Tag: taxman

“Taxman” (Sam’s Version)

By Sam Brunson

Almost seven years ago(!), Leandra wrote about the Beatles’s “Taxman” to celebrate its 50th anniversary. At around the same time, I tried to figure out and record the song.

At the time, unfortunately, neither my playing nor my recording chops were up to the challenge. Over the pandemic, though, I spent some time and money on instruments and recording equipment and have gotten a lot better at it.

So about a week ago, I decided to record a version of “Taxman.” I listened around to various versions and ended up modeling my version largely on the recording by Bill Wyman’s Rythm Kings (and, to a lesser extent, Soulive).

Continue reading ““Taxman” (Sam’s Version)” →

The Taxman and Jazz Radio

By Sam Brunson

Yesterday, driving my son to swim lessons, I flipped my radio to WDCB, Chicagoland’s jazz radio station. An organ trio was playing something that sounded vaguely familiar. And then they returned to the melody, and it was the Beatles’s “Taxman.” And just like that, two of my favorite things—jazz and taxes—intersected.

Several months ago, Leandra did a great post on the history and context of “Taxman.” And her post yesterday on taxes in a series of novels got me thinking about how often tax shows up in jazz. When I posted about the musical tax canon, I mentioned Fats Waller’s “We the People,” but here, I specifically wanted to look for jazz covers of “Taxman.” And I found two: Continue reading “The Taxman and Jazz Radio” →