We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
It had never really been done before. A rock concert to raise money for a charitable cause. And it came together in a really quick way in the summer of 1971. Before Live Aid…Before Farm Aid…before there was a blueprint for these kind of things…there was the Concert For BanglaDesh. It happened on August 1st 1971 at Madison Square Garden and the driving force behind it was former Beatle George Harrison. In the spring of 71 the country of Pakistan was riven by civil war and a cyclone that had left millions of refugees in horrific conditions in the newly minted country of BanglaDesh. Ravi Shankar, who had turned Harrison on to the sitar, asked his friend if he could do something to help. That something was a benefit concert with the proceeds going to UNICEF.
Harrison and his friends first recorded a single that was released a few days before the concert…he reportedly wrote it in 10 minutes at the piano.
The concert featured Harrison and his Beatle mate Ringo Starr…and Eric Clapton…and Leon Russell…and Billy Preston…and the members of Badfinger……aaaaand….Bob Dylan. The backing band, led by Russell, was filled with talented pros…Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and Jim Horn along with Preston and Starr.
It truly was a special day with two shows…afternoon and evening…and the critics noticed. Don Heckman wrote, “I have strong feelings about George Harrison’s active efforts to do something about the misery in the world around him. How surprising that the most introspective Beatle would be the one who, in the long run, takes the most effective actions.”
The set list included some Indian sitar music from Shankar and others to start, a number of Harrison solo songs and Beatle songs as well. Ringo and Preston had their turns and the band did a kick-ass version of Jumpin Jack Flash. And then Dylan hit the stage. He was in great voice for versions of Mr Tambourine Man, Blowin In The Wind, Just Like A Woman, It Takes Alot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”.
The encore was a scorching version of BanglaDesh….it’s as if the band turned up the energy level and got into one of those zones…here it is
It really was the first of it’s kind….and showed what could be accomplished when egos are laid aside for a greater good.
