Concert for George

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 organized by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne. The profits from the event went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, an organization set up by Harrison.

Contents

Performances

The concert opened with a traditional Sanskrit invocation, the Sarvesham chant, followed by 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. Next there was a comedy interlude with members of the Monty Python troupe (Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam along with Neil Innes) performing "Sit on My Face". Then Michael Palin came out as an over the top announcer who eventually states that he only ever wanted to be a lumberjack. He was then joined by the Pythons, Innes, Carol Cleveland and special guest Tom Hanks, to perform "The Lumberjack Song".

The remainder of the concert featured "George's Band" and included the surviving members of The Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as musicians Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Jools Holland, Albert Lee, Sam Brown, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Ray Cooper, Andy Fairweather-Low, Marc Mann, Harrison's son Dhani and several other musicians who appeared on Harrison's recordings over the years.

Between them they played a selection of mostly Harrison's songs, from both Beatle and post-Beatle eras, generally staying faithful to Harrison's original arrangements. Performances included Clapton and Preston on "Isn't It a Pity"; Starr on "Photograph"; McCartney and Clapton on "Something" (McCartney opening with a solo ukulele accompaniment which then shifts into a full band version featuring Clapton); Preston on "My Sweet Lord"; McCartney, Clapton and Starr reuniting on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"; and the performance of "Wah Wah".

Joe Brown closed the show with a very warming and apt rendition of "I'll See You in My Dreams" on ukulele, one of Harrison's favourite instruments.

The event was filmed and a motion picture version, directed by David Leland and photographed by Chris Menges was released on DVD on 17 November 2003. A compact disc version was also released on the same date; The Monty Python and Sam Brown tracks were not included on the CD.

Set list

  1. "Sarveshaam"
    • Traditional prayer – including a dedication by Ravi Shankar
  2. "Your Eyes" (Ravi Shankar) – 8:22
    • Anoushka Shankar: sitar / Tanmoy Bose: tabla
  3. "The Inner Light" (Harrison) – 3:01
    • Anoushka Shankar: sitar / Jeff Lynne: lead vocal, acoustic guitar / Rajendara Prasanna: shahnai Tanmoy Bose: tabla / Dhani Harrison: piano, backing vocals / Unidentified musician(s)
  4. "Arpan" (Ravi Shankar) – 23:01
    • Anoushka Shankar: sitar, conductor / Sukanya Shankar: vocal-shloka / M. Balanchandar: mridangam / Rajendara Prasanna: shahnai Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: mohan vina / 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 / Pirashanna Thevarajah: percussion / Kenji Ota: tanpura / Barry Phillips: cello / Emil Richards: marimba / Partho Sarathy: sarod / Hari Sivanesan, Sivaskti Sivanesan: veena / Boys and Girls Choir courtesy of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan / English Chamber Choir / London Metropolitan Orchestra (Andrew Brown, Roger Chase, Chris Fish, Helen Hathorn, Lynda Houghton, Ian Humphries, Zoe Martlew, Stella Page, Debbie Widdup)
    • Michael Kamen – string conductor, string arrangement
  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
  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 / Andy Fairweather-Low: guitar
  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)
  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, guitar, 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 / Jim Horn: sax solo
  19. "Honey Don't" (Carl Perkins) – 3:03
    • Ringo Starr: lead vocal / Albert Lee: guitar solo / Gary Brooker: piano solo / Billy Preston: organ
  20. "For You Blue" (Harrison) – 3:04
    • Paul McCartney: lead vocal, acoustic guitar / Ringo Starr: drums / Marc Mann: slide guitar
  21. "Something" (Harrison) – 4:25
    • Paul McCartney: lead vocal, ukulele, acoustic guitar / Ringo Starr: drums / Eric Clapton: lead vocal, guitar / Marc Mann: lead guitar
  22. "All Things Must Pass" (Harrison) – 3:33
    • Paul McCartney: lead vocal, acoustic guitar / Ringo Starr: Drums
  23. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison) – 5:57
    • Eric Clapton: lead vocal, lead guitar / Paul McCartney: piano, background vocals / Ringo Starr: drums / Dhani Harrison: guitar
  24. "My Sweet Lord" (Harrison) – 5:02
    • Billy Preston: lead vocal, keyboards / Paul McCartney: piano / Eric Clapton: guitar / Dhani Harrison: Backing vocals, guitar
  25. "Wah-Wah" (Harrison) – 6:06
    • Jeff Lynne/Eric Clapton: lead vocal, guitar/Billy Preston: lead vocal/keyboards / 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

George's Band (after interlude) and guests

Notes and references

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

See also

External links

Anoushka Shankar
Studio albums
Live albums
Benefit concerts
Concert for George  · A Billion Hands Concert
Related articles