In my continuing quest to upset The Memoirs of Billy Shears Apple cart, I proffer the following information. Let those who insist that Memoirs is legitimate prove their case. We shall see if they can meet a preponderance of the evidence standard. Good luck with that.
Please see Paul Is Dead: "The Memoirs of Billy Shears" Debunked, Part 1
MPL
Tonny Nowhere Man wrote today (Sept. 18, 2019 ):
"To put an end to these endless discussions and uncertainties about the authenticity of these Thomas E Uharriet's Memoirs books, only last week Wednesday, I thought it might be a smart idea just to contact a few companyies here and there, that are fully into the McCartney publishing business! ... Well, just this afternoon I got an answer from one of them! This is what MPL Publishing [McCartney Productions Ltd] has to say about this all! Funny thing maybe is that they also say that Paul is "Still alive and well," but I wouldn't really have expected them to say anything otherwise of course!
... Yet another piece of proof that these books are nothing more than a collection of worthless disposable rubbish!"
MPL asserts that McCartney never worked with Uharriet, and MPL is the sole publisher of McCartney biographies. This is admitted by the author on one of his webpages:
11. Did Uharriet really plan this book with Paul McCartney when they met at a beach in Southern California?
... The story about Uharriet meeting William (as Paul) on a Southern Californian beach one hot day after Paul left a recording studio in Los Angeles is merely a legend that was invented (in chapter 35, which is fictional) to explain this book... Hence, everyone can be certain that that chance meeting never occurred. [LINK]
11. To what extent was William (who replaced Paul) involved in writing and/or encoding The Memoirs of Billy Shears (or Billy's Back!, etc.)?
The encoding was done entirely by Thomas E. Uharriet... we maintain the position that William "Paul" had nothing to do with it. [LINK]
^ Please note that there are two number 11's on the original website.
Thus, according to both MPL and Thomas Uharriet, Faul McCartney had no involvement in The Memoirs of Billy Shears. However, the author coyly insinuates that Faul was involved:
11. To what extent was William (who replaced Paul) involved in writing and/or encoding The Memoirs of Billy Shears(orBilly's Back!, etc.)?... Even though you, the reader, will realize that much of the material could only have been known by William (the new Paul), or by his closest confidants, and even though William is the primary source, we maintain the position that William "Paul" had nothing to do with it.
If the author is deceiving people into believing Faul was behind the book and he was not, then that may constitute consumer fraud. (If you were a victim, then you may want to consider filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)).
Defamation
It is often cited as "evidence" that Faul was behind Memoirs because the author has not been sued, presumably under a defamation cause of action.
Defamation (tort) is a statement that injures a third party's reputation. Written defamation is libel.
To prove prima facie defamation, a plaintiff must show four things: 1) a false statement purporting to be fact; 2) publication or communication of that statement to a third person; 3) fault amounting to at least negligence; and 4) damages, or some harm caused to the person or entity who is the subject of the statement.
Referring back to Uharriet's webpage:
9. Where did Uharriet get the material to write and/or encode this book?
... Uharriet took liberties with dialogue and other elements ensuring that this book is a work of historical-fiction..." [LINK]
The first element to prove defamation is 1) a false statement purporting to be fact. In this case, the statements are not fact, but fiction. A defamation claim would fail right from the start. It is also doubtful that Faul would be able to show damages (4th element) as a result of Memoirs. The book is not on most people's radars, and has most likely not hurt Faul's ticket sales, etc. Therefore, Faul has not sued for defamation because he would most likely lose.
Another cause of action that is mentioned is copyright infringement. The songs printed in the back (also HERE) are cited as "proof" that Faul was behind the book, because they are supposedly Faul's songs. People think the author would have been sued if he had not had permission to print them. Regardless of the claims, these "songs" were no doubt penned by the author. (Would even Faul write something like "To the Hills of Heather Mills?") Why would Faul sue the author for publishing his own songs - songs with which Faul had nothing to do? He would not. There is no copyright infringement here. This argument fails.
Another cause of action that is mentioned is copyright infringement. The songs printed in the back (also HERE) are cited as "proof" that Faul was behind the book, because they are supposedly Faul's songs. People think the author would have been sued if he had not had permission to print them. Regardless of the claims, these "songs" were no doubt penned by the author. (Would even Faul write something like "To the Hills of Heather Mills?") Why would Faul sue the author for publishing his own songs - songs with which Faul had nothing to do? He would not. There is no copyright infringement here. This argument fails.
CreateSpace
Another fact that is brought up as proof that Faul was behind Memoirs is that the book came from Peppers Press and not from Amazon. However, on the book's Amazon product page, the publisher is listed as CreateSpace.
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (September 9, 2018)
Amazon offers print-on-demand book publishing through CreateSpace. Amazon prints and ships, and takes the cost of printing and fees out of the royalties it sends to the author/publisher. There is no upfront cost to the author. Authors can order the books from Amazon, affix their stickers, and mail them out to people. This argument also fails.
Audio
Also touted as evidence that Faul McCartney was involved in the book is the fact that George Martin's son, Gregory Paul Martin, did the audio for the audiobook.
To be admissible in court, evidence must be relevant (i.e., material and having probative value)... [LINK]
In this case, it is irrelevant and immaterial that Gregory Paul Martin did the recording, because he is not Faul. Perhaps GP Martin was paid to do the audio. Perhaps he liked the book. It really does not matter, and it is not evidence that Faul was behind the book. If Faul had read the audio, then that would have been relevant to Faul's involvement, but not some unrelated third party.
Andrew Favretti points out another inconsistency with the book:
Memoirs cites the clue on the Sgt. Pepper back cover in which George Harrison is pointing to the lyrics of "She's Leaving Home," “Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock,” as being the time Paul died in the car crash.
However, Dr. Henry Truby determined that the voice prints for that song were of Paul and not of Faul. Therefore, it was Paul who wrote it and did the vocals before he died. This basically means that the alleged "clue" about the car crash story is fake. So, the claim in Memoirs is bogus.
Another friend informs us of a very macabre scene in Memoirs:
The author claims the song, "All Together Now." is about Paul's decapitated corpse being reconstructed (as Faul) and thus being "all together now."
The claim that Paul's body was somehow "reassembled" is, of course, ridiculous. Faul was simply a body double who was found to play the part of Paul McCartney. There are numerous physical differences between him and the real Paul that exclude the possibility that Paul's corpse was reanimated (even if such a thing were possible). Such differences include height, eye color, facial biometrics, voice prints and six toes. The differences are discussed ad nauseum in my book, Plastic Macca, and on this blog.
The author claims that the impostor's name was really "William Shepherd." Although there is evidence to suggest that his first name was, in fact, William. there are only a smattering of clues to suggest that his last name was Shepherd. Furthermore, William Shepherd's son, Gary Shepherd, denied that his father played the part of "Paul McCartney."
The author claims that the impostor's name was really "William Shepherd." Although there is evidence to suggest that his first name was, in fact, William. there are only a smattering of clues to suggest that his last name was Shepherd. Furthermore, William Shepherd's son, Gary Shepherd, denied that his father played the part of "Paul McCartney."
As an aside, the fact that Faul has six toes was not mentioned in Memoirs because it had not yet been discovered when he wrote the book. I first revealed it in Plastic Macca, after having been tipped off about Faul's polydactyly by Greg Gentry.
Researcher "HH" made this observation:
"I wrote to you earlier this summer to say that Mike's notion that Memoirs must be true as 'there is so much information there' is like saying anything by Tolstoy or Shakespeare or J.R, Tolkien (let's add Harry Potter) must be true for the same reason. What logic, Mike."
The author certainly has a vivid imagination and concocted an interesting story based on the facts surrounding Paul's death and replacement, but it is not a factual account, and does not claim to be.
In conclusion, it seems highly unlikely that Faul McCartney was ever involved in Memoirs.
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Tina Foster is the author of
Email Tina at faulconandsnowjob at hotmail dot com.
Legal Disclaimer: None of the information contained on this page constitutes legal advice.
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