The statues are a big draw for tourists
‘Tax the rich’ has been written on the floor at The Beatles statue on Liverpool’s Pier Head(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
The phrase ‘tax the rich’ was graffitied on the floor in front of the statues of The Beatles at Liverpool’s Pier Head. It was daubed at the feet of the statues of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon and was visible on Saturday morning.
Designed by Andy Edwards, the bronze Pier Head statues were a tribute to the band on behalf of fans worldwide and was funded by the Cavern Club. It was unveiled in December 2015.
The statues are a big tourist attraction and the graffiti didn’t stop crowds of people from taking photos with them. The left-wing phrase written at the statues is presumably aimed at the band’s wealth.
Paul is the UK’s first ever billionaire musician and Ringo’s net worth is estimated to be around £350m. The estates of John and George are worth £800m and £400m respectively.
Tax was the subject of one of The Beatles’ most famous songs – ‘Taxman‘. Written by George, it featured on their August 1966 album ‘Revolver’. George wrote the song in protest at Harold Wilson’s Labour government’s tax rules – its lyrics take aim at both Mr Wilson and Conservative leader Ted Heath.
About the song, George said: “I had discovered I was paying a huge amount of money to the taxman. You are so happy that you’ve finally started earning money – and then you find out about tax.
‘Tax the rich’ has been written on the floor at The Beatles statue on Liverpool’s Pier Head(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“In those days we paid 19 shillings and sixpence out of every pound, and with supertax and surtax and tax-tax it was ridiculous – a heavy penalty to pay for making money.
“That was a big turn-off for Britain. Anybody who ever made any money moved to America or somewhere else.”
On a similar theme, the band released the song ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’ the following year. The track was the B-side to the single ‘All You Need is Love‘.
‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’ began life as a song called ‘One of the Beautiful People’. To write it, John had taken inspiration – as was the case with ‘A Day in the Life’ – from newspaper articles, this time about the hippie movement.
He hadn’t finished the song and took it to Paul at his home in St John’s Wood, London. Paul added the titular chorus, which he had written as part of a different unfinished song, and gave the track its name.
In a 1980 interview, John said of its composition: “That’s a combination of two separate pieces… put together and forced into one song. One half was all mine.
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon, at a recording studio in London in 1967(Image: PA/PA Wire)
“(He sang) ‘How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people, now that you know who you are, da da da da’. Then Paul comes in with ‘Baby, you’re a rich man’, which was a lick he had around.”
‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’ was recorded in a single session at Olympic Sound Studios in south west London, rather than their usual home of EMI Studios on Abbey Road.
Following the completion of the ‘Sgt Pepper’ album, The Beatles had been working on the songs for the ‘Yellow Submarine’ film and this track was submitted for it but didn’t make the cut.
Instead it was initially released with ‘All You Need Is Love’. It later featured on the accompanying album for the film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ – against the band’s wishes.