in the work clothes of an English gravedigger.
Even though I knew that my friend, who asked to remain un-named, had known and worked with the Beatles from the early days in the fifties, his story seemed almost too fantastic to believe. And certainly people who did not know him would have no reason to believe that Billy took Paul's place three years ago. So, for the next few days, I searched for evidence to absolutely confirm the story.
My search ended in the quiet Chelsea section of London where I talked with Philip Shears, father of the new Paul McCartney. At first, Mr. Shears hesitated to discuss the matter. He had kept his lips sealed for three long years in the pleasant, middle-class home his son had bought for him. But after I repeated the story my Apple friend had told me, the elderly Mr. Shears relented and confirmed the facts. "Mums and me always knew that it couldn't stay secret forever. The Beatles are a bunch of wonderful lads and have made a whole new world for us." But, he added, "It’s high time that our Billy received the credit he deserves."
And now he has.
RAT
SUBTERRANEAN NEWS
“It’s High Time Our BILLY Received The Credit He Deserves” - DAD
(Editors' note: Lee Merrick, an old friend of ours, sent this RAT exclusive by cable just a day before publication.)
by Lee Merrick
London - October 26. Paul McCartney is dead. All the Beatles, of course, know it but they aren't talking. All the insiders at Apple Corporation have known it for a long time without ever leaking a word. It's been the world's best-kept secret. But, in the last few days I have discovered absolute proof of Paul's death; and I think it's time that the world knew the truth. The hoax has gone on long enough.
I have gotten to know a lot of people at Apple Corp, pretty well during the six months that I've hung around jamming and doing various studio gigs.
I had seen the Beatles, including ‘Paul’, many times around the studio and offices. Rumors about them are a dime a dozen. I had heard the one about Paul's death, but it was just one of scores that went around. Even when the death rumor received international press coverage, I didn't take the whole thing very seriously.
But my opinion changed radically as a result of a party I attended last Wednesday. The party, at the house of a London rock musician, included the usual assortment of hip writers, rock-stars and hangers-on. Several Apple friends also showed up. The latest Beatle rumor was, of course, the main topic of conversation. Everyone there considered himself to be very in with the Beatles, and they all joked about the obvious foolishness of the latest out-cropping of Beatlemania.
After a while, several of my Apple friends and I decided to split to one of their apartments to smoke a little dope and check out some new tapes that had just come in. People eventually drifted off to crash or ball, living only myself and my friend. I had noticed earlier that the light talk about Paul's rumored death had put him very up tight, and the idea to leave had been his in the first place. In the past few months we had grown pretty close - and we were pretty stoned - so I began to question him about the whole affair.
The story I drew out of him over the next few hours went like this:
Remember the first cut on the Sgt. Pepper album? The one with the line "And now we introduce to you the one and only Billy Shears"? Did you ever wonder just who ‘Billy Shears' actually was? Of if he even existed?
Billy Shears was a young London rock musician who did short gigs in London nightclubs and occasional tours, waiting for the chance to make it big. As the fifties rock-and-roll craze spread across to Europe, he got a chance to play various clubs on the Continent. In 1962 Shears played on the same nightclub bill as Paul McCartney. In fact, he was virtually a dead ringer for Paul. Of course, you could tell the difference if they stood side by side. Billy had a somewhat over-sized, beak-shaped nose. But in photographs or at a distance, they were absolutely indistinguishable.
Their friendship remained intermittent over the next year or so as their respective tour paths occasionally crossed. When fame came to the Beatles in 1964, however, they lost touch with obscure Billy who drifted from small bandsman to studio musician.
In November, 1966, Paul McCartney was involved in an auto accident - a fatal accident. John, George and Ringo first wanted to stage a gigantic funeral in memory of Paul. But super-sharp manager, Brian Epstein, feared that Paul's death would destroy the Beatles mystique and managed almost entirely to suppress the news. Epstein's calculating mind had already devised a scheme for keeping the Beatles intact - at least for the public. With a minor nose job, Billy Shears would make a perfect replacement for Paul. Though hesitant at first, Shears soon accepted Epstein's offer. What musician could resist the opportunity to step into the shoes of one of the superstars of the rock world.
In the first album after Paul's death, Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles cryptically introduced the new "Paul" in the first cut. The album closes with "A Day in the Life", the story of Paul's death. (" ...He blew his mind out in a car/He didn't notice that the light had changed/A crowd of people stood and stared/They'd seen his face before ... ")
Knowing perhaps that the ruse couldn't last, the Beatles have hinted at the truth in every successive album. On the Sgt. Pepper album centerfold, only 'Paul' faces away from the camera. Epstein did not want a large close-up of 'Paul' to be shown until people became accustomed to the slight difference from the deceased Beatle. On the Magical Mystery Tour insert, only 'Paul' wears a black rose. "Revolution Number Nine", on the double album, contains the phrase "I buried Paul" when played backwards. The cover picture of the most recent Abbey Road shows the Beatles walking single file. The first two, Ringo and John, wear mourning clothes; 'Paul' is barefoot and dressed as for burial; George follows in the work clothes of an English gravedigger.
Even though I knew that my friend, who asked to remain un-named, had known and worked with the Beatles from the early days in the fifties, his story seemed almost too fantastic to believe. And certainly people who did not know him would have no reason to believe that Billy took Paul's place three years ago. So, for the next few days, I searched for evidence to absolutely confirm the story.
My search ended in the quiet Chelsea section of London where I talked with Philip Shears, father of the new Paul McCartney. At first, Mr. Shears hesitated to discuss the matter. He had kept his lips sealed for three long years in the pleasant, middle-class home his son had bought for him. But after I repeated the story my Apple friend had told me, the elderly Mr. Shears relented and confirmed the facts. "Mums and me always knew that it couldn't stay secret forever. The Beatles are a bunch of wonderful lads and have made a whole new world for us." But, he added, "It’s high time that our Billy received the credit he deserves."
And now he has.
