Paul wears shoes on Abbey Road!

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Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Abbey Road barefoot mystery has been solved. For decades the album cover has been cited as proof that Paul McCartney died in the 1960s.

He appeared barefoot in the cover shot, which conspiracy theorists reckoned, indicated he'd been replaced by a body double.

Finally, a photo's come to light, which supports McCartney's explanation that he had merely kicked off his sandals on a hot day.

The picture used on the album cover, was one of several taken near Abbey Road studios in London during the shoot by Scots photographer Iain Macmillan in 1969.

One of the out-takes which will go under the hammer this month, clearly shows a shod McCartney walking with his fellow Beatles.

The picture is one of less than 25 prints thought to have survived and will be sold by London-based auction house Bloomsbury.

In theorists' minds, John Lennon, in white was seen as a preacher leading a funeral procession, Ringo Starr's black outfit indicated an undertaker, while a denim-clad George Harrison was the grave-digger.

This left McCartney as the corpse because he was barefoot and out of step with the rest of the band.

Other so-called clues, include a car number plate relating to his age 28 [ he was younger] if he had been alive, and the grouping of onlookers.

It was also claimed that the fact left-handed McCartney had a cigarette in his right hand had significance.

The theorists decided that he'd been beheaded in a car crash earlier in the 1960s and the Beatles had continued with a replacement

Paul McCartney drew a sketch of what he wanted the front cover of Abbey Road to look like and McMillan had ten minutes to do the shoot.

He took six photographs of the Beatles walking backwards and forwards across the zebra crossing, as he stood on a ladder.

By pure chance, a VW Beetle is in the background. That car is now in a museum.