When We Was Fab

From George Harrison: music videos – The Daily Beatle by Mike Carrera:

When We Was Fab

-When We Was Fab #1 (Edit A- Copyright over the video)

-When We Was Fab #2 (Edit A- Without copyright over the video)

-When We Was Fab #3 (Edit B)

Filmed at Greenford Studios, London, mainly on 18 Dec 1987 but some cameos were filmed on different days that December, plus some in January 1988. Directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.

Cameos from many musicians that also participate on the Cloud Nine album on this innovative video for that time include: Ringo Starr (who appears through all the videos); Jeff Lynne and Ray Copper playing the violin; Elton John putting a coin in a cup while he is being  “robbed” by one of George’s hands. During the near final sequence of this video, while George multiples himself and many characters are passing through (12 to be exact), we can identify more stars that played on the LP: Bobby Kok (cello), Gary Wright (piano) who also looks like Jim Horn (sax) (same look and hair of both of them that December), Vicki Brown (backing vocals), Jeff Lynne (again) and behind him, Jim Keltner, although another bearded musician known as “slowhand” is also a candidate and participated as well on the recordings for this LP, but the final scene is really hard to watch and the other characters are also hard to identify, but there are four women and eight men.

Paul Simon (who didn’t play on the record) also appears pushing a fruit cart during the middle of the video.

A man who looks like (the sideburns don’t match with his looks from that year, or before or after, but let’s say it’s him) Neil Aspinall (The Beatles friend/Road manager and Apple manager for many years) also appears in the key point of the video (definitely NOT Julian Lennon or Phil Collins as reported): holding John Lennon’s Imagine LP while George is playing in the back with Ringo on drums and a mysterious Walrus playing the bass, recreating those Fab days “together” again John, Paul, George and Ringo… or something like that!

The  story of “The Walrus Was Paul” is very well known, so we don’t need to get deeper on that. Also, well known is that Paul is NOT playing the bass wearing a walrus suit on this video. George once told as a joke that Paul was indeed in the video under the walrus suit, and years later Paul answer the same question from many interviews (one, his own Club Sandwich magazine) saying that he wasn’t available on that date (he did some studio recordings) and he’s NOT the man under the walrus suit… but the direct question was: “is that you under the Walrus suit on the “FAB” video?”, when in fact it should have been: “Did you participate in the “FAB” video?”. And the answer would have been: YESSSS! (If Paul’s mood was in a “myth-breaking” mood)

This is another of those “Beatle-Jokes” that we will never get a YES or NO as a direct answer from them, same as the “Paul is Dead” rumor, among others.

Paul was not available during December 1987 because he was busy in the studio and also making some TV promotion in France and Germany for the “All The Best!” collection, but Director Kevin Godley (a friend of both George and Paul who has directed many of his videos over the years, as well as Beatle projects) managed to film him on a different day and year (plus many more cameos and characters were filmed separately as well) and include THAT over the FAB video. To date, no book or web page has published this info but Paul IS in the FAB video! He appears during the “reunion” sequence looking towards “the band”, so we can’t see his full face. This scene is so obvious: Paul appears only during the “Walrus” joke and by the time he passes in front of the Walrus, he turns his face against the man in the costume, like watching the Walrus play. Oh, one other thing, his appearance was distorted to complicate things even more, so recognizing him will be harder!. But any fan that knows every “look” (hair, face, way of walk, etc, etc)  of the Fab’s over the years or any girl with a crush on him, will find this task not hard at all. (Another incorrect theory floating around: Paul is NOT the hippie-dressed guy who’s head is out of the frame and with a large beard around 2:40)

Paul’s cameo was filmed the second week of January 1988 (two weeks before the post production of the video was finished on February 3, 1988), while he was doing some sessions for the Flower in the Dirt  LP. This fact can be verified comparing Paul’s length of his hair. It wasn’t that long during the December 1987 promotion but is THIS long (as he appears on the “FAB” video) during the January footage and pictures that exists plus some TV promotion during February. Check the pictures to compare, just to validate the info that, until today, nobody has published.

This was another “Beatle-Joke”, a different clue that was planted on purpose and when the fans were looking directly at the man in the walrus suit playing the bass, the REAL McCartney would appear in front of all of us and nobody would notice him!!

From George Harrison: music videos – The Daily Beatle by Mike Carrera

[The appearance of Paul McCartney was] confirmed to us “off the record” by a former employee part of Lol Creme’s team, while we were doing these kind of research and reviews for The Daily Beatle a while ago, just by luck (but you have to be blind or something to not notice the human form, shape of the face and hair, way of walk etc of McCartney while he appears on the screen under some “wave” effect to make it more difficult to identify). Just in time because the post-production of the video finished Feb 3rd, 1988.

Mike Carrera – From Steve Hoffman Music Forums, March 27, 2025

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