The most dynamic section of the concert comes with Leon Russell’s medley of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin Jack Flash” and the Coasters’ “Youngblood.” Rearranged slightly for the piano and guitar set-up, the song features a high energy Russell whooping and hollering “Well it’s aaaawwwwlll riiiiiight, now/ In fact it’s a gas,” giving screams of encouragement and joy to the other players, and pounding the hell out of his piano. Just as the song seems to be reaching a fever pitch, Russell slows things down and goes into a Peter Wolf-like boogie-rap, leading into a beautiful version of “Youngblood,” and then taking the band back into the exciting closing of “Jack Flash.” After an ecstatic reception from the audience, the energy level is taken down a notch as Harrison steps out to play an all acoustic version of “Here Comes the Sun,” the first time he has played a Beatles song on a proper stage since 1966. As big a deal as that may have seemed to the crowd, when Harrison steps to the mic to say “I’d like to introduce a friend of us all---Mr. Bob Dylan,” the speakers of the stereo nearly blow out due to the thunderous applause. Dylan’s name was never circulated as one of the musicians on the bill, and his appearance on stage that night came as a surprise to most people (and, indeed, possibly to some of the musicians). That Dylan pulled through for Harrison, after being almost completely absent from the concert circuit for two years, makes this event truly memorable. Keeping in tune with the social-awareness of the evening, Dylan opens with “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” and goes on to play such treasures as “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry,” “Blowin’ In The Wind,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and a stunning version of “Just Like A Woman” which features Russell and Harrison on backing vocals. These were the days when Dylan was still seen by many of his generation as an almost prophetic figure, his singing
voice was still strong and coherent (although one must stop short of ever calling his singing voice “good”), and his mere presence adds a weight and a cultural importance to an already momentous concert. Dylan leaves the stage at the conclusion of “Just Like a Woman,” and Harrison then leads the group through a version of “Something,” the first time he ever performed the two-year-old classic live. The final song of the evening was penned specifically for the event. “Bangla Desh,” a lightweight tune, nevertheless puts forth the message of the importance of the event and of helping those suffering people who are so far away. As the number heads towards a close, Harrison takes off his guitar, waves to the crowd, and leaves the stage to thunderous applause while his bandmates continue to pump away. The film and the record of the event end with a sound which the people on that stage were all too accustomed to hearing--a thrilled audience.
 In the past 30 years, massive rock charity concerts have become common. Live Aid, Farm Aid, the Concert for Kampuchea, Neil Young’s charity shows, and the recent Concert for New York have all been used to great effect in raising money and awareness for various worthy causes. It was George Harrison, however, who gave them all the blueprint for how it should be done, and the music documented at the Concert for Bangla Desh still stands as one of the finest performances of its time. Unlike the more recent charity events, this concert took place at a time when the musicians were all still young and at the top of their game, when idealism had not yet been tempered with cynicism, and when it still seemed possible for the power of good music to make magic happen. The Concert for Bangla Desh is currently being remastered and ready for reissue in January, and while the great organizer of the event, George Harrison, is sadly no longer with us, his social consciousness and his timeless music endure.

-Neal Alpert