The Concert for Bangladesh (August 1, 1971) | The Fifth Beatle Movie Discussion Forum The Fifth Beatle Movie Discussion Forum Post by yerblues1968 on Jun 20, 2008 1:36:33 GMT -5 THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH Madison Square Garden, New York August 1, 1971 The Concert For Bangladesh was the event title for two benefit concerts organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, held at noon and at 7:00 p.m. on August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Organized for the relief of refugees from East Pakistan (now independent Bangladesh) after the 1970 Bhola cyclone and during the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities and Bangladesh Liberation War, the event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history. It featured an all-star supergroup of performers that included Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and Leon Russell.

An album was released later in 1971 and a concert film was released in 1972, with later releases for home video. In 2005, the film was re-issued on DVD accompanied by a new documentary. The concert raised US$243,418.50 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. BACKGROUND As East Pakistan struggled to become the separate state of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War, the tremendous political and military turmoil and the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities led to a massive refugee problem in India. This problem was compounded by the 1970 Bhola cyclone, bringing torrential rains causing devastating floods and threatening a humanitarian disaster. George Harrison and Ravi Shankar Bengali musician Ravi Shankar consulted his friend George Harrison regarding a means of providing help to the situation. Harrison recorded the single Bangla Desh to raise awareness and pushed Apple Records to release Shankar's single Joi Bangla in a dual-pronged effort to raise funds. Shankar also asked Harrison's advice regarding a small fund-raising concert in the United States.

Harrison took the idea and started calling his friends, persuading them to join him in a large concert at Madison Square Garden. The event was organised within five weeks. Harrison first asked his fellow Beatles to appear. John Lennon agreed to take part in the concert, however Harrison stipulated that Lennon's wife Yoko Ono not perform with him. Lennon agreed, but left New York two days before the event following an argument with Ono regarding his and Harrison's agreement that she not participate. Paul McCartney declined because of the bad feelings caused by The Beatles' legal problems on their break-up. Ringo Starr, however, readily agreed to appear. CONCERT PROGRAM Ravi Shankar and the sarodist Ali Akbar Khan opened the concert with recital of Indian music consisting of the dhun, "Bangla Dhun". Except for back-up roles in support of both the Delaney & Bonnie Blues Band and John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, it was the first live appearance for George Harrison since the breakup of The Beatles. Eric Clapton made his first public appearance since the end of the five-month Derek and the Dominos tour the previous December.

Clapton was still in the grip of a heroin addiction, and had been unable to attend any rehearsals until the final soundcheck. This was the first live performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and was the first time the public was made aware that it was Clapton who played the solo on The Beatles' recording. Musical help was also on hand from Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner, Badfinger, a large horn section put together by Jim Horn and other musicians, including Carl Radle, Jesse Ed Davis, Don Preston and a host of backing singers organized by Don Nix. A Photo of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. In the next photo are George Harrison, Leon Russell on piano, Phil Spector, Tom Evans and Pete Ham of Badfinger, respectively. Bob Dylan made his first stage appearance since the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1969. Apart from sitting in for a few numbers with The Band on New Year 1972 and an unannounced appearance backing John Prine on harmonica at a Greenwich Village club, he did not play live again until January 1974.

HERE Are THE HIGHLIGHTS: Ravi Shankar being introduced by George Harrison, Press Conference July 27, 1971 and Madison Square Gardens - Part 1 (9:43 minutes) Post by yerblues1968 on Jun 22, 2008 23:29:09 GMT -5 GEORGE HARRISON - THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH 1971 WHY HE WANTED THIS CONCERT The year 1971 is the most special year for Bangladesh. It achieved independence after a very painful war against Pakistan which resulted in loss of 3 million lives including the best scholars and intellectuals. For writing this article for this website, I have searched almost every website that said anything about the Concert for Bangladesh and what I found is that almost all of them have assumed that the readers know about the background of the concert and the Liberation war of Bangladesh and due to their assumption they have hardly said anything about the background. In this article I like to focus more on this aspect so that you, the western readers, can get an idea of the reasons that led George Harrison to fight for the cause.

When the British left their Indian colony then India was divided into countries- India and Pakistan. Pakistan had two wings and they were hundreds of miles away from each other. Bangladesh was known as the East Pakistan while the modern Pakistan was known as the West Pakistan. That time the Bengalis (of East Pakistan) were the majority forming the 56% of the entire population. On the other hand there were mainly 3-4 races in West Pakistan, the Punjabis forming the majority there. Since the history of Pakistan has been always dominated by the army and since it was the people of West Pakistan who had total control of the army they had the real power and they started all kinds of discriminations from the first day of Pakistan’s existence as an independent country. In 1952 massive unrest occurred in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) over the question of national language. The West Pakistani leaders wanted to impose Urdu on the Bengalis despite the fact Bengali was the mother tongue of 56% of the total population of Pakistan. On 21 February 1952 many people sacrificed their lives to protect their language.

And now, in order to show respect to their sacrifice, the United Nations officially observe this day (21 February) as the International Mother Language Day all over the world. And from 1956 Pakistan was cursed with military rule for a long time. In 1969 there was massive unrest in all parts of the country demanding democracy and the dictator, general Auyb Khan, had to step down. The new head of Army promised to return to democracy and general election was held towards the end of 1970. In that election, Awami League (a party based in East Pakistan) got a resounding majority in the national parliament. Unfortunately, the military and West Pakistani political leaders were reluctant to hand over power to Bengali leaders and the army started one of the worst genocides of world history on the night of 25 March. The people of Bangladesh started their liberation war and received warm support from India. 10 million people from Bangladesh took refuge in India. At that time, India was a close ally of Soviet Union while Pakistan was the closest friend of USA in South Asia. Thus the US Government remained silent about the genocide and tried to treat it as a civil war not as a liberation war.

Naturally the other US allies remained passive about this matter too. However, the Bangladesh cause received wide support from the western media, the intellectuals, political leaders and the common people. And George Harrison played a pivotal role in creating public awareness for this cause through ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’. In the previous article you have seen that George Harrison was related to the Indian culture a lot. The literature and culture of Bangladesh is strongly influenced by Hinduism, Budhism and Islam although around 85% of the population of Bangladesh is Muslims. And many great Bengalis had their origin in Bangladesh but later migrated to India after the creation of Pakistan. Pandit Ravi Shankar had close relationship to Bangladesh and he informed George Harrison about the Liberation War of Bangladesh and suggested that they try to do something for the Bangladeshi people. Thus the first concert for world humanity happened. George Harrison and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ravi Shamkar requested that they should try to raise $25,000 (25 Thousand) for the UNICEF fund to help the Bengali refuges who took shelter in India.

After hearing the details about the loss of life and the liberation war of the common people then George Harrion stated that they must try to do something bigger than that. Thus the first concert for world humanity took place on 1 August 1971 at Madison Square Garden. Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, and Bob Dylan- these great superstars took part in this concert. I have gone through the history of rock music and I must say that we cant find any concert before ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ that included so many great talents in one stage. Ravi Shankar presented the brilliant raga called "Bangla Dhun" with his excellent skill of sitar and other Indian instruments. Bob Dylan came back to sing after a long self imposed isolation from music. George Harrison sang some of his hit songs, but it was the last song, titled ‘Bangladesh’, that created a somber atmosphere as it was an appeal to help mission of helpless people in dire distress.

Here are the lyrics to the song" GEORGE HARRISON LYRICS My friend came to me, with sadness in his eyes He told me that he wanted help Before his country dies Although I couldn't feel the pain, I knew I had to try Now I'm asking all of you To help us save some lives Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh Where so many people are dying fast And it sure looks like a mess I've never seen such distress Now won't you lend your hand and understand Relieve the people of Bangla Desh Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh Such a great disaster - I don't understand But it sure looks like a mess I've never known such distress Now please don't turn away, I want to hear you say Relieve the people of Bangla Desh Relieve Bangla Desh Now it may seem so far from where we all are It's something we can't neglect It's something I can't neglect Now won't you give some bread to get the starving fed We've got to relieve Bangla Desh Relieve the people of Bangla Desh We've got to relieve Bangla Desh Relieve the people of Bangla Desh The message of the lyric is simple but it bears a strong

 appeal for saving millions of desperate people.

A closer look at the language of the lyrics shows that George Harrison only talked of the plight of the common people. He did not say a word about the Liberation War or did not try to justify the cause of the Bengalis. This makes the appeal more touching and takes away any chance of creating any controversy. Harrison’s effort to stage the first humanitarian concert was not only a unique effort but also a daring one too, because at that time the Washington Government and it allies supported Pakistan because of Cold War rivalry with Soviet Union. The Pakistani military regime used this support of the west to their advantage by carrying out propaganda that some terrorists with the support of India and the Soviet Union were trying to separate East Pakistan (Bangladesh) from Pakistan. Even they used their connections in the west so that the word, ‘Bangladesh’ may not be pronounced officially by anybody. Thus George Harrison took a risk to antagonize the Pakistani military regime and its supporters in the west. But for the cause of Bangladesh, it resulted into creating international attention about the miserable condition of the common people. We should not forget that in 1971 media was not so powerful like now. There was no Internet or no cable TV like now.

So, George Harrison’s concert contributed immensely to make the international community aware about the liberation war of Bangladesh. After George Harrison died many persons in Bangladesh expressed their condolence. The Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia and the leader of the opposition, Sheikh Hasina, sent their condolence officially. To the people of Bangladesh, George Harrison is a true friend who fought for them in their distress. George Harrison; Former (10th) Prime Minister of Bangladesh 1996-2001, Sheikh Hasina; and also former (9th and 11th) Prime Minister of Bangladesh 1991-1996 and 2001-2006, Begum Khaleda Zia. Both former Prime Ministers of Bangladesh sent their condolences when George Harrison passed away. Razib Ahmed © beatlesnumber9 Post by yerblues1968 on Mar 20, 2009 19:24:04 GMT -5 Singer Ajit Roy holds the bronze plaque of George Harrison at the Liberation War Museum at Segunbagicha in the city yesterday.

Photo: STAR GEORGE HARRISON RETURNS TO WHO HE SANG FOR The Daily Star Staff Correspondent Wednesday, February 25, 2009 It is more than a song. It is testimony to a great soul empathising with a nation fighting for independence. Back in 1971, George Harrison's Bangladesh was a clarion call for the world community to stand by the millions of Bangalees who had been displaced by the Pakistan occupation army. The song he wrote and the concert he organised in August that year had people across the globe united in supporting Bangladesh's struggle for liberation. Late Harrison, who shot to fame in the 1960s as lead guitarist of the Beatles, legendary British rock quartet, was a great friend of Bangladesh. To help new generations learn about his contribution, the Liberation War Museum yesterday installed a bronze plaque in his memory. It received the memorial from Harrison fan and British singer Danis Theophilus. The speakers at a function on this occasion urged the government to confer state honour on Harrison and Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar for their outstanding role in marshalling opinion during the Liberation War.

Ajit Roy and Shaheen Samad of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra unveiled the plaque. Museum trustees Akku Chowdhury, Mofidul Haque, Dr Sarwar Ali and Tarek Ali, among others, were present. Harrison joined hands with his friend Ravi Shankar to assemble legends like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell and Billy Preston to play for the cause of Bangladesh. Over 40,000 people gathered at New York's Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971. The first of its kind, the benefit concert raised $243,418.51 for relief funds that UNICEF administered for Bangalee refugees in India. Composer of songs like Here Comes the Sun, Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, George Harrison was born in Liverpool, England, on February 25, 1943 and died on November 29, 2001. Banglalink, a leading phone company, made this commercial to honor the great George Harrison.

(1:28 minutes) The Concert for Bangladesh | DVD Review | Film @ The Digital Fix The Concert for Bangladesh By Gary Couzens Gary Couzens Film Featurette: The Concert for Bangladesh Revisited, 3 extra performances, Six mini-featurettes, 32-page booklet, UNICEF leaflet Soundtracks English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS 5.1, English Dolby Surround Subtitles English, French, Portuguese, Spanish Before Live Aid, there was The Concert for Bangladesh, a 1971 charity concert organised by George Harrison and also featuring Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar and others. Gary Couzens reviews the Region 1 DVD release. The Concert for Bangladesh comprised of two shows, in the afternoon and evening of 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden, New York City. Decades don�t necessarily follow neat calendar boundaries, so there�s no contradiction when I call the concert a Sixties event, even though it chronologically belongs to the Seventies.

(In any case, you could claim the Sixties ended in 1973, with Middle Eastern countries quadrupling oil prices and ending the Western affluence that the previous ten years or so had depended upon.) If the Sixties spirit had had its apotheosis � both musically and on film � with the concert at Woodstock, the mood had since darkened. Altamont had happened (as depicted in Gimme Shelter) and death had claimed Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. The Beatles had split up and Bob Dylan was in semi-retirement following a motorcycle crash. As Eric Clapton observes on this DVD, hard drugs had entered the scene, and peace and love seemed very far away. The concert was an attempt to show that rich rock stars could make a difference and think of others than themselves. The result was this concert, provoked by an international crisis. Bangladesh was originally known as East Pakistan, separated from the rest of Pakistan by about a thousand miles of India, when the country was formed in 1947. Although both West Pakistan and East Pakistan were Muslim territories, they were otherwise completely different regions, racially, culturally and linguistically.

Although Bengali-speaking East Pakistanis were more populous, power was concentrated in the Urdu-speaking West of the country. Free elections were held for the first time in 1969, and the East Pakistanis won an overwhelming majority � but the Western regime refused to allow power to be transferred and cracked down on the opposition. Anywhere up to three million people were killed in the conflict, while refugees fleeing into India were threatened by starvation and destructive floods. Foreign aid was inadequate to cope with the scale of the disaster. Ravi Shankar told his friend George Harrison of the tragedy, and Harrison took it upon himself to organise a large-scale benefit concert. The Concert for Bangladesh was the result. Predating Live Aid by fourteen years, it was the first of its kind. We live in a more cynical age, and nowadays it�s easy to doubt the motivations of the performers in an event like this. No doubt the publicity aided their careers, though all of them appeared for free. One difference between this and Live Aid or Live 8, is that it was never a television event.

As with Woodstock, you couldn�t watch it from your front room or listen to it on radio: if you weren�t there in person, you had to buy the (triple vinyl) live album, or watch the film version, which played at premium venues in 70mm and six-track stereo sound. Certainly the one everyone wanted to see at the time was Harrison. The Beatles hadn�t performed live for five years. After they had split up, there was a sense of pent-up ambition in their lead guitarist, too often regarded as a junior partner by Lennon and McCartney. Yet one measure of the greatness of the band is that not only did they boast two great songwriters (together and separately) but a third, who was capable of writing a song that Frank Sinatra described as �one of the greatest love songs of the past fifty years�. So ambition he had aplenty, and with his triple album All Things Must Pass (actually a double with a third disc of Harrison jamming with his celebrity friends) he went for broke, as he never really did again. It gave him a number one single, �My Sweet Lord�, and a lawsuit for reproducing the chord sequence of the Chiffons� �She�s So Fine�.

In the concert, Harrison draws a line under his past: the only Beatles songs played are three of his own: �Something� (the one Sinatra liked so much), �While My Guitar Gently Weeps� and �Here Comes the Sun�, all contenders for the best song he wrote for the group. The only other Beatle present, Ringo, performs �It Don�t Come Easy� from his solo album Ringo. Other solo spots are given to other Harrison associates. Keyboard virtuoso Billy Preston (who had featured on the Beatles�s �Get Back�) plays an exuberant version of his own �That�s the Way God Planned It�. Likewise, Leon Russell, who acts as an all-purpose backing man (bass or keyboards by turns) does a medley of �Jumpin� Jack Flash� and �Young Blood�. Eric Clapton stays in the background and plays some immaculate guitar � even more of a feat when you realised that he only attended at the last minute and missed all the rehearsals.

The concert begins with an Indian music section involving Ravi Shankar on sitar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod), Ustad Alla Rahma (tabla) and Kamala Chakravarty (tamboura). This is more serious than western music, we�re told, so a respectful silence falls. This will be as much an issue for personal taste as Shankar�s sitar workout which closed Monterey Pop, though it doesn�t go on so long. Finally, the major guest appearance was by Bob Dylan. Between that motorcycle crash five years earlier and the Rolling Thunder tour of 1974, this is one of only three live appearances Dylan made. He was still producing albums but, odd songs apart, they seemed shadows of the work he�d made in the early to mid Sixties. With an acoustic guitar and harmonica, he plays four of his own songs, sympathetically backed by Harrison on electric guitar, Russell on bass and Starr on tambourine. Somehow he seems distracted, a long way from the invigorated man who was to reinterpret his songbook in some quite startling ways three years later.

It�s good to see him here, but you can�t help feeling that the event is a better showcase for Harrison than for Dylan. The concert ends with the encore, a new Harrison song �Bangla Desh�. Like many topical songs, it�s a little too on the nose to be effective in itself, and you can�t help feeling that director Saul Swimmer�s intercutting of shots of starving Bangladeshi children is a manipulation too far � especially as his filming of the concert has been efficient and ungimmicky up to then. Song listing George Harrison | Rolling Stone artists > G > George Harrison > Bio George Harrison Bio Known first as "The Quiet Beatle," George Harrison was a great songwriter who had the misfortune to be surrounded by two stone cold geniuses whose work often obscured his talents. Yet Harrison compositions such as "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are as good as anything the Beatles ever recorded. And with his solo debut All Things Must Pass, he stepped completely out of the shadows of his Beatle band mates to reveal himself a powerfully spiritual songwriter with an expansive sense of melody.

Harrison was also a gifted, fluid guitarist and hugely influential in introducing the Beatles — and, by extension, the entire Sixties generation – to Eastern religion and musical influences. His devotion to Hinduism was expressed publicly through rock and roll's first massive charity event, the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. Before all that, Harrison was a teen guitarist in thrall to Britain's 1950s skiffle revival — a working class kid with a band called the Rebels. It was Paul McCartney, a schoolmate one year ahead of Harrison, who invited the 15-year-old to jam with the Quarrymen, a group led John Lennon. (Harrison had come three years behind Lennon at his previous school.) This band would become the Beatles — and Harrison would himself become, like Lennon and McCartney, one of his generation's great seekers. His response to fame, however, was to direct that search inside of himself. As a songwriter, Harrison was continually out-gunned by Lennon-McCartney. The intense trio of songs he contributed to Revolver — "Taxman," "I Want to Tell You," and "Love You To" — would be his most significant contribution to a single Beatles album.

He had other classics to his credit, including "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something," his first Beatles A-side, a track which would top the charts in America. (Both came off 1969's Abbey Road) But Harrison also funneled his creativity into the guitar, a suitably introspective pursuit. From his raw, early rock-and-roll influences he extrapolated a wide-ranging and poetic style. In the late sixties, he helped introduce the slide guitar to prominence; he also popularized the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and its ultra-distinctive sound on 1964's A Hard Day's Night. Harrison introduced the Byrds to the Rickenbacker; they, in turn, led him to what would become a calling card: the sitar. With the Indian composer Ravi Shankar as his teacher, the guitarist introduced the instrument (which dates to the middle ages) into the Beatles, and rock music, with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown," off 1965's Rubber Soul. Two years later, Harrison's unique, and principal, contribution to Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band would be "Within You Without You," a centerpiece for sitar. It was his experimental sliver of that experimental album, but it also a declaration of his independence. In 1966, the band gave up performing live (which suited the shy, perfectionist Harrison). In 1969, during filming of recording sessions for The Beatles, Harrison quit the band. He returned 12 days later, after negotiations, but he was the first splinter in the band as it finally broke apart in 1970. Meanwhile, Harrison lived his life increasingly under the guidance of Hinduism. Shankar, who he'd made world famous, had become a close friend, and would remain so for life. He married Pattie Boyd, who he'd met on the set for the Hard Days Night movie, in 1966; in 1969, he bought a private estate in Henley-on-Thames called Friar Park. Creatively, he'd clearly built a head of steam.

His Wonderwall Music soundtrack (Wonderwall Music, 1968) was the first solo effort from a Beatle, and as a ramshackle mix of traditional Indian music and rock, hardly one for the screaming fans. For Electronic Music (1969), he partnered with composers like Bernie Krause for an exercise in Moog synthesizer noodling. Throat cleared, he then released All Things Must Pass, a three-record, Number One album of songs he'd originally written for the Beatles. It would become his masterwork. Produced by Phil Spector and featuring guests Eric Clapton and Traffic's Dave Mason, the record produced "My Sweet Lord," his biggest solo hit. That this achingly tender evocation of his religious beliefs was eventually shown, in civil court, to have its melody taken from a sixties hit by Chiffons ("He's So Fine") did little to dull its resonance. (It was determined that Harrison "unknowingly" plagiarized the song.

In 1976 he would have a hit with Thirty Three & 1/3's "This Song," a kidding take on the lawsuit featuring vocals by Eric Idle of Monty Python.) Harrison followed this statement of faith with another, even larger-scale gesture, putting together with Ravi Shankhar a massive 1971 benefit for Bangladeshi refuges. Performers at the two Madison Square Garden concerts included Bob Dylan — who alone gave a historic show — Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr. The shows and resulting documentary and three-record album (both called Concert for Bangladesh) provided a minor hit for Harrison, "Bangla Desh," and millions for the intended beneficiaries. (Another asterisk: the majority of this money was held up for 10 years while Apple records was audited by the IRS.) Picking up where "My Sweet Lord" left off — and capturing the easy-going uplift of the times, lacing it with his slide guitar — Harrison picked up another Number One single with 1973's "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)," off Living in the Material World.

The next year he released Dark Horse on his own label of the same name, but despite the title track's climb to Number 15, the mellow times seemed to evaporate. Harrison and Pattie Boyd would not officially divorce until 1977, but Boyd had already taken up with Eric Clapton, whom she would later marry. In a bizarre move, Harrison had the two cover "Bye Bye Love," an Everly Brothers hit, with him. Worse yet, on his big U.S. tour with Pandit Ravi Shankar & Friends, Harrison's voice, never strong, seem to fail him. A backlash reared up. And with that, he shrunk from one major spotlight: Those were his last shows in the United States. Between 1975 and 1979, Harrison kept plugging away, to unspectacular commercial and critical results.

Extra Texture (Read All About It) (1975) and 33 1?3 (1977) were more the work of a (still talented) journeyman than a seeker, although the latter album produced a stalwart fan favorite in "Crackerbox Palace." (Critic Robert Christgau, never a Harrison fan, wrote that the song was "the best thing he's written since 'Here Comes the Sun.'") The slick George Harrison (1979) didn't juice his mojo, either. But he had other things going for him: Besides his passion for Formula 1 racing (celebrated in Harrison's "Faster"), there was his 1978 marriage to Olivia Arias, mother to his son Dhani, who he would spend the rest of his life with. In 1979, he self-published a loose memoir, I Me Mine, and began executive producing Monty Python films. Still, his next album, Somewhere in England, encountered trouble even before it was released. Warner Bros. (parent to Harrison's Dark Horse) demanded the replacement of four songs.

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was assassinated by Mark Chapman. Harrison hadn't reconciled with Lennon after the breakup of the Beatles. I Me Mine didn't even mention Lennon, and when Lennon reached out to Harrison after discovering this, Harrison did not respond. His public statement offered a reserved, if not especially profound or feeling, conclusion: "To rob life is the ultimate robbery in life." Harrison reframed "All Those Years Ago," a song originally about Ringo Starr, to honor Lennon, and added it to the reworked Somewhere in England. The song went to Number Two. Harrison hit musical bottom with the 1982 bomb Gone Troppo, and retreated from the studio and stage for years. He made an uncharacteristically brash return in 1987 with Cloud Nine, which featured George in mirrored shades on its cover. The record went platinum and delivered a sticky Number One hit "Got My Mind Set on You," a song derived from an obscure sixties number by Rudy Clark. Whatever the state of Harrison's inner focus, it wasn't probed here.

But producer Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra) helped Harrison lay on a fine sheen, and kept him to a tidy 11 tracks. Late Eighties rock was, briefly, very good to George Harrison. Before long he and Lynne hooked up with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison to record a song for Harrison — which led to the Traveling Wilburys, the last word on the rock super group. Their two albums — the irrepressible Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988) and scattershot Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (1990) — goosed the careers of all involved, and led to Harrison's 1991 tour of Japan with Eric Clapton, which in turn led to the solid Live in Japan. After this, Harrison returned to quietude. In 1995, he, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr produced two "new" Beatles songs "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" for The Beatles Anthology documentary and albums. In 1998, at Linda McCartney's funeral, the three appeared in public together for the first time in 30 years.

Also in 1998, Harrison revealed he had been treated for throat cancer, and he was soon beset by more difficulty: On December 30, 1999, a mentally unstable man named Michael Abram broke into the Friar Park estate, lured Harrison out of his bedroom, and stabbed him repeatedly. The attack finally ended when Abram collapsed from injuries sustained when Olivia Harrison fought him off with a fireplace poker. Harrison continued to suffer from cancer, an on November 29, 2001, at only 58 years old, Harrison died of the disease. He was memorialized around the world. On the first anniversary of his death, McCartney, Starr and many of Harrison's other friends gathered for the Concert for George, which benefited the Material World Charitable Foundation. McCartney and Starr collaborated on "For You Blue," Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne performed "Here Comes the Sun," and all artists at the concert gathered for several Harrison classics, including "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Brainwashed, which Harrison had been working on with his son Dhani just before his death, was released in 2002 to warm critical reception.

In 2004 Harrison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist (the Beatles were inducted in 1988), and in 2009 EMI released Let it Roll: Songs by George Harrison, a career-spanning compilation. Shortly after his death, Harrison's family issued a statement that summed up his legacy: "He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death and at peace, surrounded by family and friends. He often said, 'Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.'" Flashback: George Harrison mounts 'The Concert For Bangladesh' | KSHE 95 News > Real Rock News > Flashback: George Harrison mounts 'The Concert For Bangladesh' Flashback: George Harrison mounts 'The Concert For Bangladesh' Aug. 01, 2016 Comments Share It was 45 years ago today (August 1st, 1971) that George Harrison and friends performed the legendary Concert For Bangladesh at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Harrison organized the shows at the urging of his mentor, sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, who asked Harrison to help raise and awareness for his native, famine stricken East Pakistan, by then renamed Bangladesh. Harrison sprang into action and rounded up a veritable who's who in the rock community, including fellow Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr, the semi-reclusive Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Badfinger, and well over a dozen horn players and singers. With the world's eyes on him, Harrison planned rock's first global fundraiser, as well as his debut as a solo performer. Harrison had actually asked his feuding ex-bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney to perform at the concert as well. According to several sources, McCartney initially agreed, but only if Lennon also performed, with the two playing separate solo sets. McCartney, who was days away from announcing the formation of his solo band Wings, eventually backed out, stating that there were too many legal problems yet to be sorted out between him and former Beatles and their then manager Allen Klein for them to appear on the same stage.

Lennon was reportedly all for appearing, until Harrison informed Lennon that only he, and not wife Yoko Ono, was invited to participate. After a long argument with Yoko about whether to perform, Lennon flew to Paris alone and in a rage, missing the entire show, and causing a major rift in Lennon and Harrison's relationship. Harrison never formally asked Ringo Starr to play; Starr took it upon himself to tell Harrison he'd be there. Harrison also reportedly turned down offers from Mick Jagger and David Crosby, who asked to appear. Due to overwhelming ticket demand, in the days before the show, a second afternoon performance was added. Although there was about a week of rehearsals that took place above Carnegie Hall, due to the various musicians' schedules, the benefit's afternoon performance was the first time that the entire ensemble actually played together. Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd says that no one expected the event to end up as the historic event it has become: "Well, of course we didn't know it was going to be the biggest concert in history. We knew it was going to be a very big concert, and he clearly hoped to raise a lot of money.

And as far as I remember I think I flew in a couple of days before the show." Harrison wasn't sure until the last minute that Dylan would actually turn up for the show, and can even be seen in the movie of the concert peering into the wings to see if Dylan actually was there before introducing him. Although Eric Clapton was invited to be the show's lead guitarist, he was in such bad shape while dealing with his heroin addiction that Taj Mahal's Jesse Ed Davis was deputized to play and pick up whatever musical slack Clapton might leave behind. Boyd, who after her divorce from Harrison went on to marry Clapton, recalled that everyone was worried about his health at the time: "I remember that it was a pretty major, wonderful show, fantastic show. But there was a bit of concern about Eric when he flew in because of the problems that he had at that time, and everyone was really concerned.

And I think this sense of concern was everywhere, really." The show featured Harrison performing selections from his recent Number One album All Things Must Pass, including the chart topper "My Sweet Lord," as well as Beatles classics such as "Here Comes The Sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Something." Starr took the lead on his recent Top Five Harrison-produced hit "It Don't Come Easy," and Dylan performed a set of his '60s classics including "Blowin' In The Wind," "Mr. Tambourine Man," and "Just Like A Woman," while backed by Harrison in slide guitar, Starr on tambourine and Leon Russell on bass. The late Billy Preston got an early ovation with his rousing performance of "That's The Way God Planned It." In 2005, Preston recalled the atmosphere among the musicians at the Bangladesh concerts: "Everybody was just excited and thrilled that it went so well. Everybody had a good time with each other. There was no egos." On of the most lighthearted moments of the show was when introducing the band, Harrison nearly forgot to include Preston following his show-stopping performance: "Have we forgotten anybody? I don't know.

We've forgotten Billy Preston!!! (applause)" Longtime Beatles confidante and solo session bassist Klaus Voormann says that he was never more proud of Harrison than when he took charge of The Concert For Bangladesh concert at the urging of friend Ravi Shankar: "I really appreciated in later days that he actually went in front of that audience on the Bangladesh concert, because he did it for his friends. That he actually went up there and talked to an audience. I think it must've been about the first time that he's ever done this. Y'see, a few things in English, or a few things in German on a stage where it didn't matter is a big difference than to an audience where he knew it's going to be filmed and it's going to be used to talk to an audience." Apple Records staffer Chris O'Dell, who recently her memoirs, called Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days And Long Nights With The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton And The Women They Loved, admits that she and Pattie Boyd actually blew off the matinee performance: "Isn't that weird?

Y'know when I went back over that and I was reading it after we wrote it, I thought -- 'that's weird, how come we didn't go?' Y'know? But as I think about it -- I don't know what it was -- I think we just wanted to hang out and get ready and take our time. The emphasis was on the evening show because there was a big party afterwards (laughs)." The Concert For Bangladesh three-record set peaked at Number Two on the Billboard charts, and went on to win the 1972 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year. The revenues from the concert tickets, live album, movie, VHS, and now recent DVD sales have topped $15 million. The concerts, which were rock's first major charity benefits, paved the way for every benefit that followed. In 2006, Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison, appeared at Madison Square Garden on the anniversary of the concerts, when a plaque commemorating the event was placed on the venue's walk of fame. The album recently became available online via iTunes with the special bonus track addition of the single, "Bangla-Desh" -- which has only previously been available on vinyl.

The single, backed with "Deep Blue," was originally rush-released on July 28th, 1971 -- only four days before the historic concerts -- went on to peak at Number 23 on the singles charts. Did you know? On August 1st, 1978 -- exactly seven years after the Bangladesh concerts -- George Harrison's soon-to-be second wife, Olivia Arias, gave birth to George's only child, musician Dhani Harrison. Photo by Keystone/Getty Images Check it out: George Harrison performing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” live at The Concert For Bangladesh George Harrison and India: The Real ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ George Harrison and India: The Real ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ OPINION By Palash Ghosh @Gooch700 On 11/17/11 AT 8:46 AM It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on the tenth anniversary of the tragic death of George Harrison. The former Beatle’s passing -- at the premature age of 58 from lung cancer on Nov.

29, 2001 -- came less than three months after the monumental 9-11 terrorist attacks, which may have somewhat overshadowed the importance of his untimely demise. As a lifelong Beatles’ fan, George was one of the most important and influential pop culture figures of my life -- however, as a person of East Indian descent, my view of ‘The Quiet Beatle’ is rather complicated. For better or worse, George Harrison inadvertently became the greatest promoter of Indian culture and Hinduism to the Western world during the 20th century. This had its good and bad aspects. First, a little background. By most accounts, George first became interested in Indian music when he picked up a sitar during a break in the filming of The Beatles’ second movie, “Help!,” in 1965. (I have never been completely satisfied by this story, since, like many tales about The Beatles, it may be apocryphal). If you recall, that movie (which The Beatles reportedly disliked and didn’t take too seriously) featured an absurd ‘plot’ that included cartoonish villains who looked vaguely like Indians. The film also had certain other Indian symbols and ambience.

(By this reckoning, if ‘Help!’ had depicted, say, Chinese or Arab villains, perhaps 1960s history would’ve been dramatically different). In any case, an interest in the sitar (which made its wobbly Western pop music debut in the song ‘Norwegian wood’ later that year) led to a meeting with Indian musician/virtuoso Ravi Shankar, which in turn led to George’s infatuation and ultimate deep immersion into Indian culture, food and Hinduism. These chance events would ultimately make a significant impact upon The Beatles, and, by extension, Western pop culture. By the late 1960s, The Beatles had engineered another pop culture revolution (at least in Europe and North America) by wearing Indian-style clothing, spouting religious and philosophical aphorisms that seemed to borrow from ‘Eastern’ thought, and later even visiting India for a highly-publicized training session to learn Transcendental Meditation with the fraudulent ‘mystic’ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. For John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, their interest in Indian/Hindu culture was rather fleeting and temporal -- although it may have led John and Paul to become vegetarians.

Ringo (God bless him) just went along with the fad, wore colorful clothes for a while, but remained, at his essence, an ordinary, unpretentious Northern English lad who never really changed his working-class attitudes and customs. But for George, India completely overhauled and changed his life permanently. He learned to play the sitar, he read Hindu texts, he meditated, he chanted, he frequently visited India, he dressed in Indian-style clothes, and he became deeply involved in the ‘Hare Krishna’ consciousness movement. And because he was a Beatle -- part of the most popular, powerful and influential pop culture force the world has ever known -- his thoughts and activities influenced millions of others around the globe. Indeed, tens of thousands of Westerners (of various ages, but mostly the young) became interested in India, learned about yoga (which itself, ironically, eventually metamorphosed into a billion-dollar industry); and many journeyed to India. And it all occurred because of a poor Irish Catholic boy from Liverpool with no education and a nasal voice.

Ironically, Westerners had been fascinated by India for centuries – but such interest was limited to scholars and academics like Max Müller, John Muir, Edwin Arnold, William Jones, and others. They had little influence over the broader society. As a result, Westerners remained largely ignorant of or indifferent to India. That changed when a long-haired rock guitarist burst onto the scene in the 1960s. Unlike those 18th and 19th century academics, George Harrison had a ready-made global audience of hundreds of millions due to The Beatles’ immense fame and popularity and the instantaneous power of global mass media. Plus, George was handsome, smart and charming -- an ideal ‘P.R. man’ for something as remote and incomprehensible as Indian/Hindu culture. However, it might not all have been for the best. For many Westerners, India and Hinduism was nothing but a fad, a temporary (very superficial) infatuation that led nowhere. Most disturbing, in some circles, Indian culture somehow became associated with drugs and free sex (i.e., the hippie movement). For people like my parents, they were baffled and outraged by this misappropriation, cheapening and corruption of Indian culture.

Therefore, we must wonder -- was George’s immersion in India really genuine? Yes, I believe it was… with some reservations. The lifestyle of a Western rock-and-roll star (use of drugs & alcohol; sexual promiscuity, etc.) are anathema to conservative, traditional-minded Indians. These two poles are simply not compatible. However, here we must make a distinction between “Hinduism” and “Indian culture.” Unlike Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Hinduism (which is itself a vague and arbitrary term coined by Westerners), has no fixed precepts of human behavior. There is nothing analogous to the ‘Ten Commandments’ within the broad umbrella of Hindu philosophy. Thus, customs and practices that Westerners associate with Hinduism are actually Indian traditions (the two things are, of course, deeply intertwined). For example, Hindus worship the cow and refrain from eating beef not because their holy books forbid it; but rather because at one point in ancient times, a cattle shortage led people to preserve and protect the valuable livestock. Over the centuries, this became part of the fabric of Indian society.

At its essence, Hinduism, like Buddhism, simply believes that as long as people are ensnared in physical addictions and have any kind of ‘desire,’ they will be endlessly reborn on earth to suffer the fates and arrows of the material life. Once a person’s consciousness evolves beyond earthly desires (a state of ‘Nirvana’), he or she will be freed from this cycle of birth and re-birth and enter a joyful, painless everlasting existence in the spiritual sphere. That is quite a long row to hoe -- for anyone -- much less a wealthy British rock star with all the temptations and pleasures of the material world laid out at his feet. Indeed, even after his introduction to Indian/Hindu culture, George continued drinking alcohol, abusing drugs (although he apparently stayed away from heroin), amassed a huge fortune, and had innumerable affairs with women who were not his wife. No real devoted “Hindu” would behave in this way. However, I don’t blame him for that at all – if I were in his shoes, I would do much the same. Still, by claiming to be so ‘spiritual,’ George became subject to charges of hypocrisy.

George’s apparent obsession with money (‘Taxman’) also would appear to contradict and undermine his spiritual aspirations. Then again, many self-proclaimed ‘Hindus’ are also hypocrites -- some to appalling degrees. Yet, I still believe that George tried the best he could to live his life in a spiritual way – within the framework of his privileged life as a very wealthy celebrity. For one thing, he explicitly and repeatedly decried the meaninglessness of fame and wealth (i.e., the ‘material world’). Clearly, he was searching for something beyond the physical reality and found it in Hinduism. Reportedly, George once said: “Through Hinduism, I feel [like] a better person. I just get happier and happier. I now feel that I am unlimited, and I am more in control.” As I recall, George’s embrace of India and Hinduism caused him much grief – critics complained he and his music became boring, sanctimonious and exasperating. From a purely musical point of view, George’s exploration of Indian music and culture produced a decidedly mixed impact on his career as a rock star.

While songs like ‘Norwegian wood’ (which mildly incorporated the sitar) worked exceedingly well, George’s purely “Indian” productions like ‘Love you to,’ ‘Inner light,’ ‘Blue Jay Way’ and ‘Within you without you’ were tiresome and simply did not belong on Beatles albums. (Reportedly, Lennon, McCartney and producer George Martin were very reluctant to include such songs on The Beatles’ records.) In 1969, George produced the single ‘Hare Krishna Mantra,’ which was performed by him and the devotees of the Radha-Krishna Temple in London. Amazingly, the chanting tune entered the top 10 record charts in Britain and elsewhere. After The Beatles broke up and George was finally free to make his own records, he enjoyed some initial success (including, the mega-popular ‘All Things Must Pass’ album), but eventually he petered out. By the mid-1970s, George (just a little over 30 years old) was finished as a vital, meaningful force in pop music and pop culture (my apologies to all you Travelling Wilbury fans).

I believe the very peak of George’s career (and perhaps his life) was an event that took place in the summer of 1971 and shattered the boundaries between and East and West and represented the very best example of combining entertainment/pop culture with a noble cause. ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’ featured George and a number of other top recording stars and sought to raise money for millions of refugees who were fleeing the deadly civil war in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). For an Indian boy of Bengali descent who was also a Beatles fan, the ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ was a stunning and life-changing event. I was actually too young to understand what the concert meant at the time, but in retrospect, I see it as possibly one of the greatest moments of post-war global cultural exchange. What on earth did some long-haired, bearded Western rockers have to do with the impoverished nation called Bangladesh thousands of miles away? Absolutely nothing… and that was the beauty of it. Without George Harrison and Ravi Shankar it would have never been possible. I get chills and almost teary-eyed today watching a video of the concert.

To see George, Ringo, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and others singing songs to raise awareness about a place most people in the Madison Square Garden audience probably knew nothing about was wonderfully bizarre, poignant and moving. Even more impressive, the cover of the album of the concert did not depict George or any of the musicians who appeared on stage. Rather, it depicted a black-and-white photo of a small, anonymous, starving, bug-eyed Bengali child sitting in front of a plate of food (he likely died shortly thereafter). It was an image as far from the “glamorous” world of showbiz and rock-and-roll as possible – and yet, that photo and the album found itself at the very center of Western pop culture that year. Although his old band-mates John and Paul were more widely celebrated for their songwriting skills, ‘Bangladesh’ placed George at an exalted position in pop culture that the other two arguably never reached. From my perspective, there is yet another interesting aspect to George’s obsession with India.

During the late 1960s (as The Beatles and hippies celebrated India), Britain was embroiled in a deep debate over immigration from the Commonwealth countries (i.e., India, Pakistan, Jamaica, etc.) Right-wing politicians demanded a halt to such immigration, while extremists called for their deportation. In fact, the Beatles alluded to this in one of their biggest songs. ‘Get back’ was originally a song called ‘Don’t dig no Pakistanis’ which spoofed the anti-immigrant stance. Thus, while the ‘beautiful people’ of London enjoyed and promoted Indian culture, many ordinary British people became increasingly anxious over the presence of so many Indian (and other) immigrants in England. George, who lived a privileged life of a wealthy rural country squire, did not concern himself with such mundane details of British life. Sadly, after ‘Bangladesh,’ George spent the next thirty years of his life largely in obscurity (mostly by choice). In any case, George’s connection to India only deepened as he aged, raised a family, and went into semi-reclusion as an eccentric gardener. After he passed, it was reported that he left behind £20-million for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

His corpse was also cremated and his ashes immersed in the Ganges River, near the holy city of Varanasi. George had finally come ‘home.’ NPR Special Report -- George Harrison Dead at 58 George Harrison Dead at 58 A Timeline of Harrison's Life and Career George Harrison in New York City, July 1997 Photo: Robert Siegel, NPR Harrison is born in Liverpool, England, to Harold and Louise Harrison. August 1958 He joins The Quarrymen, a group that includes schoolmates Paul McCartney and John Lennon. 1959 He joins McCartney, Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe in a band called the Silver Beatles. August 1960 The band, now called the Beatles, goes to Germany where it quickly becomes a popular local act. May 1962 Producer George Martin signs the Beatles to first their record contract. October 1962 The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do," becomes a top-20 hit in Britain. March 1963 The band releases its first album, Please Please Me. The single of the same name becomes the group's first chart-topper in Britain.

December 1963 "I Want to Hold Your Hand" becomes the band's first U.S. release -- and later, their first song to top the Billboard charts. February 1964 The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan's TV variety show and immediately become the most popular band in America. July 1964 The first Beatles film, A Hard Day's Night, is released. Jan. 21, 1966 The Beatles play their last live show, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is released. Many critics and fans consider it the band's greatest work. 1969 Harrison's song "Something" again takes the Beatles to No. 1 on U.S. charts. April 10, 1970 McCartney announces he is leaving the Beatles. The band splits up. 1970 Harrison releases the solo album, All Things Must Pass. Aug. 1, 1971 The benefit Concert for Bangladesh is staged at Madison Square Garden by Harrison and friends including Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and Ravi Shankar. The resulting three-LP live recording earns Harrison a Grammy Award for album of the year.

November 1974 Harrison becomes the first Beatle to mount a solo world tour. September 1976 Copyright holders of the Lonnie Mack song "He's So Fine," win a lawsuit against Harrison, in which they claim the Mack song -- a hit for the Chiffons -- was the basis for Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." June 1977 Harrison divorces Patti Boyd (who later marries Eric Clapton). Aug. 1, 1978 A son, Dhani, is born to Harrison and Olivia Arias. A month later, the couple marries. 1979 Harrison establishes a production company called Handmade Films, to produce Monty Python's Life of Brian. July 1981 Harrison's tribute to John Lennon -- "All Those Years Ago," featuring McCartney and Starr -- rises to the No. 2 position on U.S. music charts. January 1988 Harrison's "Got My Mind Set on You" hits No. 1 in the United States. November 1988 Harrison releases Traveling Wilburys: Volume One with Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne.

June 1998 Harrison discloses that he has been treated for throat cancer, but says it's a battle he's winning. "I'm not going to die on you folks just yet," he says. "I am very lucky." December 1999 Harrison and his wife are attacked in their London home by an intruder with a knife. Harrison is stabbed four times in the chest, and suffers a collapsed lung. After a trial the following year, the intruder -- described as having mental problems and an obsession with the Beatles -- is found not guilty of by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric hospital. March 2001 All Things Must Pass is certified as a six-times-platinum album. July 2001 Harrison confirms that he had radiation treatment in Switzerland for a tumor. Nov. 29, 2001 Harrison dies of cancer at a friend's Los Angeles home. He is 58. Sources: Associated Press, RockOnTheNet.com Browse previous broadcast coverage of George Harrison Other Resources

Question: Apart from George, who was the only other Beatle to appear at the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square?
Answer: RINGO STARR