GEORGE HARRISON – HUMANITARIAN

Fully 14 years before Live Aid, on 1 August, 1971, George Harrison, his friend and mentor Ravi Shankar and a host of stars pulled off something that had never been achieved, or even attempted before: the two Concerts For Bangla Desh at Madison Square Garden in New York.

George had been deeply moved when Shankar had brought to his attention the plight of millions of starving refugees of the former East Pakistan, suffering the effects of the Bhola cyclone of 1970 and the Liberation War in the country. Five days earlier, on July 27, he had released his single ‘Bangla Desh’ on the Apple label, bringing this humanitarian crisis to the world’s attention as only a world-famous former Beatle could. That same day, he and Shankar held a press conference to announce their ambitious concert plans for just a few days’ time.

The track, co-produced by George with Phil Spector, featured Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner on drums and other such alumni as Billy Preston and Leon Russell. It went to No. 10 in the UK and No. 23 in the US, and made the top ten around much of Europe.

On August 1,after rehearsals in New York, the concerts took place at 2.30pm and 8pm. They played to a total of 40,000 people, who were treated to a spectacular bill with the above-mentioned players from the single, the supergroup featured Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Shankar, Hindustani musician Ali Akbar Khan, Klaus Voorman, Bobby Whitlock, Jesse Ed Davies, Carl Radle and the Apple-signed hitmakers Badfinger.

Source: u discover

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