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Sgnt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in June 1967, after a long wait for new Beatles material. The idea apparently coming from Paul as he travelled back from Spain, that they could become an alter-ego band "Sgnt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" led by Billy Shears. Free from the restrictions of reality, the press, legalities and the pressures of being famous. However the album, its cover and contents have a much more sinister meaning...
For a start, the whole scene is set like a grave yard or funeral, including a priest on the left next to waxwork George. The word BEATLES set out in Red Hyacinths, the mythological flower of death and the whole crowd gathered around the bass drum, as if in mourning. Check out the two versions of the Beatles, including the waxwork Paul, comforting the waxwork Ringo.
Take a look at some of the figures on the cover. They are in some way or another famous people. Many of them are dead or have been in a car accident. Below is an in depth analogy at some of the more recognizable personalities on the front...
Noteworthy people on the album cover include:
Marylyn Monroe, a suicide victim.
Stuart Sutclife, former Beatle, died from a brain hemorrhage.
Edgar Allan Poe, who met with a violent and mysterious death at a young age. He is also mentioned in John Lennons song I am the Walrus.
Lewis Carroll, who died an untimely and painful death aged 66 from Neumonia. He also wrote a poem called "The Walrus & The Carpenter" which famously inspired Johns song, I am the Walrus, itself full of clues.
W.C Fields, died from a stomach hemorrhage, aged 66.
Lenny Bruce, died 3rd August 1966 from a drugs overdose.
H.G Wells, who died an unexplained death. He wrote in his Epitah his last words should be "I told you so. You damned fools!"
Yukteswar Giri, who wrote The Holy Science, in which he writes that the "Sun takes a Star for it's dual". Remember Paul Mccartney was replaced by a double?
James Dean, who crashed his silver porsche in 1955. He was later taken to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. He is looking at the waxwork of Paul Mccartney.
Tom Mix, involved in a car crash and subsequnetly struck on the head by a suitcase that was in the car breaking his neck and smashing his skull. Also note that he is standing behind and looking at the waxwork of Paul Mccartney, over James Dean, another car crash victim.
Issy Bonn, who wrote the song, "I'm in love with two sweethearts", perhaps implying that people can love both the new and the old Paul? It is his hand that appears over the head of Paul, like the last blessing of a corpse.
Charlie Chaplain, famous for being a tramp and wearing a fake moustache. Paul was well known for going out in disguise to avoid the media attention. Were the Sgnt Pepper moustaches fake? He also came second in a lookalike contest of himself!
Stephen Crane, who wrote "The Open Boat" about 4 men who are adrift. The one most determined to keep them together dies and the rest act as interpretuers. Sound familiar? He also met an early death due to over work, he died at just 28 years old.
Henry Huntz Hall, who appeared in an early film called "Dead End". He is looking directly at Paul.
Sir John Peel, former British Priminister, who met a violent death when he fell from his horse aged 62.
Aubery Beardsley, who died aged just 25 from Tuberculosis.
Sonny Liston, a boxer, who has no official birth date. Same as Mccartney has no official death date perhaps? Also note his clothing is a pre fight gown, that looks more like a priets robes given the graveyard scene and all the dead famous people surrounding him...
Aleister Crawley, who started his own religeon. (Remember John saying the line "bigger than Jesus") He also painted this rather creepy picture.
Bob Dylan who on the 29th July 1966 broke several vertebrae in his neck in a motorbike accident. He was not hospilatised, but survived the ordeal. In 1967 when he began recording again, he wrote the song "St Augustine", a possible tribute song to the late Paul Mccartney.
Jane Mansfield also makes an apearance. She was decapitated in a car crash in but only after Sgnt Pepper was released.
Yet MORE Clues on the front cover
A doll wearing a stripy jumper that says "Welcome The Rolling Stones" on the front and "Good boys" on the left sleeve. She is sat in the lap of a very creepy looking figure, with blood stained driving gloves next to her.
Interesting that the Rolling Stones are mentioned, but do not appear, unlike contemporary artist Bob Dylan. They also appear to have written a tribute song, released in 1967 called We Love You. Their 1967 album, "At Their Satanic Majesties Request, features a very similar cover the Sgnt Pepper.
A yellow guitar like shape that appears to spell 'Paul?' Notice it has three stings rather than Pauls bass which would have had 4. One for each of the remaining Beatles? Yellow is also the colour for sympathy.
Here The Beatles appear in their alter ego dress code, including instruments that are not typical to them. Notice Paul is holding the black, wooden, coffin like Cor Anglais and not the trumpet of his youth. It appears that paul is being supported by Ring and George, which adds weight to the theory that he, along with many of the others on the front, was also a cardboard cut out. Look closely and you will see paul appears to have grown a lot taller suddenly, certainly when compared to Madame Tusuards waxworks that also appear on the album cover.
It wold however apear that Paul is not a cut out, shown here with some alternative album covers. See how on the left one, Paul is still very prominantley holding the Cor Anglais and directly blocking out the waxwork Paul, almost totally. See how much taller he is too, as his counterpart is standing on a step. He is also covering the L in Lonely, making it spell Onely or perhaps 'Only'.
On the second picture, Paul is clearly cutting through waxwork pauls head with the Cor Anglais. The actual cover appears to be the first shot taken, so these are just trying alternatives. The man looking down here is looking into the empty space where Paul was meant to stand perhaps? The red arrow is pointing to Adolf Hitler, who was requested by John Lennon to be on the cover. Whilst he is yet another dead person (For those of you who don't know, suicide) and of course mass murderer, Hilter was also involved in two car crashes, one in March 1930 and the other in December 1931.
There is a white car, falling with yellow flowers around it that look like flames. Pauls car was white. It's also not too disimilar to the one seen in the film Yellow Submarine or on A Collection of Beatles Olides.
A blacked out TV. This set suposedly belonged to Mccartney, either representing the media black out or that he himself is now turned off. In front of it is a doll, that bears a resemblance to Jane Asher, Pauls long term girlfriend. She is turned away from the TV and looks to be extremly sad.
The similarity between the bass drum and Lewis Carrolls tomb stone are a bit creepy to say the least. John Lennon was a huge fan of Lewis Carroll. Notice that the date is in the middle of Lewis Carrols. Well if you get a mirror and place it horizontally across the Sgnt Peppers drum you get this:
It says:
I ONEI X HE ^ DIE with the arrow pointing directly up at Mccartney. This could be the date that he died. So reading it as, one one, roman numeral 9 (IX), by using the assumed year of 1966 you get either Sunday 11th September, or using the American system you get Wednesday November 9th. Whilst the Beatles were an English band, the American date makes more sense when combined with other clues and facts, like John Lennons total obsession with the number 9...
Theres a doll, with no hair and large ears and a massive crack through his head.
Another doll, this time of an Indian Goddess, Shivam the Destroyer. Notice where her hands are pointing? Directly at both
Pauls, symbolising life and rebirth.
A rugby trophie, belonging to Paul Mccarney. (Notice in Come Together "He got toe jam football") This also looks like a pair of bloody shoes.
One of the Albums inserts featuring Sgnt Pepper, a fake Moustache for the listners to cut out and the four Beatles. Paul again looking quite similar to the front cover image, lending credence to the theory that he is a cardboard cut out. The military rank stripes are also the number three, which crops up a lot from this album onwards...
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