Concert for George

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
DVD Cover
Enlarge
DVD Cover
For the released album, see Concert for George (album).

The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death.[1] The event was organised by Harrison's widow, Olivia and Harrison's son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton, with all profits from the event going to the Material World Charitable Foundation.

The concert opened with Indian music when Anoushka Shankar, daughter of Ravi Shankar, played "Your Eyes". Next, Anoushka Shankar and Jeff Lynne performed "The Inner Light", followed by a Ravi Shankar composition "Arpan" (Sanskrit for 'to give'), specially written for the occasion.

Then there was a comedy interlude with members of the Monty Python troupe (Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam) along with Neil Innes, Carol Cleveland and special guest Tom Hanks performing "Sit on My Face" and "The Lumberjack Song". The Python performance does not appear on the album version of the Concert, but is alluded to in the liner notes in the CD package.

The remainder of the concert featured "George's Band" and included musicians Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston, Jools Holland, Albert Lee, Sam Brown, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Ray Cooper, Harrison's son Dhani and several other musicians who appeared on Harrison's recordings over the years. Sam Brown's performance was also cut from the CD version. The song she sang, "Horse to the Water", was written by George and appeared on a Jools Holland Big Band album in 2001, and thus was probably the last track he ever recorded.

Between them they played a selection of mostly Harrison's songs, from both Beatles and post-Beatles eras, generally staying faithful to Harrison's original arrangements. Highlights included Clapton and Preston on "Isn't It a Pity" and; Starr on "Photograph"; McCartney on "Something" (opening with a solo ukulele accompaniment); Preston on "My Sweet Lord"; and McCartney, Clapton and Starr reuniting on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for the first time since the song was recorded.

The event was filmed and a motion picture version, directed by David Leland and photographed by Chris Menges, went on general release, and a DVD and CD were also released on the November 17th, 2003.

The concert is especially noteworthy as it is, among the other "firsts" in musical jam sessions that happened during the performance, the first time Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played live on stage together in two decades. When Joe Brown was introducing 'I'll see you in my dreams', the last song for the night, Paul McCartney quipped, 'Olivia says, with Dhani on stage, it looks like George stayed young and we all got old!'

Contents

[edit] Set list

  1. "Sarveshaam"
    • Traditional prayer - including a dedication by Ravi Shankar
  2. "Your Eyes" (Ravi Shankar) - 8:22
    • Anoushka Shankar: sitar
  3. "The Inner Light" (Harrison) - 3:01
    • Anoushka Shankar: sitar / Jeff Lynne: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
  4. "Arpan" (Ravi Shankar) - 23:01
    • Anoushka Shankar: sitar, conductor / Sukanya Shankar: vocal-shloka / M. Balanchandar: mridangam / Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: slide guitar / Tanmoy Bose: tabla, dholak / Chandrasekhar, Balu Raghuraman: violins / Eric Clapton: guitar / Pedro Eustache: wind instruments / Sunil Gupta: flute / Anuradha Krishamurthi, O.S. Arun: vocalists / Jane Lister: harp / Gaurav Mazumdar: sitar / Snehashish Mzumdar: mandolin / Ramesh Mishra: sarangi / Pirshanna Thevarajah: percussion / Kenji Ota: tanpura / Barry Phillips: cello / Rajendara Prasanna: shahnai / Emil Richards: marimba / Partho Sarathy: sarod / Hari Sivanesan, Sivaskti Sivanesan: veena
  5. Comic Interlude including four members of Monty Python: Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam. Also performing: Neil Innes, Carol Cleveland and Tom Hanks.
  6. "I Want to Tell You" (Harrison) - 2:52
    • Jeff Lynne: lead vocal, guitar
  7. "If I Needed Someone" (Harrison) - 2:28
    • Eric Clapton: lead vocal, guitar
  8. "Old Brown Shoe" (Harrison) - 3:48
    • Gary Brooker: lead vocal, keyboards
  9. "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" (Harrison) - 3:29
    • Jeff Lynne: lead vocal, guitar
  10. "Beware Of Darkness" (Harrison) - 4:00
    • Eric Clapton: lead vocal, guitar
  11. "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison) - 3:09
    • Joe Brown: lead vocal, guitar / Neil Gauntlett: guitar / Dave 'Rico' Nilo: bass / Phil Capaldi: drums
  12. "That's The Way It Goes" (Harrison) - 3:39
    • Joe Brown: lead vocal, mandolin / Neil Gauntlett: guitar / Dave 'Rico' Nilo: bass / Phil Capaldi: drums
  13. "Horse to the Water" (George Harrison/Dhani Harrison)
    • Sam Brown: lead vocal / Jim Capaldi: drums
  14. "Taxman" (Harrison) - 3:10
    • Tom Petty: lead vocal, guitar / Mike Campbell: lead guitar / Benmont Tench: keyboards / Ron Blair: bass / Steve Ferrone: drums / Scott Thurston: additional guitar, background vocals
  15. "I Need You" (Harrison) - 3:00
    • Tom Petty: lead vocal, guitar / Mike Campbell: lead guitar / Benmont Tench: keyboards / Ron Blair: bass / Steve Ferrone: drums / Scott Thurston: additional guitar, background vocals
  16. "Handle With Care" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne/Roy Orbison/Tom Petty/Bob Dylan) - 3:27
    • Tom Petty: lead vocal, guitar / Jeff Lynne: lead vocal / Dhani Harrison: guitar / Scott Thurston: background vocal, harmonica / Mike Campbell: lead guitar / Benmont Tench: keyboards / Ron Blair: bass / Steve Ferrone: drums / Jim Keltner: drums
  17. "Isn't It A Pity" (Harrison) - 6:58
    • Billy Preston: lead vocal, organ / Eric Clapton: lead vocal, lead guitar
  18. "Photograph" (Starkey/Harrison) - 3:56
    • Ringo Starr: lead vocal
  19. "Honey Don't" (Carl Perkins) - 3:03
    • Ringo Starr: lead vocal
  20. "For You Blue" (Harrison) - 3:04
    • Paul McCartney: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
  21. "Something" (Harrison) - 4:25
    • Paul McCartney: lead vocal, ukulele, guitar / Eric Clapton: lead vocal, lead guitar
  22. "All Things Must Pass" (Harrison) - 3:33
    • Paul McCartney: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
  23. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison) - 5:57
    • Eric Clapton: lead vocal, lead guitar / Paul McCartney: piano,background vocals / Ringo Starr: drums
  24. "My Sweet Lord" (Harrison) - 5:02
    • Billy Preston: lead vocal, keyboards
  25. "Wah-Wah" (Harrison) - 6:06
    • Eric Clapton: lead vocal, guitar / Supergroup of Guest Musicians: all other instruments
  26. "I'll See You in My Dreams" (Isham Jones/Gus Kahn) - 4:01
    • Joe Brown: lead vocal, ukulele / Neil Gauntlett: acoustic guitar / Dave 'Rico' Nilo: bass / Jim Capaldi: drums

[edit] Supporting Musicians

Eric Clapton - guitars, musical director
Jeff Lynne, Joe Brown, Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather-Low, Dhani Harrison - guitars
Gary Brooker, Jools Holland, Chris Stainton, Billy Preston, Paul McCartney - keyboards
Dave Bronze, Klaus Voormann - bass
Jim Capaldi, Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Henry Spinetti - drums
Ray Cooper - percussion
Jim Horn - alto saxophone
Tom Scott - tenor saxophone
Marc Mann - electric guitar
Katie Kissoon, Tessa Niles - background vocals
Michael Kamen - string conductor, string arrangement
Boys and Girls Choir courtesy of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
English Chamber Choir
London Metropolitan Orchestra

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ The Concert for George, Catalogue number: 0349702412

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../c/o/n/Concert_for_George_5422.html"
In other languages