‘Taxman’: The Beatles song Ray Davies labelled “a cross between The Who and ‘Batman'”
London during the 1960s is often looked back upon as some sort of golden age, populated entirely by rebellious young people hellbent on creating an entirely new landscape of art and music. While this perception is, of course, heavily reliant on rose-tinted nostalgia, the era certainly did produce some of Britain’s all-time greatest artists and songwriters. Among them, The Kinks’ Ray Davies was particularly adept at reflecting the true reality of British life during the post-war period of the 1960s.
Contrary to what was going on in Carnaby Street at the time, London was still a city struggling to recover from the devastating effects of World War II. For working-class kids like Ray Davies, London seemed to be a perpetually grey place flanked by rubble and economic deprivation. So, it was up to his generation to create a vibrant and inventive alternative to that rather depressing reality. The Kinks were the forerunners of those revolutionary young groups driving Britain’s music scene endlessly forward through trailblazing rock and roll tunes.
Somewhere across the city from where The Kinks were orchestrating their mod-rock rebellion, a band from up north were crafting their own revolution. Ever since their debut album in 1963, The Beatles had been in a league of their own. As the mid-point of the decade arrived, the ‘Mop Tops’ began moving away from the teeny-bopper love songs of their early records, expanding into something much more profound and inventive. The 1966 album Revolver is still perhaps the greatest example of the group’s innovative approach to music-making.
Employing some of the early examples of multi-track layering and incorporating a wide range of influences, leaning increasingly towards psychedelia, the album was a triumph. Nevertheless, initial reactions to the album were mixed at best. At the time, Ray Davies was asked to review the record for Disc and Music Echo, during which he called ‘Yellow Submarine’ “a load of rubbish” and failed to see the appeal of ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
Seemingly, the ‘You Really Got Me’ songwriter was not overly convinced by the album’s opening track, either. Penned by George Harrison as a protest against the ‘supertax’ policies of then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson, ‘Taxman’ was certainly not the band’s most lyrically profound track, but its multi-track composition acted as the perfect introduction to the innovative production methods at the heart of Revolver.
Ray Davies, on the other hand, did not give the opener quite so much credit. “It sounds like a cross between The Who and Batman,” he said, comparing Harrison’s work both to his mod-rock contemporaries and Neal Hefti’s theme tune to the Batman television series starring Adam West. In all honesty, Davies’ description of the song sounds pretty great; more artists should aim to evoke the thrilling nature of Batman within their music.
“It’s a bit limited,” the Kinks songwriter clarifies, suggesting his previous comment was not necessarily a compliment. Nevertheless, he did compliment the band’s inventive production techniques, saying, “The Beatles get over this by the sexy double-tracking. It’s surprising how sexy double-tracking makes a voice sound.” It is difficult to disagree with Davies’ surprisingly sex-fueled opinion of Harrison’s lead vocals.
Soon after Revolver hit the airwaves, Davies would similarly dedicate himself to innovative productions and profound songwriting. The Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society, for instance, follows in the footsteps of early concept albums like The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. So, it would appear that Davies warmed to the newfound sound of The Beatles eventually, though it is unclear whether his relationship with Batman evolved similarly.
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