THE SONG STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN RECORDED FOR MICHAEL JACKSON-AND WHY!...Recently I was surfing on Youtube and came across the video of the last song Stevie ever did to make the charts. It was a song called Tick Tock, from the posthumously released album “Family Style,” a collaboration with brother Jimmie. The song became a minor hit in the fall of 1990, though it never got the airplay it truly deserved. I remembered the song from then, but hadn’t really thought much of it in the years since. However, as I was listening to it the other day, it occurred to me that the song shares many of the same philanthropic themes as Michael Jackson’s best message songs, such as Heal The World and Earth Song. Like those songs, Tick Tock is a song about a dream (which the opening spoken monologue reveals)-a dream of a planet where people help one another instead of killing each other, a dream that “all of the people came together on the same wavelength,” “worst of enemies became the best of friends,” where “the children of the world look forward to a future” and “the trees of the forest stood tall and strong again.” Listening to it again, afresh, after all these years, I realized the song not only echoed Michael’s same concerns for humanity and ecological issues, but also served to draw attention to the very little window of time that we have to accomplish this goal. “Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock people…time’s ticking away.”Here’s the video for the song Tick Tock (it does not actually feature Stevie, other than archival footage, because it was made after his death; his brother Jimmie recorded the spoken part at the beginning):So, because that’s the way my brain works, I started wondering if there might be a connection between Michael Jackson and Stevie Ray. Could it be possible that Michael was a fan, and listened to his music? It seemed far fetched, but keep in mind, Michael’s musical tastes were very eclectic, and the average person would be surprised to know some of the artists he listened to. But more than that, I began to wonder: Had they ever met? Had they ever collaborated on any projects?This wasn’t a total stab in the dark, because they already had two very obvious connections. The first, of course, was the shared friendship with Stevie Wonder. But there was another, even bigger one: They just happened to share the same record label-Sony. And as it turned out, it was their mutual love for The Beatles-and Michael’s share in The Beatles catalogue- that resulted in a track Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble specifically recorded for Michael Jackson. It was a cover version of “Taxman,” which was recorded in 1986 but would not surface until the posthumous “Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Greatest Hits,” released in 1995.But the story behind the track is even more interesting. In 1986, Michael as we all know had recently acquired The Beatles catalogue, which gave him access to over 200 Beatles songs. Now, Michael being Michael, was not content merely to own the songs or to occasionally loan them out to commercials. He wanted to do something creative with them; something unique. So, in 1986, he had evidently come up with an idea for a full-length, animated movie that would feature the Beatles’ music and would be built around the concept of one of their songs (probably something along the lines of what the Beatles themselves did with “Yellow Submarine”). Michael, in animated form, was going to be the main character in the film, although I haven’t been able to find any information on what the plot line was supposed to be. Apparently several musicians, including many of those on the Sony roster, came forward to record music for the project-among them, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.Obviously, the project never materialized and I have not been able to find much information on it. But I did run across this interesting article, which mentions the project and quotes Stevie’s long-time bassist Tommy Shannon:`Several years ago, it was either `86 or `87, Michael Jackson was doing an animated movie for which he wanted to use all Beatles songs,’ recalls Tommy Shannon, Double Trouble bassist and Stevie’s longtime friend. `All these different musicians were doing Beatles’ songs so we did `Taxman’. Something happened and the movie never came out so it’s been sitting in the can for several years. We took a listen to it and thought it sounded real good and decided to put it on the record.’Of course, he was referring to the track when he said it had been “sitting in the can for several years” but I thought it was an interesting choice of words regarding the movie. Note he only says the movie “never came out,” not that it was never made. Could it be-just possible-that this movie was made, and just never released? Could it still be sitting in Sony’s vaults somewhere? Hmmm. Interesting.I still don’t know if Michael and Stevie ever met. But it was interesting to find out that Taxman had been specifically recorded for a Michael Jackson project. And knowing Michael’s imagination, it probably would’ve been one helluva movie.Interestingly enough, Stevie Ray’s cover of Taxman has been lauded by many music critics (those brave enough not to consider it sacrilege) as a superior version toThe Beatles’. And though I may incur the wrath of some Beatles fans, I’m going to go out on a limb and say I agree. Upon finally seeing light of day in 1995, it would also become duly noted as one of Stevie’s best recordings ever. (Jimmie Vaughan, as overseer of his brother’s estate, has been instrumental in ensuring that Sony does not cheapen his brother’s legacy, by making sure that only the best quality unreleased songs make the cut-tracks that actually contribute to his legacy, rather than demeaning it; it’s a policy both John Branca and John McClain would do well to take heed of). I can only imagine now how Michael might have planned to use this track in the movie. It would have been fun to see him as a cool gangster character ala’ his Smooth Criminal personae, dodging and having a shoot out with the evil “Taxman.”...http://www.allforloveblog.com/old/index403.html

***Michael Jackson - "Canceled Beatles Project" - Any Archived Information? (Stevie Ray Vaughan notes)From what I have read, at one time Michael Jackson was planning a "Beatles Tribute / Cover Album" or a "Beatles Related Project" of some kind after he purchased the ATV Publishing Rights. Michael Jackson had recorded the song "Come Together" during this time period and from what I have recently learned, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble may have recorded their version of the song "Taxman" for the same Michael Jackson project.In addition to being a life long Michael Jackson fan, I have also been life long fan of the guitar playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan. I started trying to find out more information about this after I recently saw a video interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan from May/1988 - it was a "Much Music Canada" interview, and when asked what he was currently working on, Stevie Ray Vaughan replied that he had just recorded his own, unique version of "Taxman" for a Michael Jackson project he was working on. Because Stevie Ray Vaughan may have actually worked on a Michael Jackson project of some kind, I have been extremely curious about any details available I can find - In 1995 the song "Taxman" was officially released as a new song for the posthumous SRV album "Greatest Hits" and until recently, I had personally never made the connection as to why Stevie Ray Vaughan had recorded a random Beatles song. I never noticed the details, like when and why it was actually recorded. ...Here is some of the information I have found online regarding Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Greatest Hits" release and the song "Taxman" -- that also mentions Michael Jackson:Both of the recordings were released in 1995 - "Come Together" on MJs "HIStory" in June/95 and "Taxman" on SRVs "Greatest Hits" in October/95.An SRV Fan Site NoteStevie Ray VaughanGreatest hits (LP/CD)'Taxman'"Michael Jackson was at some stage putting together a Beatles tribute album, probably tocelebrate his acquisition of the rights to their catalogue. This George Harrison compositionwas to be SRV & DT’s contribution. The album was canceled, but the song eventually surfaced here."A portion of an article when SRV's "Greatest Hit" was releasedThe latest Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble release is `Greatest Hits' - no surprises here, apart from a version of the Beatles' `Taxman'. A rather unusual choice of cover?`Several years ago, it was either `86 or `87, Michael Jackson was doing an animated movie for which he wanted to use all Beatles songs,' recalls Tommy Shannon, Double Trouble bassist and Stevie's longtime friend. `All these different musicians were doing Beatles' songs so we did `Taxman'. Something happened and the movie never came out so it's been sitting in the can for several years. We took a listen to it and thought it sounded real good and decided to put it on the record.'`But there's nothing else like`Taxman' that we're holding back,' adds Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton. --UPDATE--The Official SRV Fan Club will hopefully have some interesting information about this recording. I am also seeking information regarding other Beatles song covers done by artisits and musicians that were on EPIC records in the late 1980's. It also appears some there is some information directly from the actual Stevie Ray Vaughan Estate that mentions the recording of the song of "Taxman" by Stevie Ray Vaughan was part of a "Canceled Michael Jackson Project."...http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-91225.html?s=23bea522fde831489571bbda7455ec5f

Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single - Stevie Ray Vaughan http://www.45cat.com/artist/stevie-ray-vaughan