Although many would assert that Paul McCartney died the moment the Beatles broke up, and others would say it happened as he recorded “Ebony & Ivory”, still others believe it happened in 1966. The Winged Beatle is yet another look at the eerie connections between the Beatles, Aleister Crowley, and backwards speech. All wrapped up in compulsive fits of Pareidolia.
Did Paul McCartney die in 1966, to be replaced by a perfect double in order to keep intact the multi-million dollar empire that was The Beatles? Nah, probably not. And even if he did, they did such a good job of replacing him that ultimately it’s kind of irrelevant. But it’s a testament to the epic magnitude of the Beatles as a pop culture phenomena that anyone would still be talking about the idea today. Which they are. YouTube user iamaphoney has been uploading videos for several years exploring the legends and conspiracy theories surrounding the “Paul is dead” rumours that remained so pervasive in the late sixties and early seventies. In December, the material was released in a one-hour-and-four-minute compilation called The Winged Beatle (presumably a reference to the Aleister Crowley book). It’s available as a stream on both YouTube and Vimeo, and is downloadable in higher resolution video via that first link. I’m a little ashamed to admit I got sucked into watching the whole thing the other evening, not with rapt attention, but in a second browser window while I worked. But I have to say that – especially as “user generated content” – it’s an intriguing piece of work that’s well worth a look. Not because it brings to light any shocking revelations, or because it’s particularly compelling in production quality, but because it pursues the mythology of the story with such vigor, and with the same spirit of “Look at this seemingly unrelated piece of information! Coincidence? DANH-DANH-DANH! We think not!” that gave the whole conspiracy life back in the more naive 60′s in the first place. I can’t tell you how many LP’s I ruined as a kid, playing them backwards, thanks to the Beatles. At least until my folks bought me a reel-to-reel Teac A-1200. And there’s no shortage of backwards audio in this relentless, hour long conniption fit of audio-video Pareidolia. Fortunately, during the parts where the suggestion that there are any intelligible words being heard is total poppycock, subtitles are provided. But that’s part of the fun. Because even if you’re (ahem) dead certain that it’s all a fairy tale, the “true” story of how it all unfolded is actually as fascinating as the conspiracy version. And of course, being the googleholic wikiphiliac that I am, I had to learn more. If you’re interested, one of the best-documented sources I found was Who Buried Paul , a presentation assembled by Brian Moriarty. It follows the original media trail with rigorous detail, from the first rumour in 1966 through its revival in 1969. Which I had no idea, by the way, began in my hometown of Ann Arbor, MI. And I always thought that all we had brought the world of pop was Bob Seger. Good show, Ann Arbor. If you want to learn more about the creator of TheWingedBeatle, he has a Facebook page and a Twitter account with the name Billy Martin attached. And apparently has two more releases planned, TheRightAlbum later this year, and TheRevelAtion in 2012. Watch TheWingedBeatle below if you like.
