10 Guitarists That Changed Rock Music Forever
6. George Harrison
Even when the Beatles were at their peak, there's a good chance that even George Harrison wouldn't consider himself one of the greatest guitarists in the world. When the Fab Four were first getting gigs around the clubs, the Quiet Beatle was just another aspiring musician from Liverpool, going into the same bag of tricks that came from Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry a few years before. Beatlemania can definitely change a man, and all of that life experience went with George every time he played a solo.
From the Beatles years to his solo work, George was a master at serving the song whenever he picked up his guitar, contributing the main lick to Paul McCartney's And I Love Her or eventually making his own masterpieces on songs like Something or Here Comes the Sun. While there's not much you can do within the span of a 2-3 minute pop song, every one of George's solos felt like an event, being just as catchy as the vocal melodies and never overstaying their welcome after a few bars.
When he got into playing slide guitar though, his phrasing could put any other slide player to shame, always having the right note to touch your soul whenever he played. George may not have been the most prolific songwriter next to Lennon or McCartney, but whenever he did come up to speak, you made sure to listen to what he had to say.