"Taxman" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. Written by the group's lead guitarist, George Harrison, with some lyrical assistance from John Lennon, it protests against the higher level of progressive tax imposed in the United Kingdom by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, which saw the Beatles paying over 90 per cent of their earnings to the Treasury. The song was selected as the album's opening track and contributed to Harrison's emergence as a songwriter beside the dominant Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was the group's first topical song and the first political statement they had made in their music.
Cover of the Northern Songs sheet music (licensed to Sonora Musikförlag)
Harrison references Prime Minister Harold Wilson (pictured) and Conservative Party leader Ted Heath in the song's lyrics.
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 5 August 1966, accompanied by the double A-side single "Eleanor Rigby" / "Yellow Submarine". The album was the Beatles' final recording project before their retirement as live performers and marked the group's most overt use of studio technology to date, building on the advances of their late 1965 release Rubber Soul. It has since become regarded as one of the greatest and most innovative albums in the history of popular music, with recognition centred on its range of musical styles, diverse sounds and lyrical content.
Revolver (Beatles album)
Harrison, McCartney and Lennon with George Martin at EMI Studios in 1966
Swinging London, Carnaby Street, c. 1966. The album's creation coincided with international recognition of London's role as a cultural capital. According to Philip Norman, Revolver captured the confidence of summer 1966: "It was hot pavements, open windows, King's Road bistros and England soccer stripes. It was the British accent, once again all-conquering."
EMI's Abbey Road Studios (pictured in 2005). Most of the sessions for Revolver took place in the complex's intimate Studio 3.