The Musician That Sent Paul McCartney on His “First Voyage Into Feedback” and How It Inspired “Taxman”

Before 1966, The Beatles were the biggest band in the world, but they were the biggest pop-rock band in the world. Until that year, The Beatles had yet to establish themselves as a tried and true rock ‘n’ roll band who subverted musical rules and experimented with cutting-edge sounds. However, that all changed after the release of Revolver and “Taxman”.

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Following its release, Revolver, unsurprisingly, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks. Although the moment marked a giant metamorphosis in The Beatles’ career, to an extent, they went from boys to men, in a musical sense, that is. A defining characteristic that showed The Beatles joined and helped lead the pack of experimental 1960s musicians was the use of feedback, specifically on the George Harrison-penned track, “Taxman”.

Many people often believe that the solo on the song was played by Harrison, but it wasn’t; it was played by Paul McCartney. Additionally, the implementation of feedback wasn’t Harrison’s idea either; it was McCartney’s, but he seemingly wouldn’t have had the idea if not for Eric Clapton.

Behind Clapton’s Vicarious Flare on “Taxman”

Recalling his affinity for “Taxman”, Paul McCartney stated, “I liked ‘Taxman’ just because of what it was… It was really my first voyage into feedback,” per Guitar Player. Concerning the inspiration for the guitar part, he added, “I had this friend in London, John Mayall of the Bluesbreakers, who used to play me a lot of records late at night. He was a kind of DJ-type guy. You’d go back to his place, and he’d sit you down, give you a drink, and say, ‘Just check this out.’”

“He’d go over to his deck, and for hours he’d blast you with B.B. King, Eric Clapton – he was sort of showing me where all of Eric’s stuff was from, you know. He gave me a little evening’s education in that.”

McCartney was hooked, as he continued, “I was turned on after that and I went and bought an Epiphone. So then I could wind up with the Vox amp and get some nice feedback. It was just before George was into that. In fact, I don’t think George did get too heavily into that kind of thing.”

After “Taxman”, feedback on Beatles songs became quite the norm. Several other Beatles songs that include the practice include “I’m Looking Through You”, “It’s All Too Much”, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, and “A Day in the Life”.

Photo by Peter Timmullstein bild via Getty Images