another Beatle-ful weekend

[orangerful]

Had my highly anticipated (well, by me) Beatles program on Saturday. Considering that we had our big snow storm on Thursday and Friday things were still a mess, I'm happy with the group I had on Saturday. I had about 18 people total, mostly parents and young kids. One little girl, about 9 years old I think, was a HUGE fan, had her t-shirt on any everything, loved playing Rock Band. It was fun. And, as one of my other Beatles fan librarian friends pointed out, there's an anniversary every year so I can maybe throw something together for next year, maybe an adult program that's just trivia or something.

Today, I drove up to Harford County to meet up with said-friend and we saw Joel Glazier, a Beatles historian, speak about the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy. It was fascinating and sorta creepy. By the end, even I wasn't sure anymore if Paul McCartney really IS THE Paul McCartney. It was also crazy to think that a rumor like this could spread and gather so much speed pre-Internet. He said it was biggest on college campuses and that makes sense - people who were talking to friends on campus then maybe keeping in touch with friends back home or at other schools. But how did it become SO huge that magazines were covering it? That LIFE Magazine felt the need to find Paul and interview him to "prove" he wasn't dead.

I don't really think Paul is dead but...it really was sorta weird how many little messages and such were scattered through the late 60s albums. I wonder if they did mean anything...or was John just "very bored"?

He will be speaking again next Saturday up in Fallston but I'm working and can't make it. I did ask him which of the new Beatles books he liked the most and he said Mark Lewisohn's "Tune In" is insanely researched and 900+ pages and it only covers their childhoods through 1962...and Volume 2 won't be out for another 6 years!!!!!! Which is good because it will probably take my 6 years to read that books.

I was surprised how much of the Beatles facts were still buried in my brain. I knew about 85% of the Paul is Dead clues from reading countless Beatles books in my youth. I kinda want to watch the Anthology again too but I need to finish my Veronica Mars rewatch before March 14!!!

Comments

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

Wait...there is a conspiracy about Paul being dead?

Glad the program had a good group, sounds like that nine year old is an awesome kid. Take her under your wing and turn her into a mini-future-librarian!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Did you not know about that?? Or are you teasing me? Sarcasm can be hard on the internet!

LOL I should. She already has the skills - she loves the Beatles, she is a little bit bossy, and I have seen her at the local coffee shop. hahaha. At least i know her name now!

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

To be honest I don't have much back-story info on the Beatles. I like their music but I haven't really read much about them or paid much attention. :( My bad.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

ah okay :) I sorta immersed myself in Beatles for several years so I'm never sure what is common knowledge and what comes from being a crazy fangirl.

Short version: when Abbey Road was released, fans started to see "secret messages" on the album cover alluding to the fact that Paul was not Paul. They then went back and decided that, according to these messages, the real Paul died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike (which is why the Beatles had to stop touring). It gets more and more ridiculous from there, as you would imagine. :)

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it is more common knowledge for other people. I'm just...out of touch with trivia. Interesting, though.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

That would be cool to make it a yearly thing.

I think I'd heard something vaguely about the Paul is dead thing, but didn't realize people thought Paul McCartney was dead and the one walking around now is an impostor.

Stacey

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, it's CRAZY! Been going since "Abbey Road", though they say Paul "died" in 1966 in a car crash and that they hired a look-alike, which was why they had to stop touring. I just love that LIFE magazine went out and found Paul on vacation in Scotland and made him do an interview to "prove" he was alive. See, fandom has always been made of crazy. :)

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

LOL. Interviewing a guy just to confirm he's still alive. Yep, crazy. :)

Stacey

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

We are halfway through Disc 3, just watched the Echolls Family Christmas, which I could NOT remember the twist to so I was waiting to see who stole the money!

Still can't stand Logan. Ugh. Was wondering if I just needed to rewatch the show to "get" the whole Veronica/Logan thing but...nope. Don't like him.

[andy-wolverton.livejournal.com]

Glad the program was good! Wish I could've been there. I remember my brother telling me about the whole Paul is Dead thing when I was a kid, showing me all the clues on Abbey Road. (My brother is 12 years older than me, so I was probably 8 and he was 20 at the time.) That was probably my first exposure to any sort of conspiracy theory... I'm just glad Chris Carter hasn't done anything with this (yet!).

I got TUNE IN for my birthday and hope to start it soon. Just finished the new Rolling Stones book, so I'll probably wait a few weeks. I know so little of the early *early* days of the Beatles, I'm really looking forward to reading it.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

LOL it would make a fabulous episode of...something. Someone should do something on another show that homages the "Paul is Dead" conspiracy. It really would be easy to get sucked into it all.

I may make you write up Cliff Notes for me from Tune In. Seems like a HUGE commitment!!!

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

That sounds like so much fun! I don't really buy into the Paul Is Dead stuff, but it is fascinating. People are very good at reading "signs" into ordinary minutia if they get an idea into their heads. I think you might be right about John though--he's the original Trolling Creator. "Well here's another clue for you all / The Walrus was Paul." Yeeeeeah, he was messing with fans' heads, definitely.

I was surprised how much of the Beatles facts were still buried in my brain.
Seriously. I watched my Ed Sullivan DVD with Mom last week, and there were these captions with the boys' names, and when it got to John it also said, "Sorry girls, he's married," or something. Mom said, "Wait, he was already married? Who came before Yoko?" And I busted out this bit of trivia: "Yeah, this girl Cynthia--they were in art school together back in Liverpool. [pause] Why the hell do I know that?"

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

The speaker said that art teachers LOVE his lecture because it teaches students to examine and interpret the art of the album and the art of the music, which I thought was a pretty cool approach.

LOL you didn't say "Yeah, this girl Cynthia that he knocked up back in Liverpool who gave birth to Julian who drew the picture that inspired 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' and is the "Jude" of "Hey Jude"" ?? Or was that too much information? LOL. ;-)

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Dude, dude, DUDE, keep an eye on my page, because I'm shortly going to post a video dissecting the poetic meter of several Beatles songs that will BLOW YOUR MIIIIIND.

And lol, no, but I could have. I always thought it was sad that John didn't write any songs for his first son, and yet . . . Paul did.

[ekaterin24.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the program went well! I love that there are Beatles fans of all ages.

I bet the "Paul is Dead" thing was just John being bored (and being John).

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I hope so. The backwards recordings were SO WEIRD though. I know they were telling you to listen for phrases but...yeah, strange. Who even THINKS to play a record backwards anyway??? The lecturer said that he loves to give these talks at night because people will freak out when they "see" things in the images LOL.