The Concert For Bangladesh

A fascinating documentary into the background story of the historic fundraising concert for charity, the first of its’ kind, organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar in August 1971 to relieve the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Bangladesh in it's struggle for independence from Pakistan.

As well as George and Ravi, the show featured Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell and Billy Preston. This film explains how the shows came about, features unseen footage from the rehearsals and sound checks, performances from the concerts, and interviews with the participants along with contributions from the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan and Sir Bob Geldof who reflect the legacy of an event that is acknowledged as being the forerunner and inspiration for the major fundraising events of recent years.

The show was a musical triumph for George Harrison with highlights that included “Here Comes The Sun”, “Something”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “My Sweet Lord”. Bob Dylan who had not performed for 2 years thrilled the audience with versions of “Just like a Woman”, “A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall” and “Blowin’ In the Wind”.