Don't Bother Me is a great underrated Beatles classic from the early 60's & one of the first songs ever written by George which I think is equal to anything Lennon/McCartney wrote at the time.  I know why DBM isn't noticed too much in Beatles history because he improved as a songwriter with While My Guitar Gently Weeps & Something later on but it's a great song. 

I agree!! George rule!!

Fan so dangerously

I agree, Don't Bother Me is a great tune.  I also really like I Want To Tell You.  I think its woefully underrated and under appreciated.

yeah, it's a great early Harrison song, very underrated

I can't disagree here   ... I love it and it's still my favourite from the album ...

Quoted from raxo

I can't disagree here   ... I love it and it's still my favourite from the album ...

agreed! i actually was listening to it on the iPod today!

I really like this song, the first he recorded.  I especially enjoy listening to the slight variations in the early takes and his quiet count-ins.

I like it too, but Wayne was wrong. It is not equal to what John and Paul was putting out at the time, but it was a decent first attempt.

Quoted from Hello Goodbye

I really like this song, the first he recorded.  I especially enjoy listening to the slight variations in the early takes and his quiet count-ins.

Yeah, he knew how he wanted it to sound ... much better than Little Child, Hold Me Tight and all that stuff ... those were worse fillers than There's A Place or Misery, for example ...

Dont Bother Me was filler too and its debatable if it was better than the above songs.

I agree with T here. Why are George's songs seen here as often better than the others? Maybe George was neglected in his time somewhat, but hey, if he had really written great songs, I'm sure John Paul and Ringo would have picked it up and recorded it. Don't Bother Me is not such a great song imho.

Agreed. DBM is pretty average fare, and definately a filler. Now, 'If I Needed Someone', that IS equal to Lennon/McCartney IMHO.

Quoted from raxo

Yeah, he knew how he wanted it to sound ... [...]

BEATLES GEAR
by Andy Babiuk



Chapter 6

"Early studio effects
Continuing with their relentless schedule of live gigs, television appearances and radio shows, The Beatles found time to get into Abbey Road studio 2 again to continue work for their second LR, With The Beatles. On September 11th and 12th they recorded 'All I've Got To Do', 'Not A Second Time', 'Don't Bother Me', 'Little Child' and 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. Lennon and McCartney had written the latter song just days before and given it to The Rolling Stones, who also recorded it, as the a-side of their second single. Gibson's Maestro Fuzz-Tone distortion box, first experimented with by the group on the 'She Loves You' sessions a few months earlier, was tried again, this time by Lennon on early takes of 'Don't Bother Me', but again it did not make the final issued version.
A journalist present at the session reported that the first lake was not too successful. "When they had rearranged the opening bars, John produced a fuzz box ... John was knocked out with the result, but George Martin wasn't too happy. 'You'll have to do something, John,' said Martin. 'It's already distorting from the amplifier. Do you think it sounds OK? Are you sure about it?'" The vote went against the fuzz box. Harrison, the report continued, asked engineer Norman Smith, "‘Can we have a compressor on this guitar? We might try to get a sort of organ sound.’" 22
With their chart success, The Beatles were enjoying greater freedom m the studio. No longer were there strict time limitations. The session that included 'Don't Bother Me', for example, had gone on until after 10pm - very late by the conservative standards of Abbey Road in those days. And at this relatively early stage the group had already started to add different instruments to their recordings, beyond the usual guitars and drums line-up, and to play with recording effects. Although these decorations were not yet elaborate or extreme, instruments such as bongos, claves, piano and Hammond organ as well as harmonica, tambourine and other percussion were all used to enhance the recordings, and the group would continue to develop these ideas in the studio.
The issued version of 'Don't Bother Me' ended up with amplifier tremolo - a rhythmic fluctuation of volume - on the rhythm guitar. Though relatively polite, this was the group's first evident use in the studio of an electronic effect on the guitar sound, and thus marked the start of a search for unusual sounds and the group's role as studio experimenters in coming years. Fortunately, producer George Martin was responsive to such developments, and increasingly it seemed as if The Beatles were willing to try anything. This open-mindedness proved to be one of the major reasons for the artistic success of the group's records, and ensures that these discs remain as milestones in the history of recorded pop music."


from here: http://wingspan.ru/bookseng/babiuk/contents.html

It still should be appreciated more as an early Beatles classic by George since it hardly gets noticed next to WMGGW.  

Funny thing is that George himself did not regard his debut as a writer very high. "I forgot all about it as soon as it was on the album", he said.

One bad sign with this one is that at only 2:30 or so it still seems to go on too long. It's filler, and the structure (?) sounds awkward to me, but the dour tone and leave-me-alone subject matter are distinctively George.

...and, come to think of it, all in all very much like Not Guilty.

Quoted from Wayne L.

Don't Bother Me is a great underrated Beatles classic from the early 60's & one of the first songs ever written by George which I think is equal to anything Lennon/McCartney wrote at the time.

Anybody else miss Wayne!! Apparently a dirge like Don't Bother Me is equal to songs L & M were knocking out at the time. Like All My Loving, She Loves You, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. I never knew that!

Quoted from BlueMeanie

Anybody else miss Wayne!! Apparently a dirge like Don't Bother Me is equal to songs L & M were knocking out at the time. Like All My Loving, She Loves You, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. I never knew that!

I love eccentric opinions... anybody want to stick up for "Ebony and Ivory?"

I badgered George to write again. The very first recording the Quarry Men did was of the Buddy Holly number 'That'll Be the Day' and an original number 'In Spite of All The Danger', by George Harrison and Paul McCartney. When they did their Hamburg recording sessions with Bert Kaempfert backing Tony Sheridan, they asked Kaempfert if they could record any of their original numbers. He listened to them and chose 'Cry For A Shadow', written by George Harrison and John Lennon. I mentioned this on the cover of Issue No. 2 of Mersey Beat in July 1961 that George had written the number.
Once the Beatles had begun recording and it was all Lennon & McCartney originals, I asked George why he wasn't writing. He didn't seem to have much confidence. I pointed out that the first mention of an original Beatles number in print was his number on the cover of Mersey Beat. I suggested he try a number with Ringo. He then wrote a song with Ringo and told me about it during another chat and I even mentioned the fact in Mersey Beat, although I don't know what the number was and it wasn't recorded.
So when I kept mentioning it to him when we met for drinks at the Blue Angel or the Cabin in Wood Street, it obviously had some sort of effect because when I was with them at a TV show in Blackpool George came up to me and thanked me. I asked him what for. He said that he was about to come out for a drink in town one night and then realised he'd meet me and I'd begin badgering him about writing a song again, so the title 'Don't Bother Me' came into his mind. He thanked me again, saying he'd already made over 7,000 pounds in royalties. I don't know why he didn't mention this in his book 'I Me Mine', but this is how it actually happened.

You're a good egg, Bill!

George didn't mention much in his book 'I Me Mine', so I'm not surprised this anecdote was left out, too. I think you hit the nail on the head with the observation that "He didn't seem to have much confidence." Paul and John had confidence to spare, and I think that helps to fuel the creative process (at least in my case).

Thanks once again for sharing your experiences. It's always great to see you.

Cheers Bill, it's always good to read your stories. Even though you just gave away one of the answers in the Beatles Mastermind quiz!!

Quoted from BlueMeanie

Anybody else miss Wayne!! Apparently a dirge like Don't Bother Me is equal to songs L & M were knocking out at the time. Like All My Loving, She Loves You, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. I never knew that!

email him and get him back then!

I like the song. It's very unusual compared to the others' work, and compared to all pop music in general at the time. I can't think of anything else quite like it. A different sort of melody, instrumental arrangement, subject matter, and it rocks. The dark tone simply punctuates something that helped make this band great: the power of diversity in their individual personalities and artistic sensibilities. A counter-punch to all the sweet stickiness that the others (brilliantly) put forward. I rate it very high.

i've always loved this track, i think it was a great start for George's writing.  

I've always really liked the song too.

Interesting note: according to my teacher, the song is neither major nor minor -- it's "modal". Can't say more than that; my knowledge of music theory isn't that good.