Taxman
From BeatlesWiki
Taxman is the first track off the 1966 Beatles album Revolver. It is a George Harrison composition, although John Lennon (uncredited) helped with the writing.
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[edit] Inspiration and Wriiting
The song was inspired when George felt that he was paying too many taxes. As George said in the Anthology, "I had discovered I was paying a huge amount of money to the taxman. You are so happy that you've finally started earning money - and then you find out about tax. In those days we paid 19 shillings and sixpence [96p] out of every pound, and with supertax and surtax and tax-tax it was ridiculous - a heavy penalty to pay for making money. That was a big turn-off for Britain. Anybody who ever made any money moved to America or somewhere else." John had helped with the lyrics. It was John's idea to include the last names of prime minister Harold Wilson and opposition leader Edward Heath, making this the first Beatles song to include the names of living people. As Lennon said in his famous 1980 playboy interview, "I remember the day he called to ask for help on Taxman, one of his first songs. I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along because that's what he asked for. He came to me because he couldn't go to Paul. Paul wouldn't have helped him at that period. I didn't want to do it. I just sort of bit my tongue and said OK. It had been John and Paul for so long, he'd been left out because he hadn't been a songwriter up until then."
[edit] Recording
The song was first attempted on April 20, when four takes were recorded, two of which were complete. Eleven new takes were recorded the next day, ten of which were instrumental. Take 11 from that day is the one used on Anthology 2. It was the first take with vocals and it did not have the "Mr. Wilson, Mr. Heath" lines, instead including the lines "Anybody got a bit of money?" when they should be. On April 22, the "Mr. Wilson, Mr. Heath" lines were introduced, as well as the cowbell part overdubbed. The guitar solo was overdubbed on May 16, making the final version used on Revolver. Portions of the solo were edited, reversed, and slowed down and used in Tomorrow Never Knows. The count-in to the song is fake; the real count-in can be heard behind the fake one.
[edit] Recording Sessions
- May 16, 1966: Recording Session. Songs Recorded: Taxman and For No One. Songs Mixed: Love You To and Taxman. Tape Copies: Love You To, Taxman, and Tomorrow Never Knows. →
- June 21, 1966: Four takes of She Said She Said. Stereo mixes of Love You To, Here, There And Everywhere, I Want To Tell You, For No One and Taxman. Mono mixes of Here, There And Everywhere, For No One, Taxman and Eleanor Rigby →
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Musicians
- Lead Vocals: George Harrison
- Lead Guitar: George Harrison
- Backing Vocals: John Lennon
- Backing Vocals: Paul McCartney
- Lead Guitar: Paul McCartney
- Bass: Paul McCartney
- Drums: Ringo Starr
- Tambourine: Ringo Starr
- Cowbell: Ringo Starr
[edit] Production
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Geoff Emerick
[edit] Available On
- Revolver, 1966.
- Rock 'n' Roll Music, 1976.
[edit] Cover Versions
- Fred Lonberg-Holm
- Junior Parker
- Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
- Rootjoose
- Bill Wyman
