You should also point out that the man you’re looking at, Paul/Viv, is not the same Paul McCartney who was part of the Beatles during and prior to the summer of 1966. Or did I miss this?
Thanks, Scott. What convinces you that Paul was swapped out?
As for me, the Paul who gave interviews in 1967 just does not appear to be the same man as the Paul we see in interviews in 1966 and earlier. The look, the body language, the disposition—it all changed. There are other things, too, but that’s the biggie for me.
At the same time, I don’t see how it could happen that it isn’t the same Paul. I’ve played guitar and bass for 40 years. Tommy Tedesco of The Wrecking Crew was one of my teachers. I can imagine how The Beatles stuff was produced. But I don’t see how a replacement Paul could have produced all the great Wings songs and all the songs after Wings. Learning to play Blackbird left-handed as a right-handed player is unimaginably difficult for just one example.
My impossible position is that I really don’t think it’s the same person and, at the same time, I don’t see how they can be different people. It makes no sense but there it is. Cheers! 🎸😎👍
More evidence for me than I could ever write to you. I’m glad you can see the clear difference between the original Paul and “Billy Shears”…all the changes you mentioned. Billy has always been a great musician, amazing sense of orchestration, good pianist, good singer in his own right. Ability to use multiple vocal styles, clearly showcased on his first Beatle LP Sgt Pepper. And so many other examples later with Beatles and Wings. But Paul was a natural with the bass, he never had to look at the neck when he was playing (Billy always did). And Paul had the unique way of shaking his head while performing, Billy could never quite copy it.
For the record, I hung with the guys from Cast Of Beatlemania a bit about ten years ago. Lenie Colacino who had played Paul for decades is a natural right hander. He changed when he landed the role, I believe back in the late 70s. Put him in a wig and Beatle outfit and one could hardly tell the difference (at least back then). All due respect to Lenie, Billy is/was a far more talented copycat.
I do agree that Blackbird would have required a lot of practice to be played leftie. But Billy had several years before he needed to do it publicly, the early studio stuff (‘67 -70) was likely played right-handed.
More people knew about the swap then you would imagine, all the top British rockers from that era knew. There was a lot of support and cover from all the musicians and assistants that had signed NDAs with the record companies.
So much more evidence, a lot described in books by Tina Foster and Nicholas Kollerstrom. Fun topic!
Thanks for writing that out, Scott. I saw Beatlemania back in the 70s. Could well have been your buddy playing. I seem to remember Aldo Nova playing John Lennon but I don’t know where I get that from.
I’ll check out the Tina Foster stuff…I found an interview with her on YouTube. The Paul stuff is an endless rabbit hole and I only wanna spend so much much time in it. Cheers!
You should also point out that the man you’re looking at, Paul/Viv, is not the same Paul McCartney who was part of the Beatles during and prior to the summer of 1966. Or did I miss this?
Thanks, Scott. That, too, is an interesting topic. Are you convinced that Viv and Paul are the same man?
No I’m not. I think it’s likely but I don’t have enough details. I am 100% convinced regarding swapping out the original Paul.
Thanks, Scott. What convinces you that Paul was swapped out?
As for me, the Paul who gave interviews in 1967 just does not appear to be the same man as the Paul we see in interviews in 1966 and earlier. The look, the body language, the disposition—it all changed. There are other things, too, but that’s the biggie for me.
At the same time, I don’t see how it could happen that it isn’t the same Paul. I’ve played guitar and bass for 40 years. Tommy Tedesco of The Wrecking Crew was one of my teachers. I can imagine how The Beatles stuff was produced. But I don’t see how a replacement Paul could have produced all the great Wings songs and all the songs after Wings. Learning to play Blackbird left-handed as a right-handed player is unimaginably difficult for just one example.
My impossible position is that I really don’t think it’s the same person and, at the same time, I don’t see how they can be different people. It makes no sense but there it is. Cheers! 🎸😎👍
More evidence for me than I could ever write to you. I’m glad you can see the clear difference between the original Paul and “Billy Shears”…all the changes you mentioned. Billy has always been a great musician, amazing sense of orchestration, good pianist, good singer in his own right. Ability to use multiple vocal styles, clearly showcased on his first Beatle LP Sgt Pepper. And so many other examples later with Beatles and Wings. But Paul was a natural with the bass, he never had to look at the neck when he was playing (Billy always did). And Paul had the unique way of shaking his head while performing, Billy could never quite copy it.
For the record, I hung with the guys from Cast Of Beatlemania a bit about ten years ago. Lenie Colacino who had played Paul for decades is a natural right hander. He changed when he landed the role, I believe back in the late 70s. Put him in a wig and Beatle outfit and one could hardly tell the difference (at least back then). All due respect to Lenie, Billy is/was a far more talented copycat.
I do agree that Blackbird would have required a lot of practice to be played leftie. But Billy had several years before he needed to do it publicly, the early studio stuff (‘67 -70) was likely played right-handed.
More people knew about the swap then you would imagine, all the top British rockers from that era knew. There was a lot of support and cover from all the musicians and assistants that had signed NDAs with the record companies.
So much more evidence, a lot described in books by Tina Foster and Nicholas Kollerstrom. Fun topic!
Thanks for writing that out, Scott. I saw Beatlemania back in the 70s. Could well have been your buddy playing. I seem to remember Aldo Nova playing John Lennon but I don’t know where I get that from.
I’ll check out the Tina Foster stuff…I found an interview with her on YouTube. The Paul stuff is an endless rabbit hole and I only wanna spend so much much time in it. Cheers!
Agreed about time, I spent a lot of time on it a few years ago. Onto other stuff now. Cheers!