Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Was The Octopus Paul?

In my April 27, 2012 post I talked about the English group Manfred Mann's 1968 song, Fox On The Run's references to Paul.  I found an October, 1966 Manfred Mann song that might have previewed Ringo Starr's 1969 song, Octopus's Garden.

At the beginning of the reversed song Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James, you can hear the lead vocalist sing "you're an octopus" six times.  The song talks about a woman planning to marry a man and settle down to a routine English suburban life.

Ringo Starr's song was recorded in April and July, 1969 and released in September, 1969.  In it, he talks about an "octopus" living under the sea with lyrics very reminiscent of Paul's 1966 song, Yellow Submarine.

So in addition to the walrus being Paul, was the octopus Paul?

This Paul Might Be Irish

As I've researched the Paul mystery I've come to the conclusion that in the history of The Beatles there have been THREE active Pauls:  the real Paul McCartney, the Paul that American fans came to know from 1964-1966, and the final Paul from 1966 to the present.  It is difficult to wrap your mind around the idea that anyone would have the gall to try to deceive the world public, but, believe me, I'm not the only one to research this and come to that conclusion.

Occasionally, I'll come across some evidence to prove my theory and I've found another clue (for you all.)

In 1972, "Paul" wrote a song called Give Ireland Back To The Irish.  In a 1972 uncut ABC News interview I found of "Paul" and Linda "McCartney", [find it at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3uD1hZaTXo ] "Paul" had the following exchange with the American reporter [at 10:49-11:00 in the interview]:

     Reporter:  And you say you're British, and, but, ah . . .
     "Paul":     Well, I'm British, yeah, of course I am.
     Reporter:  But with some Irish antecedents . . .
     "Paul":      I probably got some Irish background, yes, but, uh I feel British.

This is the answer of Paul McCartney who had an Irish mother with the maiden name of Mohin.

I don't know how much "airplay" this interview got, or even if it was ever broadcast in its entirety, but it didn't make an impression on Beatles' fans at the time, and, of course it should have.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Has Anyone Seen These Videos?

If you've read any of my past posts, I have commented on many articles and interviews written for KRLA Beat, a fan magazine put out in the mid-1960's by Los Angeles radio station KRLA.  There are two more articles I found with noteworthy information.

The first was from a column written by Tony Barrow who was The Beatles press secretary.  In the June 4, 1966 column, Barrow talks about all four Beatles often meeting at John's Weybridge home during the recording of the Revolver album.  Barrow said:  "Quite frequently they give themselves a break from more serious work and shoot off some zany home movies in John's vast garden."

The second was a report on the Beatles mishap in the Phillipines.  The article said:  "The Beatles were victims of similar mob action in India where Paul suffered a black eye.  Paul said he was struck by the baton of a policeman who was attempting to protect the boys during the Indian riot." The black eye would have happened on July 6th. or 7th., 1966.  Oddly, of course, there are two interviews with the group when they arrived back in England on July 8th., 1966 and in both interviews you can see "Paul" WITHOUT a black eye.  (For example, check out the video on Youtube:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAOWaUSkqj4  at 0:04-0:18 for close-ups of "Paul" without a black eye.

 So . . . has anyone seen 1966 videos of The Beatles at Weybridge and Paul WITH a black eye?