George Harrison – “Concert For Bangal Desh” : le succès du DVD

Apple Corps to release “The Concert For Bangladesh – George Harrison & friends” on DVD
Released: 19/10/2005
Landmark benefit concert featuring performances by George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton & Ringo Starr

Apple Corps is proud to announce the autumn 2005 release of “The Concert For Bangladesh – George Harrison & friends” on DVD and CD.

The Concert for Bangladesh was the first benefit concert of its kind in that it brought together an extraordinary assemblage of major artists collaborating for a common humanitarian cause – setting the precedent that music could be used to serve a higher cause. The concert sold out Madison Square Garden and along with the Grammy ® Award-winning triple-album boxset, and the feature film, has generated millions of dollars for UNICEF and raised awareness for the organization around the world, as well as among other musicians and their fans. It is therefore acknowledged as the inspiration and forerunner to the major global fundraising events of recent years. To quote the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “George and his friends were pioneers.”

Besides George himself the concert features some of his friends, including: Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell and Billy Preston. Performances include ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘Something’, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘My Sweet Lord’, ‘Just Like A Woman’, ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ and ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’.

During the struggle for independence from Pakistan millions of refugees fled to neighboring India to escape hunger, disease and bloodshed. The crisis was deepened when massive floods hit the region. Alerted to the scale of the suffering by his friend Ravi Shankar, George Harrison organized The Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden on August 1st, 1971 with the proceeds going to UNICEF.

The DVD will be released by WMG (Warner Music Group) on October 25th, 2005, as a 2-disc package, including the original 99-minute film restored and remixed in 5.1, as well as 72-minutes of extras. The extras feature a 45-minute documentary “The Concert For Bangladesh Revisited with George Harrison & friends”, about the background to the two shows with exclusive interviews and contributions from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sir Bob Geldof.

There is also previously unseen footage: “If Not For You”, featuring George and Bob Dylan from rehearsals, “Come On In My Kitchen” featuring George, Eric Clapton and Leon Russell at the sound check and a Bob Dylan performance from the afternoon show of “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”, not included in the original film.

Apple Corps/WMG, will also simultaneously release a special deluxe version (limited to 50,000 copies worldwide) that will feature a 64-page book and other collectibles.

The album of the concert has been remixed and repackaged as a 2-disc set, and is released on October 25th, 2005 by Capitol Records. This will contain an additional track – the Bob Dylan performance of “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”.

All artists’ royalties from the sales of the DVD and the CD will continue to go to UNICEF.

GEORGE HARRISON

?Because I was asked by a friend if I?d help you know and that?s all.?

?Really it was Ravi Shankar?s idea. He wanted to do something like this and he was talking to me and telling me about his concern for the thing and asking me if I had any suggestions. Then after half an hour he talked me into being on the show.?

?Personally I?d prefer to be a part of a band but for this you know it was just something we had to do in order to get the money. We had to do it quick.?

?I had the benefit of the fame of the Beatles. John, you know he was, he made me more aware of you know that aspect of using the Beatle power or using recordings and videos and stuff to make more money.?

?I think the most memorable thing really was the fact that it came off and that it worked because there was very little time preceding the concert to organise it.?

?It was a question of phoning really just the friends that I knew and see who was available to turn up. I spent one month, I think the month of June into half of July just telephoning people and there was certain people I could really rely on who was you know Ringo and Keltner, who were the drummers.

?With Jesse Ed Davis being an optimist, he?s carrying his guitar and amplifier and hanging around so we said right, and Klaus Voormann who was playing the bass on the concert, he volunteered just to run through all the tunes so you know we?d at least have another guitar player?

?And he played great. No rehearsals at all but I mean Eric is just, he?s a gem.?

?Well my relationship with Bob is, you know I just always tried to be straight with him and you know he responded.?

?I think the awareness is maybe even more important than the money because again even if we make five million dollars, it?s still small compared to the size of the problem so it?s more important to really bring the awareness around to the mass of people.?

?The musicians were great. I mean they completely put down their own egos to play together and to do something because the whole vibe of that concert was that it was something bigger than the lot of us.?

?There was a lot of kids and just general public who, having had the inspiration to go and do something, all started collecting money and donating things and there was a lot of people who gave a lot of money and collected on the streets and were banging on UNICEF doors saying what can we do to help??

RAVI SHANKAR:

?I learnt about this war going on, and all my distant relatives, along with many other refugees were coming in thousands through Calcutta? all that made me feel very concerned? I was at that time thinking of giving a performance with a few other Indian musicians who were around and trying to raise $30,000 to $50,000 maybe. George happened to be there in Los Angeles at that time and saw how concerned I was. He immediately felt that he would help. Within a few weeks he phoned all his friends, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and many others and fixed Madison Square Garden. It was really a miracle.?

?It was mutually agreed that it would be natural to start the shows with an atmosphere which would be created more by Indian music.?

?The Indian instruments are very sensitive and with the strong lights it affects the tuning. It took something like minute and a half to properly tune with the drums. After we finished tuning we were silent and there was tremendous clapping, many of them who were new to our music I suppose thought that was an item. So spontaneously without thinking I said ?if you liked our tuning so much I hope you like our performing much more? and again there was a lot of clapping – that was funny.?

?The concert had a special feeling. Overnight everybody knew the name of Bangladesh, because it came out in all the newspapers everywhere, so it had a tremendous value. Since then there have been hundreds of special programmes in different places in the world. It was the first of its kind and set an example.?

RINGO STARR

?George was putting it together; I think mainly because he was friendly with Ravi and you know Bangladesh had that terrible situation, so he decided to do a big concert and I wasn?t invited! He didn?t invite me because he didn?t want it to be like the Beatle situation. I was actually working in Spain and I just called him and said, I?m coming. That?s how I got on the show.?

?That?s where Jim Keltner and I met and had the opportunity then to play together. We really got on from the start. It?s very difficult for two drummers because sometimes there?s competition but Jim and I never tried to impress each other …It?s always been a pleasure to play with Jim?He is lightening and I?m thunder.?

?I think the beauty of the event came across and you know the audience were so great because you know they knew at the time they were thinking ?wow look at all these people together? ?George always said you know ?I gave my nervous system for the Beatles?, but the cause he was doing it for surpassed all of those thoughts, you know. Bangladesh was important in that it was the first huge show for charity with the mass ensemble, which Bob Geldof, God bless his soul continued in ?85.?

?It was a loving experience and a lot of fun?

LEON RUSSELL

?I remember, I felt that I was going to be real nervous and I got up there but it was so relaxing because there were all these stars, these huge stars all over everywhere and I was just sort of there. All the pressure wasn?t on me. So it was real easy.?

?I think it was really very exciting to the fans. I?m not sure there had ever been, until that time, a variety show of that magnitude. It was just one high level experience from beginning to end?

?It was interesting doing that stuff with Bob because he was so concerned about wanting to have a band and not quite wanting to do it. Then when he got up on the stage, he just started calling people up to play and me to play bass of all things. That was pretty exciting.?

BILLY PRESTON

?I first heard about the concert for Bangladesh when George gave me a call and explained what it was about and the charity of it. I said, ?of course I?d be happy to be a part of it??

?Before the Concert for Bangladesh it had always been everybody on their own, everybody would come out and do their set and then they?d go off. But to see guys working together really made a statement?

?I think everybody was a little shocked at my dance, you know but I just couldn?t help myself, it just felt so good? I just had to rejoice. We did 2 shows and the first was excellent, so by the time the second one came were relaxed? I just got happy, I jumped up and ran across the stage a couple of times and Phil Spector was saying ?Where did he go? Where did he go???