DelcoReviewSummer2017 - 35

www.DelcoBar.org

The Cover Story
Please allow me to tell you of our inspiration . . .
By Tracy E. Price, Editor
www.DelcoBar.org

THE FRONT COVER
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE DELAWARE COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

T

he covers of the 2017 Membership
Directory of the Delaware County Bar
Association and the Spring issue of the
Delco re:View, featuring four of our attorneymembers; Michael A. Burns, Tiffany T. Griffin, Matthew Bilker and Patrick Daley; were inspired by the Beatle's
world-famous Abbey Road album cover. While the covers of two of our
publications were highly lauded, there are a few members of our readership who are unaware of the mass of conspiracy theories surrounding
the Abbey Road cover, some of which we duplicated on purpose, some
by coincidence.
On August 7, 1969, at 11:35am, the Beatles walked across a zebra
crossing in an innocuous North London street.The photo shoot for their
new Abbey Road album happened just yards from the eponymous recording studios and took ten minutes - only six frames were taken by
the photographer, Iain Macmillan, who was perched on a stepladder.
The Beatles' world-famous Abbey Road album cover has since
become one of the most iconic covers in history for two reasons - no
album cover has inspired more imitations, and none has spawned such a
mass of conspiracy theories.
Before you continue on, and read of the conspiracies, be mindful
of a common saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," which
means beauty does not exist on its own but is created by observers. That
famous quote will remind you that a beholder is someone who sees or
otherwise experiences things, as they become aware of them. Therefore,
I ask you... could conspiracy be in the eye of the beholder?
The most bizarre, and that which fueled the conspiracy theories, is
that Paul McCartney was believed to be dead. According to the legend,
Paul had died in a car accident and been replaced by an impostor. The
band, it was said, subsequently felt guilty about the deception, and so
placed hidden clues on the album cover for their fans. True or contrived,
the Beatles insisted that if you look closely at the images on the front
and back of the album it is packed with deathly symbolism. What is
certain is that the album denoted one death of sorts. Unbeknown to the
public at the time, the Beatles were in the final throes of a bitter breakup and would never record another album. Relations had deteriorated to
such an extent that the group abandoned their original title of "Everest,"
together with a shoot in the Himalayas, and were photographed instead
crossing Abbey Road, walking away from the studios, and everything
they had once shared.

SPRING 2017

1. THE FUNERAL
The procession of the Beatles across the zebra
crossing, say the conspiracy theorists, represents Paul's funeral. John Lennon leads in a
white suit and symbolizes the preacher; Ringo
Starr is the mourner, dressed in black; George
Harrison, in scruffy shirt and trousers, denotes
the grave-digger; Paul is wearing an old suit
and is the only one who is barefoot.

2. THE CIGARETTE
Paul McCartney is left-handed, but here holds
his cigarette in his right hand. At the time,
cigarettes were commonly referred to as 'cofIN THIS ISSUE:
fin nails.' This, therefore, could be seen as a
45th Annual Bench Bar Conference
Team Building
message that Paul's 'coffin lid' had been nailed
March to the Beat of a Woman
down and that the man in the picture was a
Second Chance Court Program
lookalike. Paul is also out of step with the
other band members. Each of the others has his
left leg forward, but Paul has his right leg forward - again marking him
out as different.
3. THE REGISTRATION PLATE
The white VW Beetle in the background has the registration LMW 28IF
- 28 being the age conspiracy theorists say Paul would have been IF he
hadn't 'died.' In fact, Paul was 27 when Abbey Road was released - but
fortunately for the theorists, Indian mystics count a person's age from
conception, not birth, in which case Paul would have indeed been 28 at
the time. The band famously followed Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi. It has also been suggested that the LMW stands for 'Linda McCartney Weeps' - referring to his new wife whom he had married earlier
that year.
4. THE SPECTATORS
In the background, a small group of people dressed in white stand on
one side of the road, while a lone person stands on the other. Is this
meant to be Paul, alone and different from the others?
5. THE POLICE VAN
On the right-hand side of the road is a black police van, believed to be a
reference to the police who kept quiet about Paul's 'death.' According to
legend, the band's manager, Brian Epstein, bought their silence, and the
presence of the Maria is meant as another subtle thank you.
6. THE LINE OF CARS
A line can be traced from the VW Beetle to the three cars in front of it.
If it is drawn connecting their right wheels it runs straight through Paul's
head, with theorists suggesting that means Paul sustained a head injury
because of a car crash.
7. THE BLOODSTAIN
On the Australian version of the album, the cover showed what could be
a bloodstain splattered on the road just behind Ringo and John, supposedly backing claims of a road accident.

*

Summer 2017

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