News | BMG | New York, 08/14/2024

‘The Concert For Bangladesh’ Now Available For Streaming

“The Concert For Bangladesh,” a 1971 album by George Harrison & Friends, is now available for streaming across all major digital music providers worldwide. Two concerts in New York and the live album raised millions of dollars for people in need in Bangladesh and drew the world’s attention to the humanitarian crisis caused by the “Bangladesh War.” The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF is now continuing the legacy of the concert by supporting important UNICEF programs not only in Bangladesh, but anywhere children are in need. The recorded rights and the publishing catalog are held by Dark Horse Records/BMG.

“The Concert for Bangladesh,” the 1971 Grammy-winning album by George Harrison, Ravi Shankar & Friends, is now available for streaming across all major digital music providers worldwide for the first time. The concert was the first major music benefit event of its kind. Two sold-out concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden brought together an extraordinary collection of major artists working together for a shared humanitarian cause. Combined with a triple album box set and a film of the concert, “The Concert for Bangladesh” raised millions of dollars for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and raised awareness of the organization worldwide. “George and his friends were pioneers,” said former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, for one. George Harrison’s recorded rights and publishing catalog are both held by Dark Horse Records/BMG.

‘Bigger than the lot of us’

By August 1971, when George Harrison, Ravi Shankar & friends took the stage to play The Concert for Bangladesh, 10 million East Pakistani refugees had fled over the border into India, facing significant challenges, including the threat of hunger and disease. Up to that point, little public attention had been drawn to the crisis in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and West Pakistan, now Pakistan. Few people outside the region were aware of what was happening to these refugees or how to help those affected. George organized the two groundbreaking concerts to direct global attention to the unfolding humanitarian crisis and raise funds for UNICEF’s work with the refugees. He assembled an all-star line-up of fellow artists including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, and, of course, Ravi Shankar: As George Harrison, who died in 2001, would later recall, “The musicians were great. I mean they completely put down their own egos to play together and to do something because the whole vibe of that concert was that it was something bigger than the lot of us.”

Today, more than 50 years later, children in Bangladesh continue to face risks from ongoing violence and unrest. But UNICEF’s presence remains – ensuring every child is healthy and protected – and The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF continues the concert’s legacy by providing support for critical UNICEF programs not only in Bangladesh, but anywhere children are in need.

The album “The Concert for Bangladesh” features astonishing performances and makes for a rousing listening experience. The historic collection, half a century later, now also contains a bonus track – the original studio version of George’s song “Bangla Desh,” released as a single in July 1971. Incidentally, the album was the Harrison’s first live album after the Beatles split up. It reached number two in the U.S. charts, and number one in the U.K.

All net proceeds (after taxes), will be donated to the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.