Taxman: Introduction

“Taxman” is the opening song on The Beatles’ “Revolver” album. However, take 11 is on their Anthology 2 album. George Harrison wrote the lyrics about the British tax system at the time when they became “super-earners.”

In effect, this meant that the band members were liable to pay a 95% tax. “There’s one for you, nineteen for me,” referring to the tax-grabbing government when there were 20 shillings in a pound.

In Detail

Publisher: Northern Songs
Release Date: August 5, 1966
Recorded: April 20, 21 & 22, May 16, and June 21, 1966
Studio: EMI Studios, London
Genre: Rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock
Track Duration: 2:39
Record Label: Parlophone, Apple
Songwriter: George Harrison
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Performers And Instruments

George Harrison: lead vocals, also the lead guitar
John Lennon: backing vocals, also the rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, bass guitar, and also the lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums, cowbell, and tambourine

Where To Find “Taxman”

You can still buy this song because it is on the following albums:

Those only needing the original version of this song should purchase the Revolver album.

Taxman: Background

This was the mid-sixties, and The Beatles were a supergroup earning a lot of money. Indeed, the amount of tax they had to pay was phenomenal.

“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 [95p] out of every pound, and with supertax, 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.”
George Harrison
Anthology

“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, because Paul wouldn’t have helped him at that period.

I didn’t want to do it. I thought, Oh, no, don’t tell me I have to work on George’s stuff. It’s enough doing my own and Paul’s. But because I loved him and I didn’t want to hurt him when he called that afternoon and said, ‘Will you help me with this song?’ 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.”
John Lennon
Playboy Magazine (1980)

Living Characters

Up until now, The Beatles had never sang about living people. So, this was the first song where this happened. Here, they mention both Harold Wilson and Edward Heath. Wilson was the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, while Heath was the opposition leader.

Adding those characters to the song as incidental backing vocals was John Lennon’s idea: “Haha, Mr. Wilson, Haha, Mr. Heath.” Many people have likened parts of the song to the theme tune for the TV series Batman, which was popular at the time. In particular, the Haha and Taxman bits.

Recording Studio

The Beatles began recording “Taxman” on April 20, 1966, in Studio 2 at the EMI Studios in London. During the marathon 2.30 p.m.–2.30 a.m. session, the band recorded four takes.

On April 21, they recorded a further eleven takes, with take 11 having vocals; this is the version on the Anthology 2 album. This version doesn’t have the “Haha, Mr. Wilson, Haha, Mr. Heath” vocals, but instead we hear Paul McCartney singing “Anybody got a bit of money?” This also has the count 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2 at the beginning.

Meanwhile, on April 22, they added the famous “Haha, Mr. Wilson, Haha, Mr. Heath” vocals together with Ringo Starr’s cowbell contribution.

With further overdubbing on May 16 and June 21, the final result was astonishing. George Harrison appreciated the guitar work of Paul McCartney by saying, “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.”

Take A Listen To “Taxman.”

Regardless of where you live, the Taxman song will strike a chord with you because we can’t escape taxes. However, the taxman was particularly greedy when The Beatles were flying high in the mid-1960s. So, take a listen to the song and leave your thoughts about it. You can also talk about the tax system in general.