George Harrison Week – The Elephant's Trunk

SATURDAY HARRISONG

December 2, 2023January 22, 2024 Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

It’s only fitting that we conclude this week of “All Things George” with one of my favorite George Harrison songs.

“Taxman” was the sixth song by George to appear on a Beatles album; out of all the Beatles songs combined (not counting solo work), only 22 were written by George. “Taxman” was released as the opening track on “Revolver” in 1966. It’s a powerful piece of guitar rock with a sexy beat that dives into psychedelic rock.

Written from the perspective of a federal agent, the song sarcastically attacks the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British government of then Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

Early on, the press called the Beatles millionaires; they were so naïve, they didn’t realize their millions were earnings, not assets, and they needed to set aside a lot of those earnings for taxes. They were never happy about that and that’s why George wrote “Taxman”. They’d been poor boys who worked hard to make their money and now someone was trying to take it away …. something we can all relate to.

This song named names and pointed fingers; it’s down and dirty, gritty and sexy, and I didn’t need any more convincing that George had it going on. This song bashed me over the head like a caveman and dragged me home by the hair …. and I loved it.

From 1966’s Revolver, with superb artwork by the brilliant Klaus Voormann, this is the gritty, sexy, down and dirty “Taxman”.

Lyrics

One, two, three, four
One, two (one, two, three, four)

Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don’t take it all
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

I’ll tax the street
(If you try to sit, sit) I’ll tax your seat
(If you get too cold, cold) I’ll tax the heat
(If you take a walk, walk) I’ll tax your feet
(Taxman)

‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

Don’t ask me what I want it for
(Ah, ah, Mr. Wilson)
If you don’t want to pay some more
(Ah, ah, Mr. Heath)
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

Now my advice for those who die (taxman)
Declare the pennies on your eyes (taxman)
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman
And you’re working for no one but me (taxman)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: George Harrison
Taxman lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

I hope you enjoyed reading about George this week as much as I enjoyed writing about him. Thanks, and remember…..

There’s not a single thing wrong with a George Harrisong!

Music Blog, Uncategorized

FRIDAY HARRISONG

December 1, 2023January 22, 2024 Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

After a couple of discreet contributions to “Help!”, George really started taking his revenge with “Rubber Soul” and began to show his enormous capacity as a songwriter. With this new-found theme, George was on his way to surpassing himself on each upcoming album.

I thought I couldn’t dig George any more than I already did, but when this song came out in 1965, I realized I was wrong. I was under his spell!

In his 1980 autobiography, “I, Me, Mine”, George recalls a little about the inspiration behind “Think for Yourself”. He said that his intention was to target narrow-minded thinking and identified the British government as a possible source. Partly as a result of the vagueness of his comments, the song has been interpreted as both a political commentary and a statement on a failing personal relationship.

The song reflects the influence of Bob Dylan; just as their songs had encouraged Dylan to embrace rock music, Dylan’s work inspired the Beatles (and particularly George, as a budding songwriter), to address more sophisticated concepts than the standard love song. Some critics likened “Think For Yourself” to Dylan’s “Positively 4^th Street” …. not too shabby a comparison!

From 1965’s fantastic “Rubber Soul”, this is the impressive, heavy-hitting “Think For Yourself”.

Lyrics

I’ve got a word or two
To say about the things that you do
You’re telling all those lies
About the good things that we can have
If we close our eyes

Do what you want to do
And go where you’re going to
Think for yourself
‘Cause I won’t be there with you

I left you far behind
The ruins of the life that you had in mind
And though you still can’t see
I know your mind’s made up
You’re gonna cause more misery

Do what you want to do
And go where you’re going to
Think for yourself
‘Cause I won’t be there with you

Although your mind’s opaque
Try thinking more if just for your own sake
The future still looks good
And you’ve got time to rectify
All the things that you should

Do what you want to do
And go where you’re going to
Think for yourself
‘Cause I won’t be there with you

Do what you want to do
And go where you’re going to
Think for yourself
‘Cause I won’t be there with you
Think for yourself
‘Cause I won’t be there with you

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: George Harrison
Think for Yourself lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

“Think for Yourself”

Song by the Beatles
from the album Rubber Soul
Published	Northern Songs
Released	3 December 1965
Recorded	8 November 1965
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Pop rock rock
Length	2:18
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	George Harrison
Producer(s)	George Martin

There’s not a single thing wrong with a George Harrisong!

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THURSDAY HARRISONG

November 30, 2023November 29, 2023 Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

You may have picked up on a theme here in my ‘all things George’ week. I started with the first song by George to appear on a Beatles album and am working my way up chronologically …. managing somehow to have overlooked two! 🤦🏼‍♀️ One of those songs appears today; the other will appear tomorrow. By Saturday I’ll be back on track with the correct chronology. True Giorgiophiles didn’t call me out on that booboo but those two songs are very good ones and deserve airtime here. Mea culpa!

Let’s backtrack a bit to the third George song included on a Beatles album. It was his second composition for the “Help!” album, recorded in 1965 for the film of the same name but it never made it to the soundtrack.

George double-tracked his vocals, with Paul joining in at certain times. Double-tracking vocals is the act of recording a vocal part two or more times, attempting to match each performance as closely as possible to the original, both in phrasing and in pitch, to add depth, dimension, character and harmony. (If you’re familiar with the songs of Connie Francis, you’ll know that she is famous for double-tracking and she certainly did it well.)

Presumably written about his relationship with Pattie Boyd (another ode to the divine Ms. B!) this is “You Like Me Too Much” from “Help!” or “Beatles IV”, depending on which side of the pond you’re located.

Lyrics

Though you’ve gone away this morning
You’ll be back again tonight
Telling me there’ll be no next time
If I just don’t treat you right
You’ll never leave me and you know it’s true
‘Cause you like me too much and I like you

You’ve tried before to leave me
But you haven’t got the nerve
To walk out and make me lonely
Which is all that I deserve
You’ll never leave me and you know it’s true
‘Cause you like me too much and I like you
I really do

And it’s nice when you believe me
If you leave me
I will follow you and bring
You back where you belong
‘Cause I couldn’t really stand it
I’d admit that I was wrong
I wouldn’t let you leave me ’cause it’s true
‘Cause you like me too much and I like you

‘Cause you like me too much and I like you
I really do

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: George Harrison
You Like Me Too Much lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

“You Like Me Too Much”

Song by the Beatles
from the album Help!
Released	14 June 1965 (US: Beatles IV) 6 August 1965 (UK: Help!)
Recorded	17 February 1965
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Pop rock
Length	2:35
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	George Harrison
Producer(s)	George Martin

There’s not a single thing wrong with a George Harrisong!

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WEDNESDAY HARRISONG

November 29, 2023November 29, 2023 Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Far Out Magazine – Rubber Soul Publicity Shot

Today we mark the 22^nd anniversary of George Harrison’s death; as I said the other day in my post on Song Lyric Sunday, the passing of George broke my heart. The youngest of the Beatles, he was only eight years my senior, almost to the day, but when I was 13 or 14 years old, that eight years seemed like a huge age gap.

I was in my car driving up to Rhinebeck NY to see my mother and sister when the news came on the car radio. I cried for the rest of the trip and, upon my arrival, shared the sad news with them. The irony was not lost on me how 36 years earlier the three of us bonded at a happier occasion …. the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium. The Lads always had a way of bringing people together.

And they still do for here we are once again brought together by their great music!

After “With The Beatles” and “Help!”, George was ready to take his long over-due revenge with “Rubber Soul”. “If I Needed Someone” marked the start of his (acknowledged) emergence as a songwriter beside the likes of Lennon and McCartney.

This is yet another song which George wrote for his future wife, Pattie Boyd. She must have been something else, that Pattie, to have two men (George and Eric Clapton) fall madly in love with her, marry her and have three songs (that I know of) written for her!

In “If I Needed Someone”, George invites is love interest to “Carve your number on my wall” yet offers only the possibility that he will call her back. I always loved the way he cleverly used the word “carve” when a songwriter of lesser chops would have gone with the word “write”.

From 1965’s “Rubber Soul” here is “If I Needed Someone”. There’s not a single thing wrong with a George Harrisong!

LYRICS

If I needed someone to love
You’re the one that I’d be thinking of
If I needed someone

If I had some more time to spend
Then I guess I’d be with you, my friend
If I needed someone

Had you come some other day
Then it might not have been like this
But you see now I’m too much in love

Carve your number on my wall
And maybe you will get a call from me
If I needed someone
Ah, ah, ah, ah

If I had some more time to spend
Then I guess I’d be with you, my friend
If I needed someone

Had you come some other day
Then it might not have been like this
But you see now I’m too much in love

Carve your number on my wall
And maybe you will get a call from me
If I needed someone
Ah, ah

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: George Harrison
If I Needed Someone lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

“If I Needed Someone”

Song by the Beatles
from the album Rubber Soul
Released	3 December 1965
Recorded	16 and 18 October 1965
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Folk rock, pop rock, power pop
Length	2:23
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	George Harrison
Producer(s)	George Martin

Here’s a link to a story I first wrote in 2021 then reposted earlier this year. Most of you have read it but some have not. I’m rather proud of this piece; a ton of research went into it and it took me about 2 weeks to paraphrase everything George said because the last thing I wanted was a cut and paste type of job. It’s about as close to the truth as I could get without actually sitting down and talking with George himself. Thank you! 🩶

SOMETHING: A Fictional Interview with George Harrison, November 2001

Music Blog

TUESDAY HARRISONG

November 28, 2023January 22, 2024 Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Continuing with my “All Things George Week”, today I have for you the 2^nd of George’s Beatles’ songs. If you remember from yesterday, his first song was written in 1963; it took another 2 years for George to get the much-coveted nod from Lennon and McCartney.

Recorded in 1965, this song appears in the Beatles’ film “Help!” in a scene filmed on Salisbury Plain (a chalk plateau in southern England covering 300 square miles) where the group was under military protection from a murderous cult. Ooh, very exciting!

The song is “I Need You”, originally written by George for Pattie Boyd, the English model/actress he married in January 1966, breaking millions of girl’s hearts around the world.

From the Beatles’ album, “Help!”, this is George Harrison’s “I Need You”. There’s not a single thing wrong with a George Harrisong!

Lyrics

You don’t realize how much I need you
Love you all the time, never leave you
Please come on back to me
I’m lonely as can be
I need you

Said you had a thing or two to tell me
How was I to know you would upset me?
I didn’t realize as I looked in your eyes
You told me, oh, yes, you told me
You don’t want my lovin’ anymore

That’s when it hurt me
And feeling like this
I just can’t go on anymore

Please remember how I feel about you
I could never really live without you
So, come on back and see
Just what you mean to me
I need you

But when you told me
You don’t want my lovin’ anymore
That’s when it hurt me
And feeling like this
I just can’t go on anymore

Please remember how I feel about you
I could never really live without you
So, come on back and see
Just what you mean to me

I need you
I need you
I need you

“I Need You”

Song by the Beatles
from the album *Help!*
Released	6 August 1965
Recorded	15–16 February 1965
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Pop Rock, Folk Rock
Length	2:28
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	George Harrison
Producer(s)	George Margin

I hope you’ll join me today
as I wrap up my edition of
I’m With The Banned.
It’s a post you won’t want to miss.
https://rhythmsection.blog/

Music Blog

MONDAY HARRISONG

November 27, 2023January 22, 2024 Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

This week I’m doing something I never do: I’m not going to write any stories (unless a word or photo prompt seduces me, which is always a possibility). I needed a little break and thought I’d concentrate on my other great love: music.

November 29 is the 22^nd anniversary of the death of George Harrison so this week is all about George and the songs he wrote while with the Beatles.

Let’s get the ball rolling with this little gem. Here’s some background info:

Between August 19 and 24, 1963, the Beatles were playing some concerts in Bournemouth, on the southern coast of England, along with Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas and Tommy Quickly. Feeling sick and with orders from his doctor to rest, George had nothing to do in his room at the Palace Court Hotel. Bored, he began writing a song, recording himself on a portable tape recorder. The result was “Don’t Bother Me”, George’s first song to appear on a Beatles’ album.

From the band’s second album, “With The Beatles”, this is “Don’t Bother Me”. There’s not a single thing wrong with a George Harrisong!

Lyrics

Since she’s been gone I want no one to talk to me
It’s not the same, but I’m to blame, it’s plain to see
So go away and leave me alone
Don’t bother me

I can’t believe that she would leave me on my own
It’s just not right when every night I’m all alone
I’ve got no time for you right now
Don’t bother me

I know I’ll never be the same
If I don’t get her back again
Because I know she’ll always be
The only girl for me

But ’til she’s here, please, don’t come near, just stay away
I’ll let you know when she’s come home until that day
Don’t come around, leave me alone
Don’t bother me

I’ve got no time for you right now
Don’t bother me

I know I’ll never be the same
If I don’t get her back again
Because I know she’ll always be
The only girl for me

But ’til she’s here, please, don’t come near, just stay away
I’ll let you know when she’s come home until that day
Don’t come around, leave me alone
Don’t bother me
Don’t bother me
Don’t bother me
Don’t bother me
Don’t bother me

“Don’t Bother Me”

Song by the Beatles
from the album With The Beatles
Released	22 November 1963
Recorded	12 September 1963
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Rock and Roll beat
Length	2:29
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	George Harrison
Producer(s)	George Martin

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