Why John Lennon Didn’t Want to Help George Harrison Write The Beatles’ ‘Taxman’
TL;DR:
- George Harrison asked John Lennon to add humor to The Beatles’ “Taxman.”
- Paul McCartney was not going to assist George in writing “Taxman.”
- John explained why he worked on the song when he did not want to do so.
George Harrison asked John Lennon for help on The Beatles‘ “Taxman.” John initially didn’t want to contribute to “Taxman” for a very specific reason. Subsequently, John decided to add some one-liners to the track.
George Harrison asked John Lennon for help when he couldn’t get help from 1 of the other Beatles
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John discussed “Taxman.” “I remember the day he called to ask for help on Taxman,’ one of his first songs,” John recalled. “I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along, because that’s what he asked for.”
John revealed why Paul McCartney didn’t contribute to “Taxman.” “He came to me because he couldn’t go to Paul, because Paul wouldn’t have helped him at that period,” he said. “I didn’t want to do it.”
John Lennon worked on The Beatles’ ‘Taxman’ because he ‘loved’ George Harrison
John explained why he didn’t want to work on “Taxman.” “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,'” he said. “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,'” John continued. “It had been John and Paul so long, he’d been left out because he hadn’t been a songwriter up until then. As a singer, we allowed him only one track on each album.” John noted Ringo Starr and George would sing songs from his own repertoire on the Fab Four’s early albums. John chose “easier” songs for Ringo and George to perform.
How ‘Taxman’ and the song’s parent album performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
“Taxman” was never a single in the United States, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The track appeared on The Beatles’ Revolver. The album topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks, staying on the chart for 85 weeks in total.
The Official Charts Company reports “Taxman” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. On the other hand, Revolver became a big hit in the U.K. There, Revolver was No. 1 for seven weeks, remaining on the chart for 34 weeks altogether.
“Taxman” was not a hit — but it shows that John loved George.
