Comments on: Bon’s Death Certificate?

By: Phoebe

Phoebe — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:41:27 +0000

Re: Comment by ‘Andrew Stones’ on this blogsite — Your statement that Sir Paul McCartney currently has only a “copy” of his birth certificate, and not the original, is an erroneous assumption. He has the original copy, that was in his father’s [James] possession at the time of his death, in 1976. Jim McCartney’s widow, Angela, then took possession of it when she and her daughter Ruth moved out of their home, Rembrandt, and went to live in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, being strapped for money, they sold the certificate to a pair of memorabilia collectors, who then sold it to one Marshall Terrill. I met Terrill in 1990, who then expressed to me that he was willing to personally return it to McCartney at his [Paul's] convenience … for only the chance to briefly meet him, and to hand it to him. At his request, I then became a sort of “mediator” between himself and McCartney’s London office regarding the proposal to return the certificate to Paul. His personal assistant responded back, requesting that the certificate first be authenticated as being genuine. After going to the trouble of having it examined and authenticated, Paul apparently changed his mind and through his PA, requested that it simply be mailed to him in care of his office. The “negotiation” stalled at that point, and the certificate went on the auction block in Houston during November 1990. Despite the media reports at the time … the sale of the certificate did not go through. The certifcate was then returned to Terrill, who later sold it privately. It then went through one more private sale before it finally went on the auction block again — this time in Tokyo. That is when it was sold for the final time …. to a so-called “anonymous” bidder for a very large amount of money. The bidder? None OTHER than … Paul McCartney! Oh … I left out the “best” part of this drama! Briefly back to the auction in Houston in 1990 … McCartney was reportedly “incensed” at not being able to get his certificate back via the mail … so according to his attorney at that time, HE decided to SUE in an attempt to retrieve it! However, he backed down from that idea when advised that it would be futile [not to mention looking unseemly] to do so considering the existing documented proof that he had the opportunity to have the certificate returned to him at absolutely NO expense! Crazy, huh? Well, let’s put it THIS way … Many years later, a friend of mine briefly met Paul in Houston at a private backstage meet-and-greet, who commented to him, “Y’know, Paul, originally you didn’t have to pay ANY money to have your birth certifcate back!” To which “Sir Paul” looked embarrassed and too uncomfortable to respond. And THAT’S the TRUE story of Paul’s birth certificate. He didn’t get it (or a copy) off Ebay, okay.

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:47:22 +0000

Look everybody,
No matter how he died, chocking on his vomit, alcohol poisoning,cold outdoor weather conditions or any and all combinations of the above, Does it really matter at this point ??? We lost one of the greatest voices in rock & roll. In my opinion, if it was up to me, i would rather have Bon back with us ( with absolutely no disrespect for Brian Johnson ) than to try to figure how he really died, let’s face it wont bring him back. REST IN PEACE Bon

By: BEN SCOTT

BEN SCOTT — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:10:25 +0000

SO THE SELLER MADE A MODERATE PROFIT… AND NOW A FAN WILL HAVE THAT CERTIFICATE FRAMED AND PUT UP ON SOME WALL MOST LIKELY ALREADY PLASTERED WITH AC/DC-BON SCOTT STUFF…

SURE I CAN RELATE TO SOME PEOPLE THINKING ITS SLIGHTLY OFF TASTE… BUT AS FOR CONTACTING THE SELLER AND ASKING PECULIAR QUESTIONS WELL FOR ME THAT IS EVEN MORE OFF TASTE…

EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT WHATS NORMAL… LOOK AT THOSE WHO VISIT THE CEMETARY!!! NOW THATS ANOTHER TOPIC WHERE SOME WOULD SAY YOUR A WEIRDN IF YOU WERE TO GO THERE… YET OTHERE MAKE THAT JOURNEY ON A WEEKLY BASIS…

OFF TOPIC I HAVE NOTED AN INCREASE RECENTLY IN THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE DRIVING THEIR CARS ACTUALLY INSIDE THE FREMANTLE CEMETARY GROUNDS AND PARKING CLOSE TO BONS GRAVE TO HAVE A LOOK…

THE REASON THE CEMETARY LEAVES THOSE GATES OPEN IS TO GIVE FRAIL PEOPLE ACCESS…

FOR ME THATS FAR WORSE THAN ANYTHING WE HAVE DISCUSSED ABOUT THE CERTIFICATE…
IF YOU GOT LEGS PEOPLE…USE THEM!!!

By: Davo

Davo — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:16:33 +0000

no fan would sell such a thing,

makes me slightly ill to be honest,

where is the respect

By: Danny

Danny — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:47:22 +0000

Bad form, making money out of something such as this dont think any fan would want something such as this or indeed make profit form it!! Buy one of his cd’s instead

By: Lucas

Lucas — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:12:28 +0000

well, it went for 97 pounds (about 250 aussie dollars). A fair mark up on the 19 pounds (according to Janine, above) it would have cost to get the official birth certificate copied. Worth it?

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:32:10 +0000

Back to Clinton’s book, I’ve always been curious about Bon’s “receiving treatment for liver damage.” I’ve searched, but haven’t been able to find any more details on this. Did the other band members (and Bon himself) understand how ill he was?

By: Gabby

Gabby — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:38:25 +0000

Lucas, thanks for keeping us in the loop with the death certificate/ ebay “thing”. I makes me wonder what motivates someone to go and get the “original copy”! for what $$$ and then try to make more$$$$$ from anyone let anlone BOn.I can understand fans wanting to know and find out everything they can about BOn ,The art and letters exhibition showed that but its a pity for some it will always be about money!!!

By: Lucas

Lucas — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:18:06 +0000

Gabby:

I tried to contact the seller again, asking him if he was a fan. My question ran along the lines: “what would motivate you to buy this certificate if only to on-sell it?” I wanted to give him the chance to explain his reasons in response to your comment.

However, his answer was a bit coy. He replied simply that there has been huge interest on ebay from people wanting to buy the certificate (over 200 enquiries a day!) and for him, this justifies the act of putting it up for sale.

(Market Morality?)

He steers clear of answering the question about whether he, himself is a fan of Bon…

By: Lucas

Lucas — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:15:08 +0000

OK. Lets go back to the book. I have Clinton’s book in front of me finally. On page 300 (of the 2007 Picador edition) he writes:

The autopsy was held on Friday February 22. The verdict was ‘Death by Misadventure - Acute Alcoholic Poisoning.’

The coroner, Sir Montague Levine, said Bon was ‘the captain of his own destiny,’ and concluded that ‘this young man of great talent was a consistent and heavy drinker who died from acute alcoholic poisoning after consuming a very large quantity of alcohol.’

I’m not sure where Clinton found that quote by Sir Montague Levine. It is a relatively dry version of what Clinton, more poetically, writes next, as he attempts to reconstruct the sequence of Bon’s final moments:

Bon was alone when he died. It was a cold, bleak night; an icy wind whipped across the bald hills of Dulwich. Inside Alistair Kinnear’s little Renault, Bon shivered and jerked beneath a thin blanket.

Under the accumulated strain of more than 15 years on the road, in a conspiracy of circumstances, Bon’s ailing system finally gave way. He was already receiving treatment for liver damage. He hadn’t eaten, and he was extremely drunk. His heart was heavy, his head light, spinning. The world outside was harsh. The temperature was around freezing point. Unable to find a comfortable position, curled around the gearstick, his neck cricked. His dental plate dislodged. The bile rose up in his stomach and his asthmatic windpipe tightened. Whether it was hypothermia, asphyxiation, liver failure or even cardiac arrest, or all of those things or none of them, he would be a free man in the morning.

Of course, Clinton’s reconstruction is made up. Nobody really knows. But as Carolyn and Clinton both suggest, the extreme cold may have had a major part to play in this sad “misadventure”…