The Concert for Bangla Desh

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The Concert for Bangla Desh
Live album by George Harrison and Friends

Publication
(s)

December 20, 1971 ( US ) ,
January 10, 1972 ( UK )

Label (s) Apple Records , EMI , Epic

Format (s)

3 LPs , 2 MCs , 2 CDs , download

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

First release (EV): 19
Republication (WV): 20

running time

EV: 1 h 39 min 32 s
WV: 1 h 43 min 51 s

occupation
  • Jesse Ed Davis - guitar
  • Mike Gibbins - tambourine
  • Jo Green - background singer
  • Jeanie Greene - background singer
  • Marlin Greene - background singer
  • Dolores Hall - background singer
  • Claudia Linnear - background singer
  • Allan Beutler - wind instruments
  • Chuck Findley - wind instruments
  • Lou McCreary - wind instruments

production

chronology
All Things Must Pass
1970 		The Concert for Bangla Desh Living in the Material World
1973

The Concert for Bangla Desh is George Harrison's first live album after the Beatles split up . At the same time, including the two instrumental albums from the 1960s and the studio album, it is Harrison's fourth album. It was released on December 20, 1971 in the US and on January 10, 1972 in the UK .

The album reached number two in the USA and number one in the UK. The album contains recordings that were made during the concert for Bangladesh .

History of origin

Concert for Bangladesh. In the center of the picture is George Harrison in a white suit, Eric Clapton on his right.

After the release of his commercially very successful studio album All Things Must Pass in November 1970, George Harrison worked on the production of Ravi Shankar's Raga album . Shankar, who was born in Varanasi , India , but whose family came from what is now Upazila Kalia in the Narail district , near Jessore in Bangladesh , told George Harrison about the plight of the Bangladeshi refugees, the number of which had grown to ten million as a result of the Bangladesh war was.

George Harrison took with Phil Spector as another producer in July 1971 as a promotion for the planned concert, the single Bangla Desh in the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles . Harrison and Shankar organized the concert to raise funds for aid for the refugees. The concerts took place in the afternoon (from 2:30 p.m.) and in the evening (from 8 p.m.) on August 1, 1971 in Madison Square Garden in New York in front of a total of 40,000 spectators.

The afternoon show also included the songs Love Minus Zero / No Limit sung by Bob Dylan and the George Harrison song Hear Me Lord , the latter song has not yet been published legally. There was musical support from Eric Clapton , Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr , Billy Preston , Leon Russell , Klaus Voormann and Badfinger , among others . Bob Dylan performed for the first time since the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1969. Other artists who had been invited to the concert canceled in advance ( Paul McCartney ) or had visa problems ( Mick Jagger ). With John Lennon there should have been disagreements about the participation of his wife Yoko Ono , so he did not appear.

George Harrison's goal was to release the album as quickly as possible, but due to legal problems, as the participating artists were under contract with various record companies, the release date was delayed to December 20, 1971 in the USA, in Europe the triple was released -Album only after Christmas in January 1972. The concert film was only released in March 1972.

The concert as well as the marketing as long-playing record / CD as well as film / VHS cassette / DVD was a financial success and served as a template for further benefit concerts in the coming decades. Ravi Shankar and George Harrison received the UNICEF award on June 5, 1972 : The Child is the Father of the Man . In January 1972, the album was awarded gold in the USA for 500,000 copies sold. In February 2008, the US video release was multi-platinum rated for 400,000 copies sold.

Cover design

The design of the cover comes from Tom Wilkes and Barry Feinstein. The three albums are in a cardboard box that also contains a 64-page illustrated booklet.

Track list

All titles were written by George Harrison unless otherwise noted.

  • LP 1:
    Page one
  1. George Harrison / Ravi Shankar Introduction - 5:19
  2. Bangla Dhun (Ravi Shankar) - 16:40 (played by Ravi Shankar and band)
Side two
  1. Wah-wah - 3:30
  2. My Sweet Lord - 4:36
  3. Awaiting on You All - 3:00 am
  4. That's the Way God Planned It ( Billy Preston ) - 4:20 (sung by Billy Preston)
  • LP 2:
    Page three
  1. It Don't Come Easy ( Ringo Starr ) - 3:01 (sung by Ringo Starr)
  2. Beware of Darkness - 3:36
  3. Volume Introduction - 2:39
  4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - 4:53
Page four
  1. Medley: Jumpin 'Jack Flash / Young Blood ( Mick Jagger / Keith Richards ) / ( Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller / Doc Pomus ) - 9:27 (sung by Leon Russell)
  2. Here Comes the Sun - 2:59
  • LP 3:
    Page 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 (sung by Bob Dylan)
Page Six
  1. Something - 3:42
  2. Bangla Desh - 4:55
  • Bonus Title (2005)
Love Minus Zero / No Limit (Dylan) - 4:19 (sung by Bob Dylan)
  • iTunes Bonus Track (2011)
Bangla-Desh (Studio Version) - 4:00

Re-releases

  • The first release in double CD format took place in Europe in August 1991 on the Epic label Sony Music without bonus tracks, in the USA the album was released in July 1991 on Capitol Records ( EMI Group ). A 36-page illustrated booklet is enclosed with the CD.
  • In November 2005 the album was released in a newly remastered and remixed version with the bonus title Love Minus Zero / No Limit as a double CD on Sony Music (in the USA with the EMI Group) with a new cover design by David Costa, Emil Dacanay and Sean Rance, published. The remastering was done by Steve Rooke, the remixing by Paul Hicks and Allan Rouse at Abbey Road Studios . The two CDs and the illustrated 32-page booklet are in a cardboard box. The cover photo is from Henry Diltz.
  • In October 2005 the film was also released as a remastered DVD with an additional 5.1 mix.
  • Since August 2011 the album has been available for download from iTunes with the additional bonus title Bangla-Desh (Studio Version) .

Single releases

No singles were released from the album. In advance of the concert, however, the single Bangla Desh / Deep Blue was released on July 28, 1971 in the USA and on July 30, 1971 in Great Britain .

In the Netherlands the EP Bangla Desh / What Is Life / My Sweet Lord was released in early 1972 .

Others

Sony Music released a promotional CD The Concert for Bangla Desh-Selections in Europe in August 1991 with the following titles: Bangla Desh , While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Blowin 'in the Wind .

Chart placements

year album Chart placements
DE UK US
1972 The Concert for Bangla Desh 29 1 2
year Single release Chart placements
DE UK US
1971 Bangla Desh 23 10 23

literature

  • Chip Madinger and Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions, 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 (pp. 434-438).
  • Neville Stannard: Working Class Heroes , ISBN 0-907080-92-8 .
  • CD booklet for re-release 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gold award for the album
  2. ↑ Platinum award for the video
  3. ↑ 7 ″ vinyl single: Bangla Desh / Deep Blue
  4. ↑ 7 ″ vinyl EP: Bangla Desh / What Is Life / My Sweet Lord
  5. ↑ Promotion CD: The Concert for Bangla Desh-Selections