The Concert for Bangladesh (album)

The Concert for Bangladesh
Live album by George Harrison & Friends
Released	20 December 1971 (US) 10 January 1972 (UK)
Recorded	1 August 1971 Madison Square Garden, New York
Genre	Rock, Hindustani classical
Length	99:32
Label	Apple
Producer	George Harrison, Phil Spector
George Harrison chronology
All Things Must Pass (1970) The Concert for Bangladesh (1971) Living in the Material World (1973)
Eric Clapton chronology
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) The Concert for Bangladesh (1971) The History of Eric Clapton (1972)
Alternative cover
Cover for the 1991 CD release
Alternative cover
Cover of the 2005 remaster of The Concert for Bangladesh

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

Main article: The Concert for Bangladesh

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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Rolling Stone	[1]
MusicHound

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Introduction"	—	George Harrison, Ravi Shankar	5:19
2.	"Bangla Dhun"	Shankar	Shankar	16:40

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
3.	"Wah-Wah"	Harrison	Harrison	3:30
4.	"My Sweet Lord"	Harrison	Harrison	4:36
5.	"Awaiting on You All"	Harrison	Harrison	3:00
6.	"That's the Way God Planned It"	Billy Preston	Preston	4:20

Side three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"It Don't Come Easy"	Richard Starkey	Ringo Starr	3:01
2.	"Beware of Darkness"	Harrison	Harrison, Leon Russell	3:36
3.	"Band Introduction"	—	Harrison	2:39
4.	"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"	Harrison	Harrison	4:53

Side four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
5.	"Medley: Jumpin' Jack Flash/Youngblood"	Mick Jagger, Keith Richards/Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus	Russell, Don Preston	9:27
6.	"Here Comes the Sun"	Harrison	Harrison	2:59

Side five
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"	Bob Dylan	Dylan	5:44
2.	"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"	Dylan	Dylan	3:07
3.	"Blowin' in the Wind"	Dylan	Dylan	4:07
4.	"Mr. Tambourine Man"	Dylan	Dylan	4:45
5.	"Just Like a Woman"	Dylan	Dylan	4:49

Side six
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
6.	"Something"	Harrison	Harrison	3:42
7.	"Bangla Desh"	Harrison	Harrison	4:55

Reissue (2005 re-master)

Disc one

The first disc contains 10 tracks from side one to side three of the original release.

Disc two

The second disc contains 9 tracks from side four to side six of the original release.

Bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
10.	"Love Minus Zero/No Limit"	Dylan	Dylan	4:19

Bonus track (iTunes exclusive)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
11.	"Bangla Desh" (studio version)	Harrison	Harrison	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

Chart positions

Chart (1972)	Position
Canadian RPM Albums Chart	2
Dutch Mega Albums Chart	1
Italian Albums Chart	4
Japanese Oricon LP Chart	2
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart	1
Spanish Albums Chart	5
UK Albums Chart	1
U.S. Billboard 200	2
West German Media Control Albums Chart	29

Chart positions (2005 reissue)

Chart (2005)	Position
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart	116
U.S. Billboard Catalog Albums	8
Chart (2011)	Position
U.S. Billboard 200	116

Year-end charts

Chart (1972)	Position
Italian Albums Chart	24
U.S. Billboard Year-End	16

Certifications

Region	Certification
United States (RIAA)	Gold

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

Preceded by Goud van Out by Various artists	Dutch MegaCharts number-one album 15 January – 19 February, 1972	Succeeded by Harvest by Neil Young
Preceded by Electric Warrior by T. Rex	UK Albums Chart number-one album 29 January 1972 – 5 February 1972	Succeeded by Electric Warrior by T. Rex
Preceded by Det året det var så bratt by Øystein Sunde	Norwegian VG-lista number-one album 06 – 09 / 1972	Succeeded by Det året det var så bratt by Øystein Sunde