In “Don’t Bother Me”, With The Beatles album, 1963, George is definitely the standout with his impressive guitar work and vocals. Harrison’s fierce guitar solo, as well as his rhythm guitar work throughout the song, displays the confidence of his first original composition. Not being the Beatle with the most gifted sense of pitch, his vocal performance exudes the confidence felt from singing an original composition for the first time. This being his first attempt at double-tracked singing, the phrasing from his second vocal strays considerably from his first, but is performed well enough not to detract from the song as a whole. His comical sounding “me” whenever the title of the song is sung is a result of his strong Liverpudlian accent coupled with the slight vibrato in his voice when double-tracked.Noteworthy too is that Harrison’s voice is the only one heard on the song. Whereas harmony and/or background vocals were customary inclusions on all of The Beatles songs released thus far, this album sees them recording songs with only one vocalist, “Don’t Bother Me” being the fourth one recorded for their second British album. “Till There Was You” was the first, then “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Not A Second Time.”Ringo also stands out here, with his slightly Latin-flavored beat and enthusiastic drum fills before the breaks and throughout the song. He also played Arabian bongo. His syncopated accents during the song’s fade set the command for the rest of the band. Paul’s ominous bass triplets are very low in the mix and hardly discernable but, notwithstanding, very impressive.John’s rhythm guitar work, performed with a high tremolo setting on his amp, is impressive because of its intricacy, something that wouldn’t continue as The Beatles career progressed.
