 If the Beatles are the undisputed titans of pop music, then this is the Titanic of rock myths. In 1969, Beatlemaniacs -- and who in the world wasn't one, by then? -- were buzzing with the bizarre rumor that Paul McCartney had been dead since 1966, the victim of a car crash in his Aston-Martin on a rainy night following a recording session at Abbey Road. The surviving band members, distraught, were said to have scrambled to find an impersonator. Then they began the slow process of dropping hints about the incident: "Here's another clue for you all," John Lennon sang on "Glass Onion." "The walrus was Paul." The walrus was said to be an ancient symbol of death in several cultures (Roman, Arctic). During the eerie outro of "Strawberry Fields," a muffled voice can be heard apparently saying "I buried Paul." And on the cover of Abbey Road, Paul is barefoot (the corpse), John is in white (the angel), Ringo in black (the clergyman) and George in denim (the gravedigger). The dead man has since gone on to record dozens of solo records, compose symphonies, be knighted . . . and get busted for pot.
JAMES SULLIVAN
(Posted Oct. 12, 2004)
 Rock's Wildest Myths Main Page
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