I'd like to know when the idea of Beatle "clues" first began. Not necessarily in connection with Paul's "death" (I thought that all commenced in 1969) but just "hidden messages" generally ... WHEN did "clue hunting" rather than plain curiosity begin, WHY did anyone first think there were "clues" anyway...and to WHAT? It does seem that people were looking for messages well before the "Paul Is Dead" nonsense.
Good question. We seem to have established in this thread that a lot of American college students were having fun looking for hidden messages in the white album in 1968. They were also working backwards (literally and figuratively) and looking for stuff on previous albums.
The first gold they would which have struck in my opinion could have been the Pepper run-out groove gibberish, except that I believe that didn't figure on the US album.
In which case I Am The Walrus would be another good starting point. Lennon wrote this song as a reaction to a letter he received telling him that teachers were beginning to study Beatle lyrics in school.Thus he decided to put a bit of everything in there (including Shakespeare for good measure) to see what teachers could make of it. And what happened? People started looking even further into their songs!
To put a stop to this nonsense John had a bit of fun on the white album saying it wasn't he who was the walrus but Paul. And what happened? People started wondering what he was saying and why he'd specifically mentioned Paul.
Then there was also Revolution 9 in which it was possible to hear more or less anything (screeching tyres? a car accident? company freaks? turn me on deadman? - none of whch I've heard personally). And what happened?
It became uncool to say you hadn't heard what others were saying they had heard, so the interpretation game was now full steam ahead and no-one dared not to follow.
And Lennon, being Lennon, continued his word games, stretching grammar to the limits (Mary Jane), gobbledegooking (Dig A Pony) or doing both at the same time (Come Together).
The good news is that all of these songs didn't fit into the ridiculous Paul Is Dead theorising, but unfortunately some people thought they knew exactly what all these songs meant, whether they were right or wrong, whether Lennnon intended it or not.
No wonder John needed primal therapy to get away from these freaks!