Rock's wildest myths

[Shawn]

If you're like me you've probably heard most of these.

Rolling Stone

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.

They missed the result of playing Revolution #9 off the original album backwards.

"Paul is dead" can be heard by most people who listen to it.

[rainbowdemon]

And the plate on the Volkswagen in the Abbey Road photo says "28IF". Paul was said to be 27 at the time of his "death".

[slum_goddess]

In 1969, Beatlemaniacs -- and who in the world wasn't one, by then?

those w/the brains and rebelliousness to dig the stones music better? don't wanna start a war here, but really! HA-ha. :P

[DudeAsInCool]

those w/the brains and rebelliousness to dig the stones music better? don't wanna start a war here, but really! HA-ha. :P

Flowers? Satanic Majesties Request I dont think so

[KiwiCoromandel]

aahhhhhh...don`t you just love a good rock and roll conspiracy theory......how about these gems.....

Epoch Moments and Secrets : John Lennon and the Beatles at the Mirror of Man's Destiny: The Last Concerts

by Richard Warren Lipack [barrister 5/96, 357pp.]

"The Beatles were more than just a rock band. In historical context, they were part of a huge government engineered social event which has been overseen through the years by secret societies and unknown branches of U.S. and British governments. The engineering continues to evolve today. As John Lennon has stated, one moment they were playing all kinds of seedy bars, strip joints, and dance clubs across the UK and Europe. A gritty covers band with an attitude and ability to play. The next thing he knew, they were meeting the Queen of England and heads of state across the globe as they toured. Transforming them from a heavy rock band into a cute, loveable teen sensation almost overnight was what their manager Brian Epstein did, as he promised if they did this they'd be rich beyond their dreams and be bigger than Elvis. But it went way beyond even that as their importance ballooned into political issue and their effect on the 'youth culture'. Heads of state took notice of their citizen's enchantment with the band. The 'clean' image Epstein marketed got them into family rooms around the globe; where for the band was where the money they were promised was; and for Tavistock, a worldwide opportunity to capture the minds of the entire world's youth. What the Beatles got themselves into through Epstein's contracts and guidance, unbeknownst to them, was a role in the New World Order's plans to test out mass mind control. You'll learn about England's top secret Tavistock facilities (which as predicted in the book, now monitors all communications passing in and out of England), and how it secretly helped engineer the Beatles 'invasion' of the U.S. and then the world and why. A discussion of the Beatles' early music, and it's hypnotic "12-atonal" quality attempts to explain the reason their music seems to elicit senses within the brain common in many humans, especially those in a certain age group.

"The subject of the group's decision to use and publicize their use of LSD and cannabis marijuana as they began to move in their own direction beyond their manager's initial Beatlemania-era "cute" image, and into the psychedelic-rock/hard rock era, is discussed in detail. Previously unpublished photos of the band using LSD and them performing at their last concerts appear in the book for the first time. Secret documents are exposed from FBI, CIA files. Social engineering, the mark of the beast, Waco, black choppers, militia, mind control, the drug trade, Nazi connections, UFO and alien appearances, backwards messages. The modern multimedia presentation of music and marketing began here.

"The book is not extremely organized in a comprehensible manner. It's best to take this book a chapter at a time. It seems the author may have crammed too much in one book that might have been meant for three since it says this is a trilogy. However you will learn so much more than you may want to know about how the Beatles fit into the cosmic conspiracy that you'll scare yourself. I think every major conspiracy theory is touched upon. The book seems to weave in and out in this manner, to some great stories about the Beatles on tour and behind the scenes, with previously unpublished photos. If any of this sounds slightly interesting, believe me, it is quite fascinating, and you should read this book immediately. What you think and saw was happening on the outside, was happening because of some very bizarre coincidences. Interesting addendum: In 1996 An episode of the TV series "Dark Skies" was based on this book's chapter about the Beatles' first U.S. appearance on a live broadcast of the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964. Seen by 73 million viewers across the nation, (that's almost everyone who had a television set then), it was the perfect time to implant the message and test mass mind control. Was it Tavistock who masterminded it all? This book has the answers, and raises even more questions that still don't but one day we may know the answer as more government documents become declassified regarding these operations."

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Who Killed John Lennon?

by Fenton Bresler [st. Martin's 9/89, 309pp.]

"Was John Lennon's murder a political assassination? Fenton Bresler outlines this concept in his ground-breaking publication which transcends the confines of pure speculation to actual investigation. The theory goes that Lennon's killing was a case of 'preventive-elimination' of potential opposition to a right-ward shift in politics that would bloom with the newly appointed conservative Reagan Administration. Lennon was shot down one week before he was to attend a scheduled appearance at a Labor strike rally (i.e, he was going to rekindle his political activism). The fact that his one time friend Abbie Hoffman,who was a political activist, had at that time resurfaced makes this "getting back to politics" assumption ring true. A renewal of Hoffman's acquaintance with Lennon was already being rumoured within the media. In building his case (an exhaustive 8-year research) Bresler establishes some key point revelations. (1) Lennon was killed just 4 years after the intense FBI/CIA surveillance on him had ceased. In those years President Jimmy Carter had kept the two gestapo-ish agencies more or less in check. But in December 1980,when Lennon's first album in half a decade was high in the charts, Carter was a lame duck chief executive, having lost his reelection bid to Ronald Reagan. Reagan's campaign was managed by career secret agent William Casey who under President Reagan became CIA cheif & one of the most freewheeling ones at that. The new far-right admin. would reassemble the intelligence service & grant them a cheerful carte blanche. The forces that tried desperately to neutralize Lennon for at least 7 years lost power in 1976. Lennon's Govt. dossier ends that year. In 1980,as those forces were preparing to retake control of the government,"dangerous extremist" John Lennon emerged from retirement. Within a few months he was dead. (2) In late 1972 when the "surveillance" was at its peak, Lennon told humorist Paul Krassner, "Listen, if anything happens to Yoko & me, it wasn't an accident "

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...and, my personal favourite.......

Who Killed Kurt Cobain? : The Mysterious Death of an Icon

by Ian Halperin & Max Wallace [birch Lane 4/98]

"When rock superstar Kurt Cobain was found dead in April 1994, the police quickly labeled the death a suicide. In Who Killed Kurt Cobain?, two award-winning investigative journalists raise explosive questions whose answers may point to the possibility that the rock superstar was actually murdered of photos, many in color .

"Just who did kill Kurt Cobain? Was it really Cobain himself, through careless use of drugs and intentional aim with a rifle? Or was it Courtney Love, Cobain's extravagant and chameleon-like wife? Or could it have been someone she hired--a professional assassin or lucky amateur? At this point one can't tell, yet the compelling chain of events that Halperin and Wallace expose constitutes evidence of a plausible alternative explanation to the official verdict of suicide. Cobain's short life (he was 27 when he died) was fraught with anguish--broken family, lost love and a desperate search for its return, youthful rebellion, homelessness, drugs. Reality surpassed Cobain's dreams, yet even when he became a millionaire rock star, his past wouldn't let go, and he continued to drown depression in heavy drug use. Halperin and Wallace have written a very good and interesting book, sans hero worship, for fans of pop music and murder mysteries "alike, one that soberly lays out the case for thinking this pop icon's death may not be an open-and-shut case.

To be sure, the authors do not offer, nor do they claim to have, any evidence implicating Love or anyone else in foul play. This is a book about suspicion, implication, possibility. They write that their intent is, simply, to get the case reopened. It might prove interesting if it were.

"Anyone who says that this book is tabloid trash is telling lies. The reveiwer from the Boston Globe didn't dismiss it as tabloid trash, and neither should you. Interesting that the revised and updated edition is out of print... it's even better, because it shows how far Courtney will go to infringe upon these guys' freedom of press. The fact is, if this was libelous tabloid trash, Courtney could sue their asses off... but she has never sued anyone. Why? The reason is simple. Tom Grant, a p.i. hired by Courtney just before Kurt's murder, has recorded conversations with Rosemary Carroll, Courtney and Kurt's lawyer, in which Carroll expresses doubts about Kurt's suicide, and expresses concerns about Courtneys motives and possible involvement(ie. Carroll knew Kurt was divorcing Courtney, as well as rewriting his will in the weeks prior to his murder). Grant played these tapes for the authors. So basically, Courtney will never sue, because she wants this case buried; she knows all too well that a thorough examination of the evidence could very well implicate her in Kurt's death, and at the very least would clear up the suicide myth. The more you dig, the deeper it goes. So DIG, people!"

Edited October 20, 2004 by kiwibank

[Shawn]

The death of Kurt Cobain... :good job:

I've heard that rumor for a long time now.

[method77]

the biggest and funniest myth of all times is Elvis.

btw...

I saw him last week in a cafe in Arahova (place close to me that rich people or rich wannabes go on weekends)

[slum_goddess]

Flowers?  Satanic Majesties Request  I dont think so

we were always in the minority, Dude. and still am today *proud*

from a heavy rock band into a cute, loveable teen sensation

i rest my case (your mileage may vary).

[Crazy Diamond]

Check out a book called Take a Walk on the Wild Side by Gary Patterson.

All about rocks myths, legends and curses.

A good read.