45 years ago today (8/1/71), The Concert for Bangladesh took place. The concert involved 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 theBangladesh 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 and featured a supergroup of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and Badfinger. Watch Harrison with help from Clapton perform “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” live at the Concert.
