George Harrison helped organize Live Aid before Live Aid. That is, before the mega concert of 1985, The Concert for Bangladesh was the first example of a rock concert doing good for charity.
It all took place at Madison Square Garden 40 years ago this week - August 1, 1971.
The talent appearing was quite good. Not only was George Harrison there (and pretty rare to get George to play in concert), but so was Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton (strung out on heroin), Billy Preston and others. Ringo Starr played in the backing band, but both John Lennon and Paul McCartney declined.
That, dear friends, is a huge pity. Macca didn't join because he stubbornly didn't want a Beatles reunion, given that they had just parted a year earlier. Lennon originally said he would play, even though George asked that the shrieking Yoko Ono NOT appear. John and Yoko apparently fought over this, and ultimately, John passed on the event.
Again, a pity.
Music, please! Here's the first live performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
No comments:
Post a Comment