Here Comes the Sun: Concert For Bangladesh Now Streaming
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Part of the all-star lineup at the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh
It’s been one of the holy grails for decades and now for the first time, The Concert For Bangladesh, the GRAMMY® Award-winning album from George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, & friends (including such stars as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr) is now available for streaming across all major digital music providers worldwide. The announcement, on August 9, 2024, made no mention of an upgraded physical release—the album and concert film have been unavailable for decades. Best Classic Bands has learned that there is no news on that front. Still, the official steaming debut of performances of such classic rock favorites as “My Sweet Lord,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Here Comes the Sun” is welcome news. And there’s one bonus track beyond the original triple album’s performances: the original studio version of Harrison’s song “Bangla Desh,” released as a single in July 1971.
Listen to many of the tracks below. The album is available for purchase digitally in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
Watch the official trailer here
From the official announcement: The Concert for Bangladesh was the first major music benefit of its kind. Two sold out concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden brought together an extraordinary assemblage of major artists collaborating for a common humanitarian goal – setting the precedent that music could be used to serve a higher cause.
With its triple album box set—originally released on Dec. 20, 1971—and feature film, The Concert for Bangladesh has generated millions of dollars for UNICEF and raised awareness for the organization around the world. To quote the former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “George and his friends were pioneers.”
“I’d like to bring on a friend of us all… Mr. Bob Dylan…”
By August 1971, when Harrison, 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/Bangladesh. Few people outside the region were aware of what was happening to these refugees or how to help those affected.
Harrison 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 Dylan, Clapton, Starr, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, and, of course, Shankar.
Said Harrison, “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.”
Watch another official clip
Now, over 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 Concert for Bangladesh Track List
Related: Our feature story on the Concert For Bangladesh
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationRingo forgetting the words during “It Don’t Come Easy” was one of the most memorable moments of the concert album.
Just the audio . . . no video. You can get the DVD on Amazon for $199.99
I guess they want to give Lennon’s One to One Benefit some air before release.
It would be nice to have it come out while people who were alive then can see and hear it. Like the recent Bowie movie.