A historic concert

George Harrison


With the lyrics "Now I'm asking all of you, help us save some lives," George Harrison turned music in to a political and social force.

August 1, 2008 marked the 37th anniversary of George Harrison's historic Concert for Bangladesh, which pioneered the all-star rock concert benefit model. In 1971, Harrison staged two concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden that brought together a star-studded cast of musicians—Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell and Billy Preston—to alert the world to the plight of the Bangladeshi people.

George Harrison and Bob Dylan


In 1971, the pioneering former Beatle, hearing Ravi Shankar's distress, used his fame and the power of music to organize the Concert for Bangladesh. At that time, the country was ravaged by floods, famine and civil war, which left 10 million people — mostly women and children — fleeing their homes.

Harrison set the precedent that music could be used to serve a higher cause. The Concert for Bangladesh was one of the most ambitious humanitarian efforts in rock music history.

Geography

Bangladesh, on the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal, is surrounded by India, with a small common border with Myanmar in the southeast. The country is low-lying riverine land traversed by the many branches and tributaries of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. Tropical monsoons and frequent floods and cyclones inflict heavy damage in the delta region.

Short History Of Bangladesh

Bangladesh became one of the last major nation states following its secession in 1971 from the nation of Pakistan, which achieved its independence from the British Empire along with India in (1947). The region's history combines Indo-Aryan, Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Mughal, Arab, Persian, Turkic and British influences. Bangladesh today including its surrounding territories (present day Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Meghalya, Assam and Tripura)territory historically was known as Bengal, was part of the Mughal Empire for more than five centuries and then the Bengal Presidency and finally the British Empire. A.K. Fazlul Haque, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and finally Sheikh Mujibur Rahman struggled to lead the Bengali nation to independence in 1971. Since independence, successive following governments have led to define Bangladesh's democracy to this day