Video: 'George Harrison and Friends - The Concert for Bangladesh Complete (Audience Recording)' (evening show begins at 1:28:01; Ravi Shankar's perfomance is not included)
(Sunday, August 1, 1971, 8:00 p.m. EDT; during the Bangladesh Liberation War) — The Concert for Bangladesh, a pair of benefit concerts organized by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, were held today at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.
The event was the first-ever benefit of such a magnitude, and featured a supergroup of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and the band Badfinger.
In addition, Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan – both of whom had ancestral roots in Bangladesh – performed an opening set of Indian classical music.
The first of two shows was scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The second show was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.
Video: 'George Harrison - The Concert for Bangladesh' (Note: only 'Introduction Of The Band' and 'While 'My Guitar Gently Weeps' were pulled from the afternoon show, although 'Wah-Wah' and 'Medley: Jumping Jack Flash / Youngblood' both include elements of the afternoon show; the rest is from the evening show)
The concerts were followed by a bestselling live album, a boxed three-record set, and Apple Films’ concert documentary, which opened in cinemas in the spring of 1972.
The concerts were attended by a total of 40,000 people, and the initial gate receipts raised close to $250,000 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF.
Video: 'Here Comes The Sun (Live From Madison Square Garden, New York, U.S.A, 1971 / 2009 Mix)' (evening show)
After collecting the musicians easily, Harrison found it extremely difficult to get the recording industry to release the rights for performers to share the stage, and millions of dollars raised from the album and film were tied up in IRS tax escrow accounts for years.
Video: 'Something (Live From Madison Square Garden, New York, U.S.A, 1971 / 2009 Mix)' (evening show)
But the Concert for Bangladesh is recognized as a highly successful and influential humanitarian aid project, generating both awareness and considerable funds as well as providing valuable lessons and inspiration for projects that followed, such as Live Aid.
Video: 'The Concert for Bangladesh, August 1, 1971' (evening show)
By 1985, through revenue raised from the Concert for Bangladesh live album and film, an estimated $12 million had been sent to Bangladesh, and sales of the live album and DVD release of the film continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.
Video: 'The inside of "Concert for Bangladesh"'
Decades later, Shankar would say of the overwhelming success of the event: “In one day, the whole world knew the name of Bangladesh. It was a fantastic occasion.”
