Concert for Bangladesh

Ranjith Daluwatta

(5 stars; 4 reviews)

The Concert for Bangladesh  (or Bangla Desh, as the country was originally spelled) was the collective name for two  benefit concerts  organised by former  Beatles  lead guitarist  George Harrison  and Indian  sitar  master  Ravi Shankar . The concerts were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at  Madison Square Garden  in New York City. The shows were organised to raise international awareness and fund relief efforts for refugees from  East Pakistan  (now  Bangladesh ), following the Bangladesh Liberation War -related  genocide . The concerts were followed by a bestselling  live album , a boxed three-record set, and  Apple Films '  concert documentary , which opened in cinemas in the spring of 1972. The event was the first-ever benefit concert of such a magnitude [1]  and featured a supergroup  of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex- Beatle   Ringo Starr ,  Bob Dylan ,  Eric Clapton ,  Billy Preston ,  Leon Russell  and the band  Badfinger . In addition, Shankar and  Ali Akbar Khan  – both of whom had ancestral roots in Bangladesh – performed an opening set of  Indian classical music . Decades later, Shankar would say of the overwhelming success of the event: "In one day, the whole world knew the name of Bangladesh. It was a fantastic occasion ..." [2] The concerts were attended by a total of 40,000 people, and raised close to US$ 250,000 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by  UNICEF . Although the project was subsequently marred by  financial problems  – a result of the pioneering nature of the venture – the Concert for Bangladesh is recognised as a highly successful and influential humanitarian aid project, generating both awareness and considerable funds as well as providing valuable lessons and inspiration for projects that followed, notably  Live Aid . [3] [4] [5]  By 1985, through revenue raised from the  Concert for Bangladesh  live album and film, an estimated $12 million had been sent to Bangladesh in relief.

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