Product Description

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 purpose. The concert sold out Madison Square Garden and has helped to generate millions for UNICEF and raised awareness for the organization around the world, as well as among other musicians and their fans. It is acknowledged as the inspiration and the 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." All artists' royalties from the sales of the DVD will go to UNICEF.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13087 in DVD
• Published on: 2005
• Released on: 2005-10-25
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: German, English, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
Before We Are the World, before the Amnesty International concerts, before Live Aid, Live 8, 46664, and all the other charitable and/or political events that have used popular music as their principal draw, there was George Harrison's 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, a stirring affair released here in a fine two-disc set. The cause--raising money for the beleaguered people of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), who were ravaged by war, floods, and famine--was enough to attract the support of stars like the former Beatle, who had never fronted a band before, along with Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, both of whom had been out of the limelight for some years due to various personal problems and choices. Given the little time that Harrison, whose help had been solicited by sitar master Ravi Shankar, had to organize the affair, the results are very impressive indeed: the enormous band, which also features Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, and Billy Preston, is tight, the music (spotlighting tunes from Harrison's All Things Must Pass, along with a few Beatle numbers) inspired, the musicians at the top of their games. (Only Clapton is sub-par; looking out of it and playing weakly, he's a far cry from the guy who, some 30 years later, would spearhead the magnificent Concert for George.) For some, the opportunity to see Dylan onstage with Harrison, Starr, and Russell (playing bass) will be the big attraction. Others will thrill to the remastered DVD sound and restored picture. Still others will revel in an entire disc of bonus material, including three previously-unreleased performances and a documentary featuring new interviews with many of the participants. 1971 was a bleak period in rock history; the Beatles had broken up, Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison were dead, Woodstock was a distant memory. The Concert for Bangladesh shone like a beacon, a revelation of the better angels that reside within us all. And it still does. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

great cd but ordered a dvd
ordered the dvd but got a cd. the vendor was sorry for the mix-up and was very helpful with the return. they did not have a dvd available so they quickly refunded both purchase price and shipping. excellent service. in the future i would not hesitate to order from them again.

Forgotten lyrics. Production quality is dated.
The biggest disappointment was the forgotten lyrics on "It Don't Come Easy" and "Something". It's really embarrassing.

Also disappointing was the picture quality. There is lots of grain in the picture. The technology was lacking at the time, so this is probably as good as can be expected. You could save a good bit of money buying this on VHS and not lose much in the way of picture quality, but you wouldn't get the extras on the second disk.

There are also 3 rehearsal performances included, but they didn't bother to restore the film for those so you see lots of scratches on the film. I would have also preferred to watch these at the beginning of the movie. Instead you have to put in the second disk and select each of the 3 rehearsals individually.

The camera work was annoying at times especially on "Something", where the camera keeps zooming in and out and the picture is out of focus. Looks like someone let their kid use the camera for the first time.

Highlights:

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Really enjoyed the dueling guitars between George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

Here Comes the Sun - Excellent acoustic version with George Harrison and Pete Ham.

My Sweet Lord - This version is predominantly George Harrison's acoustic guitar and Eric Clapton's electric guitar. You can really distinguish the guitars and the vocals as opposed to the album version.

Backup vocalist and Horn section - I thought they really added to the production value of the performances.

Low Points:

Indian Music - I found it really boring and fast forwarded through most of it.

Eric Clapton - He didn't perform any of his songs.

Bad Finger - They didn't perform any of their songs.

Love it
I listened to this set as a child ALL THE TIME. to finally see the performances is such a treat. I love it.