Michael_Elliott The Concert for Bangladesh (1972) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Concert film of the August 1st, 1971 benefit concert held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. George Harrison put together this all-star benefit to gather money for the issues going on in Bangladesh. The first part of the show featured Ravi Shankar performing some Indian music and then the more well-known artists hit the stage. Joining Harrison we get Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and towards the end Bob Dylan. Countless other musicians join the cause as the two shows were edited down to this one film. Overall I can't see how anyone would be disappointed in regards to the music because it's of the highest level from start to finish. Even if you overlook Ringo messing up his lyrics "It Don't Come Easy" the music is just so refreshing and of the highest level. Harrison really hits a home run on numbers like "My Sweet Lord," "Here Comes the Sun," "Something," and "Bangla Desh." Other highlights including a rocking version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" from Russell and a show-stopping number by Preston. With all of that said, the greatest moment of the concert comes when Bob Dylan walks onto the stage. You can easily tell that the producers thought this was the high point as well considering they included four of his songs here. This was only Dylan's second live show since the notorious electric tour of 1966 so you can tell he's nervous but as a die-hard fans it's usually these moments where he shines the brightest. He delivers wonderful performances of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," " Blowin' in the Wind" and perhaps one of the greatest live performances of "Just Like a Woman." On a technical level the music sounds extremely crisp and for the most part the video footage is just fine. Fans of these musicians will certainly want to check this film out as the music still stands up strong all these years later.

ferbs54 Few countries in modern history have experienced such traumatic birth pangs as Bangladesh. Still reeling after a devastating cyclone and tsunami double punch that occurred in November 1970, the territory of East Pakistan declared its independence from Pakistan on 3/26/71, resulting in civil war, 1 million killed and some 10 million refugees fleeing into neighboring India. (A smallpox epidemic in early '72 caused many more deaths and even more suffering.) Desperate to help the nascent nation, internationally renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar prevailed on his old friend, ex-Beatle George Harrison, for assistance. The outcome was Harrison's awareness-raising single "Bangla Desh," as well as a follow-up benefit concert. Hastily put together in five weeks, the resultant Concert for Bangladesh raised a quarter of a million dollars, and many millions more when the concert album was later released. That concert (actually an afternoon and an evening show) took place in NYC's Madison Square Garden on Sunday, August 1, 1971, featuring an all-star band that would put future Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Bands to shame. It included Harrison and (a surprisingly low-key) Eric Clapton on guitars, Billy Preston on organ, Leon Russell on piano, Ringo and Jim Keltner on drums, Klaus Voorman and Carl Radle on bass, and Badfinger on acoustic guitars, amongst many others, including Bob Dylan. The two shows, which featured essentially identical set lists albeit in slightly different orders, were cobbled together to create one fairly seamless cinematic experience; released in March '72, "The Concert for Bangladesh" helped raise even more takas for the noble cause.As for the music itself, the show kicks off with Ravi Shankar (along with Ali Akbar Khan on sarod, the great Alla Rakha on tablas, and a woman only listed as Kamala on the droning tamboura) doing a piece called "Bangla Dhun." Demonstrating the greatest sheer technical virtuosity of any song of the evening, this 17-minute piece jump-starts the evening nicely; those viewers who enjoyed Ravi's set in the 1969 "Monterey Pop" film should just love him here! Harrison and his mates then take the stage, diving into solid, straightforward renditions of three songs ("Wah-Wah," "My Sweet Lord" and "Awaiting On You All") from Harrison's "All Things Must Pass," the so-called "Crown Jewel of Beatles Solo Albums." Next up, Billy Preston sings "That's the Way God Planned It," trading some nice riffs with Clapton and galvanizing the MSG crowd with some hyperkinetic dance moves. Ringo offers up his classic "It Don't Come Easy," and then it's back to the "Crown Jewel" with a supernice version of "Beware of Darkness," partly sung by Leon. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" finds Harrison overpowering Clapton in the song's dueling finale; Eric's guitar seems very thin and submerged here, and truth to tell, I have seen the modern-day band Fab Faux cover this song much more impressively, with Jimmy Vivino always kicking tuchus during the final segment. Fortunately, the concert takes a dramatically dynamic turn when Leon Russell then performs the now-classic medley of "Jumpin' Jack Flash"/"Young Blood," easily stealing the show and leading to repeated FM airplays for years afterward. George and Badfinger guitarist Pete Ham perform a lovely acoustic version of "Here Comes the Sun" after this, and then Dylan steps up to give the audience four of his classics--"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (seemingly solo), "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry," with Harrison providing tasty electric licks behind, "Blowin' in the Wind" (again, seemingly solo) and "Just Like a Woman," with George and Leon singing accompaniment. "Something," featuring a sweet guitar break from Harrison, closes the set, and a fitting encore of "Bangla Desh" brings the evening to a close. Thus, the show/film/LP/CD/DVD reveals itself to be not just a goodwilled example of artistic humanitarianism, but a musical experience that can be well enjoyed today, over four decades later. My only beef: no "Let It Down"?!?!

bob the moo After a bit of rambling about the reasons for the concert (which, it has to be said, are typically simplistic), George Harrison introduces Ravi Shankar to the stage. After telling off the audience for making noise and asking them to just be patient and concentrate on the music he is about to play (great way to sell yourself Ravi), he then asks the audience not to smoke and then launches into 20 minutes of music that I must confess didn't do a great deal for me. Perhaps I was just a bit off by him tell me (the audience) to pay attention to the point where he seemed to lack faith in his own music but I almost laughed out loud when he asked for no-smoking during the gig – was the bit where he told them where the fire exits were edited out of the film? Either way I mustn't have been patient or quiet enough because I didn't like Shankar's bit and was very grateful when he finished. He was followed by artists who didn't feel the need to apologise for or pre-warn the audience for the audience about the music they were about to play. At this point the music got better and I enjoyed it even if it wasn't that great. The appearance of Dylan at the end livened it up for me and generally the music was enjoyable but I was surprised, given this was a high-profile concert, that it wasn't actually that memorable.Of course the delivery of the film doesn't help it that much either though. The static cameras maybe feel a bit less hectic that some concert films but they rob the film of atmosphere, focusing on one person at a time with only a bit of zooming in and out to show that anyone is awake at the wheel. Occasionally we'll get a crowd shot but this is not the film to come to if you want to get a feel for the atmosphere at the gig. The "cast" are mostly very good. Harrison leads things well and he has good support from the various musicians with him, although the highlight for me was of course Bob Dylan's arrival near the end.Overall then, a reasonable concert film that is worth a look for fans of Clapton, Harrison and Dylan. The delivery of the film lacks atmosphere and, as has been said by others, isn't the nicest picture you'll ever see, but it is the music that makes up for it mostly. I didn't like anything about Shankar at the start (his attitude or his music) but after that things got much rockier and better, even if most of it wasn't that memorable.

renaldo and clara ..yet this concert is nowhere to be found......Damn. Ok, I'm the only reviewer here who hasn't seen the rockumentary, but I can assure you that it's not like I haven't been trying. Just don't know where to find the friggin' thing...If anyone knows, please e-mail me at sweetlullabyep@hotmail.comIf anyone's curious as to why I am so interested and desperate to see it-well I'm Dylan's #1 fan and heard the live recording of "Mr Tambourine Man" -sung during this concert, and wow..just hearing it was an experience I'll never forget. RIP George!