Taxman

This article is about the Beatles song. For the profession, see Tax collector. For other uses of taxman, see The Taxman (disambiguation).

"Taxman"
Song by The Beatles from the album Revolver
Released	5 August 1966
Recorded	20–22 April, 16 May and 21 June 1966, EMI Studios, London
Genre	Blues rock, hard rock
Length	2:39
Label	Parlophone
Writer	George Harrison
Producer	George Martin
Revolver track listing
14 tracks Side one "Taxman" "Eleanor Rigby" "I'm Only Sleeping" "Love You To" "Here, There and Everywhere" "Yellow Submarine" "She Said She Said" Side two "Good Day Sunshine" "And Your Bird Can Sing" "For No One" "Doctor Robert" "I Want to Tell You" "Got to Get You into My Life" "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Music sample "Taxman"

"Taxman" is a song written by George Harrison released as the opening track on The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver. Its lyrics attack the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British Labour government of Harold Wilson.

Composition

Harrison said, "'Taxman' was when I first realised that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes. It was and still is typical." The Beatles' large earnings placed them in the top tax bracket in the United Kingdom, liable to a 95% supertax introduced by Harold Wilson's Labour government. In a 1984 interview with Playboy magazine, Paul McCartney agreed: "George wrote that and I played guitar on it. He wrote it in anger at finding out what the taxman did. He had never known before then what he'll do with your money."

In 1980, Lennon recalled in an interview with Playboy magazine, "I remember the day he [Harrison] 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, because 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."

The backing vocals' references to "Mr. Wilson" and "Mr. Heath," suggested by Lennon, refer to Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, who were the leaders of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, the two largest parties in British politics. Wilson, then Prime Minister, had nominated all four of The Beatles as Members of the Order of the British Empire just the previous year. The chanted names replaced two refrains of "Anybody got a bit of money?" heard in take 11, an earlier version released on Anthology 2 in 1996.

The recording begins before the actual song with coughing and counting that McCartney described as sounds that were on the tape, and that Lennon "thought [the listeners] would like to hear it."

In 1987, Harrison stated: "I was pleased to have Paul play that bit on 'Taxman'. If you notice, he did like a little Indian bit on it for me." Ian MacDonald praised McCartney's contributions to the song saying his guitar solo was "outstanding" and his bass part was "remarkable".

Legacy

In the show Love, the guitar solo was sampled in the piece "Drive My Car"/"The Word"/"What You're Doing".

"Taxman" was included in Harrison's concert repertoire during his solo career; on his tour of Japan in 1991 with Eric Clapton, "Taxman" was on the set list. "It's a song that goes regardless if it's the sixties, seventies, eighties or nineties," Harrison declared. "There's always a taxman." Harrison added more lyrics on that tour, such as "If you're overweight, I'll tax your fat."

In the US, radio disc jockeys and TV news reporters annually feature the song in the days leading up to 15 April, the date by which US income tax returns must usually be filed. Some post offices have even been known to sardonically play the song on in-house audio systems for the long lines of last-minute tax filers. In 2002, tax preparation service H&R Block used a slower-paced cover version of the song in television commercials.

Personnel

• George Harrison – lead vocal, lead guitar
• John Lennon – backing vocal and rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass, lead guitar solo
• Ringo Starr – drums and tambourine
• George Martin – producer
• Geoff Emerick – engineer

Personnel per MacDonald

Source is '100 Best Beatles Songs' by Stephen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis

Other versions

The song has also been played and recorded by Junior Parker, Les Claypool, Black Oak Arkansas, Bill Wyman, The Music Machine, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nickel Creek, Les Fradkin, Rootjoose, Garrison Starr, Rockwell, Mutual Admiration Society, Pat Travers, Franz Ferdinand, Power Station, and Saga.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played the song in tribute to Harrison at 2002's Concert For George.

"Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a parody of this song in late 1981 called "Pac-Man", during the height of the game's popularity. It was released on the compilation Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes No. 4.

Beatallica recorded a parody called "Sandman", which also was a parody of a popular Metallica song, "Enter Sandman".

The Jam in 1980's "Start!" wrote a new song around the McCartney bassline and guitar solos.

Ride's song "Seagull", from the album Nowhere, borrows McCartney's bassline.

References

• (1996) Album notes for Anthology 2 by The Beatles [booklet]. London: Apple Records (31796).
• Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology Project. US: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512941-5. 
• Everett, Walter (2010). The Beatles as Musicians. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 9780195129410. http://books.google.com/?id=eTkHAldi4bEC&pg=PA48 
• Gilliland, John (1969). "The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance." (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNTML/browse/?start=34&fq=untl_collection%3AJGPC. 
• Guitar. November 1987. 
• Harrison, George (1980). I Me Mine. London: Phoenix. ISBN 0753817349. 
• "How the Budget affects you: The public give their verdict". WalesOnline. 23 April 2009. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/04/23/how-the-budget-affects-you-the-public-give-their-verdict-91466-23451824/. Retrieved 20 July 2009. 
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3. 
• Robb, John (2010). The Stone Roses and the Resurrection of British Pop. 
• Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 
• Strong, Martin C (2010). The Essential Rock Discography. 
• Unterberger, Richie (2009). "Review of "Taxman"". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/song/t819416. Retrieved 7 September 2009. 

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Taxman"