Comments on: Taxman

By: Pablo Castro

Pablo Castro — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 20:44:48 +0000

I just saw a photograph of the Revolver sessions with Paul and John on guitars and George playing bass. I think you´re right and they were recording Taxman.

By: Is there anybody going to listen

Is there anybody going to listen — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 22:00:25 +0000

Funny comment – but yes, its possible that the tv-serie theme affected to George, if maybe only unconviously.
On the other hand, several riff-based songs were by that time composed both by John and Paul. Taxman is an other in the line.

By: Jan

Jan — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 22:50:41 +0000

Anyone hear the similarities to Taxman and new show in 1966 Batman….
Let me tell you how it will be…Batman, i mean Taxman
There’s one for you 19 for me….Bat..Man. Just sayin

By: Onder

Onder — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 20:39:32 +0000

Yep, this is correct!

By: Ralph Silver

Ralph Silver — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 19:11:33 +0000

I strongly agree that McCartney and especially Ram and two of Paul’s best.

By: bryan

bryan — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 09:08:54 +0000

I’m noticing that George is fairly often listed as playing lead guitar when he didn’t (like here), and often when there are no guitar leads in the song. I’m guessing maybe that came from studio notes that habitually called him lead guitar. If the world were exactly how I wanted it to be, the descriptions would say “acoustic rhythm guitar” or “electric rhythm guitar” or “guitar solo.” Then I would be a truly happy person 🙂

By: Gman

Gman — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 17:10:56 +0000

George gets little credit for his songwriting abilities, but I like most of his songs as much as those of Lennon & McCartney. I think “Here Comes The Sun” and “Something” are right at the top of any list of Beatle masterpieces. The pressure of competing against L&M to get a song on a Beatles album was immense. If George Martin wasn’t around to force the issue, it’s not unlikely that L&M would have shut him out completely. I give him lots of credit for persevering and then showing the world his songwriting talent with All Things Must Pass.
Frank Sinatra said that “Something” was “the greatest love song of the past 50 years” but mistakenly credited L & M. That’s a pretty good reference for Harrison’s songwriting talent.

By: dgw28

dgw28 — Sun, 08 Oct 2017 13:14:56 +0000

It was a deliberate homage which they openly acknowledged…I don’t think that counts as a rip off.

By: Jester marston

Jester marston — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 12:51:53 +0000

George plays the choppy rhythm part,Paul plays bass, and solo and lead fills to the end of the song..I could believe John might be playing along with George or might have contributed something that ended up being wiped but that’s not clear from any account. Also.. on While My Guitar Gently Weeps… George plays acoustic and a 12 string electric which doubles the bass part during the “I don’t know how…” segments! https://youtu.be/yCS4WXRY2xs

By: Joseph Brush

Joseph Brush — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 13:39:28 +0000

The McCartney solo songs you mentioned were inspired by Lennon songs such as “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” and “God”—songs that had 3/4 parts to them written years before Paul got around to writing “structured” songs.
So “Jealous Guy”, “Love”, #9 Dream”, “Instant Karma”, “Mind Games”, “Out The Blue”, and “Bless You”, among others are “boring” songs. Get real.

By: Mr Mustard

Mr Mustard — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 03:43:25 +0000

As it’s been stated, George asked for help in writing this song, and I believe it to be as powerful as any Beatle song. Sometimes in songwriting the writer becomes too connected with the project and with Paul having the talent to play everything, ripped that solo perfectly. My personal favourite rock guitar riff of all time is from Day Tripper, and that was by Lennon. So, no matter who plays what, they all added their talents to the pool and on top of it all, they had George Martin to peel the onion as it were.

By: J

Sat, 26 Nov 2016 04:15:28 +0000

I’m 99.9 percent sure that it’s Paul on bass and lead guitar; George on rhythm guitar; and Ringo on drums. As someone mentioned earlier, John rarely participated instrumentally in the recordings of George’s songs and I’m sure this was no exception. And during this period, Paul was almost always the dominant instrumentalist no matter whose song it was so he was most likely involved in the recording of the basic track and then later overdubbed the lead guitar. Also, keep in mind that if the basic track was rhythm, bass, and drums, then that would require there to be three Beatles playing (no John) which of course would have George, Paul , and Ringo on their respective instruments.

By: Pablo Castro

Pablo Castro — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 03:28:14 +0000

After seeing a rare photograph of the Revolver sessions seeing George with a bass and John and Paul on guitars at the newly release ” Eight Days a Week” movie I came to the same conclusion. It is reported that George played bass on She Said She Said, but that was in absence of Paul. With Paul in, it must have been Taxman. If it´s true, this amazing track not only features on of the best guitar solos on the Beatles´catalogue, by Paul, but also one of the best ever bass performances, by George !

By: Julian Bailinson

Julian Bailinson — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 07:55:52 +0000

I was just listening to the Anthology verison tonight, and I’ve come to believe that the bass line is sped up. If you listen closely, you can hear some almost impossibly fast bits (especially during the “Tax the street” bit). I also noticed that the high D note in the basic pattern is double-picked and it has the signature of something that’s been sped up.

By: BeatleKen

BeatleKen — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 01:30:38 +0000

Lets just say that Paul played a solo that fit the song the way George H & George M wanted at the time. All Pauls solos were quick and flashy, George’s were very tasteful and fluid, John’s were basic, simple rock n roll.

By: johnnylivewire

johnnylivewire — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 02:01:21 +0000

I love “Wild Life”. Side 2 mainly. If they had flipped the album around, more people might like it

By: Janie Jane

Janie Jane — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 03:38:54 +0000

George at the time was mastering sitar and lost interest in the guitar! Being that George devoted most of his time mastering the sitar it makes sense that he would be struggling with the solo. He gladly let Paul take over and put his ego aside for the good of the song.

By: Joseph Brush

Joseph Brush — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 13:03:08 +0000

Since all the Beatles were under contract to produce music, there would have been albums made in 1969. Not only out of financial necessity but there was also a new lucrative contract on the horizon.
As for John and Paul? They got over their bad times and made amends.
As for voicing opinions, this is an open forum for anyone whether they have read a Beatles book or not.

By: Paul M

Paul M — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 11:15:47 +0000

I have always been a Mcartney fan. His bass lines are amazing, as also his lead guitar solos. Taxman being one of them. When you break down alot of Lennon songs, when they went solo, Paul’s songs are so better structured than Lennon’s or Harrison’s. Could Lennon or any of the others ever written songs like “Live and Let Die” or Band on the Run” . These songs like many Mcartney solo songs have 3/4 parts to them. I’ve recently listened to Lennon solo stuff again and found that they are mostly 12 bar songs and quite boring. Obviousley I will get slaughtered for this comment by Lennon fans but it is only my opinion.

By: Rusty Schackleford

Rusty Schackleford — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:56:12 +0000

Think what you will of Pauls “bossiness”. When “the boss” died the Beatles started to come apart. People who were there (not you) say that if Paul had not taken some kind of control, the others would have never got off their asses and made another album. We would have never had Abbey Road or Let it Be. Thank you Paul. Paul didnt break them up. Johns jealousy did. Just a little insight into Johns jealousy, not only did John bring Yoko to the studio, he forced her to follow him everywhere, including the bathroom, so she wouldnt talk to any other guys. He was a very phoney, petty, and jealous man. Look at all the nasty shit he has said about Paul. And what has Paul ever said about him? Nothing but good things. Besides, they wernt getting along before Paul took over anyway. All Paul did was produce two more albums from a band that was breaking up anyway. Some of you need to do some reading before voicing opinions.