The Concert for Bangladesh (album)

The Concert for Bangladesh (originally titled The Concert for Bangla Desh) is a live triple album and double DVD by George Harrison and celebrity friends performed in aid of the homeless Bengali refugees of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Performed on 1 August 1971 at New York's Madison Square Garden, The Concert for Bangladesh was a pioneering charity event, preceding Live Aid by 14 years. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Concert

After being made aware of the gravity of the situation in what was then known as East Pakistan by friend and musician Ravi Shankar, Harrison quickly organised two performances in their aid, in addition to composing and releasing a single called "Bangla-Desh" just preceding the event. With Harrison, highly popular following the success of All Things Must Pass, leading the shows, he wanted to surround himself with his closest musician friends, including Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan (both of whom were in reclusive states at that time), in addition to Billy Preston, Badfinger, Leon Russell, Shankar, and Ringo Starr, among others.^[1]

The two concerts on 1 August 1971 were highly successful, with a cheque for US$243,418.50 being immediately sent to UNICEF for relief. All involved were pleased with a job well done.^[1] As much as $15 million was made by the album and film, but the money was held in an Internal Revenue Service escrow account for years because the concert organisers had not applied for tax-exempt status. It's uncertain how much money actually went to relieve the initial refugee crisis and Harrison himself was said to have been "disgusted" over the matter.^[2][3][4]

Album release

The Concert for Bangladesh was released in the United States shortly before Christmas in 1971, and in the United Kingdom shortly after New Year's Day, 1972. It was an immediate best-seller, spending several weeks at #2 in the US and becoming Harrison's second #1 UK album. The album's significance was further cemented when it won the coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1973.

To enable Bob Dylan's appearance on the album, his label, Columbia Records, was given the tape distribution rights in the US while LP distribution was handled by Capitol Records. In the UK, the album was distributed by CBS Records. Presently, Sony Music has also assumed the CD rights for the album in Europe.^[1]

Initially reissued on CD in 1991, The Concert for Bangladesh was remastered and re-released - with some editing of the breaks in between the songs - in October 2005 with the addition of Dylan's rehearsal performance of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", as well as a simultaneous DVD release of the original 1972 Apple film.

The artwork on the original album featured a malnourished Bangladeshi refugee child, which the record companies thought was too depressing and would hurt sales of the albums. They wanted Harrison's image on the cover, but Harrison refused and insisted that the child be put on the cover.^[1] Eventually, when the album was re-released in 2005, after Harrison had died, it was Harrison's photo on the cover, though the special-edition DVD retains the original photograph.

Sales of the remastered album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.

Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

Side one

1. "George Harrison/Ravi Shankar Introduction" – 5:19
2. "Bangla Dhun" (Ravi Shankar) – 16:40

Side two

1. "Wah-Wah" – 3:30
2. "My Sweet Lord" – 4:36
3. "Awaiting on You All" – 3:00
4. "That's the Way God Planned It" (Billy Preston) – 4:20
   • Performed by Preston

Side three

1. "It Don't Come Easy" (Ringo Starr) – 3:01
   • Performed by Starr
2. "Beware of Darkness" – 3:36
   • Featuring Leon Russell on one verse
3. "Band Introduction" – 2:39
4. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – 4:53

Side four

1. "Medley: Jumpin' Jack Flash/Young Blood" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)/(Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/Doc Pomus) – 9:27
   • Performed by Russell, with Don Preston on "Youngblood" (which is the spelling of this song on the back cover of this album ^[5])
2. "Here Comes the Sun" (Acoustic) – 2:59
   • Featuring Pete Ham on rhythm guitar

Side five

1. "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (Bob Dylan) – 5:44
2. "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (Dylan) – 3:07
3. "Blowin' in the Wind" (Dylan) – 4:07
4. "Mr. Tambourine Man" (Dylan) – 4:45
5. "Just Like a Woman" (Dylan) – 4:49
   • Tracks 1–5 are performed by Dylan, accompanied by Harrison, Starr and Russell.

Side six

1. "Something" – 3:42
2. "Bangla Desh" – 4:55
   • Harrison's studio version of "Bangla-Desh" was released as a single just two days before the concerts.

Bonus track (2005 re-master)

1. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" (Dylan) – 4:19

Bonus track (iTunes Store)

1. "Bangla Desh" (studio version) – 4:00

Personnel

The Artists

• Eric Clapton – guitars
• Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica
• George Harrison – vocals, guitars
• Billy Preston – vocals, keyboards
• Leon Russell – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Ringo Starr – drums, vocals, tambourine
• Ravi Shankar – sitar
• Ustad Ali Akbar Khan – sarod
• Ustad Alla Rakha – tabla
• Kamala Chakravarty – tambura

The Band

• Jesse Ed Davis – rhythm guitar
• Tom Evans – acoustic guitar
• Pete Ham – acoustic guitar
• Mike Gibbins – tambourine
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Joey Molland – acoustic guitar
• Don Preston – guitars, backing vocals
• Carl Radle – bass guitar
• Klaus Voormann – bass guitar

The Hollywood Horns

• Jim Horn, Allan Beutler, Chuck Findley, Jackie Kelso, Lou McCreary, Ollie Mitchell

The Backing Vocalists

• Don Nix, Jo Green, Jeanie Greene, Marlin Greene, Dolores Hall, Claudia Linnear

Production notes

From the original LP release liner notes:

"This recording was made using up to 44 microphones at one time."

"Special thanks go to Gary Kellgren, Lillian Davis Douma, Dennis and Tom of Record Plant, New York and to Norman and Steve mix down engineers of A&M Studio, Los Angeles for their time and energy."

From the CD reissue booklet:

"Special thanks to Sandee Borgman and the US Fund for Unicef, Jody Klein, Jeff Kramer, Jeff Rosen, Phil Spector and everyone at Capitol Reords and Sony/BMG International."

Charts

References

External links

• Official website
• The Concert for Bangladesh at the Internet Movie Database
• The Concert for Bangladesh Revisited with George Harrison and Friends at the Internet Movie Database