The quiet Beatle George Harrison was an "English Gentleman", according to Sussex people who knew him.

Saxophone player Johnnie Gray spent hours at the now legendary Abbey Road studios, recording with the Fab Four when they were at their peak.

A top session player in the Sixties, he played on a number of their tracks, notably on Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, recorded in 1968.

Mr Gray, 81, who now lives in Telscombe Cliffs, remembers how the Beatle lived up to his reputation.

He said: "He was very, very quiet in the studio. He just sat or stood there and played.

"He was more like an English Gentleman. Whereas most of us, including me, were extroverts, he was the complete opposite."

Mr Gray was recording with Dusty Springfield when producer (now Sir) George Martin asked him to go along to Abbey Road to work with The Beatles.

It was an eye-opening experience for a man who honed his skills in the big band era, playing with the likes of the Ted Heath Band.

He said: "I arrived at seven and there was nobody in the studio.

"They did not turn up until about 9.30. They were scallywags like that."

There was no music, so Mr Gray and his fellow session players had to improvise the tunes as Paul McCartney tapped them out on the piano.

If the recording finished early he and the other players would go to the pub, as often as not with Ringo Starr.

He said: "I worked with them so long, I started to assess them. There is no doubt McCartney was the musical brains. Ringo was an extrovert.

"John Lennon was a smart-Alec. He had an answer for everything. I can't say I got on terribly well with him.

"George Harrison never even said good afternoon or good morning for a bit. He was a terrific introvert, a very quiet man."

Apart from The Beatles and Dusty Springfield, Mr Gray played his tenor sax with, among others, The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.

But among the roll call of superstars, George Harrison, who died yesterday after losing his fight against cancer aged 58, stood out.

Mr Gray said: "He was a quiet man and perhaps the most gentlemanly behaved of them all.

"He just stayed in the background but I did notice he smoked a lot of cigarettes."

When Mr Gray started his career, a few years before George Harrison was born, the likes of Daisy Fields and George Formby were the big stars.

He had no inkling he would eventually work with four young men who would eclipse all of them; something Harrison himself was uneasy about, once saying he did not enjoy being a Beatle anymore.

Mr Gray said: "They were the biggest thing in the world.

"They revolutionised the world, there is no doubt about that.

"He was part of the Beatles, so he was part of it."