Sunday, April 8, 2012

Meet the different early Paul McCartneys: 1960-1962

Note: Some of the earliest photos have been touched-up over the years in order to improve the overall visual quality. I don't know how much the appearance of the subjects were altered. However, these are all we have to work with. And for what it's worth, these different Pauls all seem to be separated into specific timeframes, as you will see.

Starting with the earliest known photographs of John, George & Paul performing as the Silver Beatles. Here they are in May 1960 auditioning for Larry Parnes.


Here are more photos of him again (most likely). We see he has thin, evenly arched eyebrows that wrap all the way around his eyes and reaching the sides of his head.

He has a crimped mouth and a wide, rounded chin. He seems to have a narrow nose with nostrils that flare when he sings. 

^This 'somber' Paul rarely smiles or shows much emotion at all. He seems to always be spaced out and generally unenthused.^ 
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Here is another often-seen Paul from 1960. Similar to 'somber' Paul, but the most noticeable difference is his low, flat, unarched eyebrows, that fade out before reaching the sides of his head.


His nose is more ski-jump shaped. He also seems to be able to express emotion. He might even have somewhat of a sense of humor. 

^Both of these Pauls seem to be anywhere from .5 to 1.5 inches taller than John & George. And they both were quickly phased out after the Beatles went to Hamburg (which was in October 1960). Unfortunately there are so few photos and no known film footage of them before 1963. Making it difficult to conduct a thorough investigation. 
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Then we also have a one-time glimpse of this 3rd Paul In 1960. These photos were allegedly taken by their friend Astrid at some point after they arrived in Hamburg, (which is when they also changed their name to just The Beatles). This Paul has a long narrow face, a pointed right eyebrow and a much different mouth.


The rest of the set contains only John, George and Stuart. Where did this new Paul come from? The one with the train is seen in the Beatles Anthology documentary from 1995 and has the figures fade into the image.

So, there appears to be 2 different Pauls in 1960 and a possible 3rd.

*I am going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume the Pauls in their respective collages are all the same person.




By fall 1960 The Beatles have become a nightly act in the Hamburg music scene. We now see what seems to be a new Paul that seems to be a perfect hybrid of 'somber' Paul and the other lower-browed Paul. He was the most often seen Paul of 1961.

Here's more photos of him. This one seems to have more personality and his face has gotten a little more appealing.
His eyebrows are low, but arched. He too, seems a little bit taller than John.




This could also be him in 1960. And here in Feb. ‘61


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Then, sometime in the spring of 1961 a 2nd new Paul was phased into The Beatles.


You can see he has long slender legs with a short square torso, he is about the same height as John and George. Both of his eyebrows are low set, and pointed rather than arched. He has a short pug nose and his ears are set very high. He usually always has a smart-alecky, smirky sneer and acts wild on stage.


^ He seemed to stick around for quite awhile. He is also present in some tv appearances and promo shots in 1962-63^
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Then, around November 1961 we see a 3rd new Paul. He is the tallest so far, more rounded and somewhat pear-shaped and always acting very goofy. He has a fully swooped right brow while his left eyebrow is only slightly arched.


Always clowning around with a dopey facial expression.



is the bottom-left photo an early PID clue?
^He seemed like the life of the party, too bad he only lasted a few months.^
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There seems to be 3 different Pauls in 1961, their first year in Hamburg. If you add these to the 3 from 1960, we now have a total of 6 different Pauls from 1960-1961.



In 1962 we’re either seeing another new Paul, or the same predominant Paul from ‘61. Either way, here he seems much more refined. Friendly, good mannered, sharp looks and a more well-rounded personality, and seems more confident on stage and in public.

His height seems to fluctuate a little, but with so few photos it’s hard to tell for sure. Again, I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume this is all the same individual in all of these collages from 1962.

This is the Paul that signed with EMI/Parlaphone Records in June 1962 and saw Ringo join the band in August.


We see the same thin, fully-arched eyebrows, but he is cuter than the previous Pauls and seems to have great stage charisma.

Here is a video of them playing at the Cavern Club in 1962
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Li7n56uU8


So, by the time they signed to EMI/Parlaphone there were already at least 6 Pauls, if not more.


Some say, "You can tell the Beatles were all replaced in 1966 because their clothing & hair style suddenly changed."
When Epstein found them, and they signed to EMI, they wore what Epstein told them to wear.
Their original style was black leather and slicked hair. And even untucked polo shirts on stage.
Again, the biggest change to occur with the Beatles took place in 1963.


And who better to help prove my point than the two forensic scientists who poster their article in Wired. They compared these two Pauls and declared them the same person.
but failed to notice the glaringly different eyebrows!
Are those even the same mouths, noses, ears and chin clefts?

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