Harrison and Friends Pack 'Em In (1971)

 Harrison and Friends Pack 'Em In

By Harry Davidson

Daily World

August 5, 1971

When it was originally announced that George Harrison would appear at Madison Square Garden on August 1, I knew I would have to find some way to be there. When the Beatles first burst upon the musical horizon in the mid 1960s, I was too young to be more than vaguely aware of their existence. Later, I became a part of the generation of youth which followed them. The Beatles led us into new, hitherto unexplored mediums of expression. That process found its natural extension in the George Harrison and Friends benefit for the refugees and victims of strife in Bangladesh, better known as East Pakistan. 

    10 hours before the tickets were to go, over 5000 young men and women were massed around the walls of the monolithic Garden. Under the circumstances, Garden officials wisely released the tickets for sale at midnight rather than at 10 a.m. the next morning. Almost 40,000 seats were grabbed up in the following several hours. 

    When Harrison walked on stage, the audience rose as if in honor of the era for which Harrison himself was in part responsible, which had catalyzed a new culture and lifestyle, and which had passed in many senses with the passing of the Beatles as a group. Perhaps the ovation would have been even greater if not for the act which preceded it. Ravi Shankar, the sitar player and motive force behind the benefit for his own countrymen, entranced the unusually respectful crowd with his music to open the concert. His recital, as he called it, was intended to make the audience aware of the pain, aspirations, hope, and joy of his people. If he was not entirely successful, my unaccustomed ear was often unable to appreciate the various subtleties of his craft, then the film clips portraying the suffering in East Pakistan more than compensated.

     Following the films, Harrison opened the show with "Wah Wah", in my opinion, the best cut on his million-seller three-record album. To my surprise, the live performance outdid the recording. On the other hand, it may have been because Harrison had brought together one of the most impressive combinations of artists since Woodstock, and even at Woodstock, the groups played separately, not at the benefit. Harrison's friends included Ringo Starr, former Beatles drummer; Billy Preston, the redoubtable keyboard man; Eric Clapton of Cream, lead guitar fame; Leon Russell, superstar pianist and mentor of Joe Cocker; Klaus Voormann, master European bass player; Badfinger, one of Apple Records' early group discoveries, as well as a host of others. 

    The ensemble then played Stars' hit "It Don't Come Easy", which was greeted with enthusiasm equal to, if not surpassing, the greeting to Harrison's music. Preston also did a piece, as did Clapton, and Russell overwhelmed the audience with his rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash." Finally, Bob Dylan played the old ballads and songs. It was his first live performance in two years. 

    The concert ended with Harrison's recent smash hit single entitled "Bangladesh." One has to have known and loved the Beatles and everything that went with them, all the rumors, all the fads, and all the mania, to realize what 20,000 cheering fans felt at that show. One can analyze Harrison to death, his involvement with Eastern culture, his religiosity and spiritualism, or his music. But what one will conclude then just won't come close to what comes from living the music of the man, the surrounding myths and idealizations notwithstanding. 

    15 minutes after the benefit ended, we still stood clapping and cheering. The first-hand close-ups and official histories have yet to be written. The magazine and newspaper treatises have yet to see print. The commercial recording and the next album have about a week before they are to be released, and the premiere performance of the screen version has yet even to be scheduled. I only hope that the mountains of discussion, which the George Harrison and Friends benefit richly deserves, will better describe the occasion than I have. I think I got too involved.