MusicRadar

Yes, of course, George Harrison was "the quiet Beatle," in as much as anybody in that seismic quartet could have really been regarded as such.

While the tag might have been one of perspective - John and Paul were the frontmen with outsized personalities, and Ringo, well, he was Ringo! - it was, in fact, the furthest thing from the truth when looking at the impact that George Harrison, that lovely lad with the beautifully sculpted face and impossibly cool hair who also played some pretty darn fine guitar, had on this world.

No, one really couldn't be "quiet" to garner the attention of the then-teenaged John Lennon and Paul McCartney with his version of Raunchy, an audition of which gained his entree into a combo that would become The Beatles.

Years later, when The Beatles were the biggest things since the invention of the wheel, it was Harrison who first put forth the notion that the group end touring - by which time the enigmatic guitarist, already searching to "the answer," had also introduced his bandmates to new sounds and ideals, many of them coming from India.

He would eventually blossom into a songwriting equal to his onetime mentors (some would say he surpassed them on Abbey Road), and soon after The Beatles were finished, he scored a number one with a triple album (All Things Must Pass) and pioneered the charity rock event with his Madison Square Garden shows for Bangledesh.

In his middle and later years, Harrison pursued passions both public (filmmaking, auto racing) and private (gardening, Eastern religion). Somewhat ironically, and perhaps this was due to the sheer magnetism of his personality along with his impeccable musical skills, even when he did something ostensibly low-key, i.e. "let me get some of my friends to play on a record," it turned into another first: The Traveling Wilburys - Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and "Nelson Wilbury." The term "supergroup" is grossly overused, but this lineup is the very definition.

Never one to showboat his instrumental chops (with the exception of his Raunchy audition), Harrison is one of rock's most captivating and influential guitarists, the embodiment of the "team player" who still found a way to make his every solo a memorable song within a song. Rockabilly, jazz, blues and surf guitar all came together in George Harrison's early years with The Beatles, but before long he digested his influences and was his own man, dishing out licks, riffs and solos that defy easy categorization.

In the relative shadows, Harrison was perfecting his songwriting, and while one could easily be discouraged when confronted by the likes of Lennon and McCartney, George kept at it. And it's safe to say he did pretty well.

On this, the 10th anniversary of his leaving the earth, MusicRadar celebrates the music of George Harrison with a look at what we consider to be his 10 greatest Beatles compositions.

Don't Bother Me (1963)

Although Harrison regarded the moody, sullen piece as "a fairly crappy song" (he wrote it while ill in a hotel room) it's still a stark change-up from the eternally upbeat "I'll-be-true-to-you" sentiments of the first Lennon/McCartney compositions. Ringo's drumming has a distinctive Latin feel, and George's guitar playing - the chords roll in from the word go - references both Link Wray and Dick Dale.

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