While in Los Angeles in June 1971, and after being made aware of the gravity of the situation in what was then known as East Pakistan by friend and musician Ravi Shankar, George Harrison set about organising two fundraising concerts at Madison Square Garden, New York, to aid the war-ravaged and disaster-stricken country. In the middle of these hurried preparations, he composed the song "Bangla Desh" in order to call further attention to the Bengalis' cause, and rush-released it as a charity single four days before the shows. Riding high with the recent success of his "All Things Must Pass" triple album, Harrison then headlined the all-star UNICEF benefit concerts, backed by a 24-piece band of musicians and singers, on Sunday, 1 August 1971. The shows marked the first time that Harrison and Ringo Starr had performed on stage together since the Beatles quit touring in 1966; since then, they, like Bob Dylan, had been mostly unavailable to concert audiences.&lt;ref name="Jan Wenner/CFBD Revisited interviews"&gt;Interview with Jann Wenner, in "The Concert for Bangladesh Revisited".&lt;/ref&gt; In Dylan's case, it was his first appearance at a major US concert in five years, although his participation had been uncertain until he walked on for his segment midway through the afternoon show.