Concert for Bangladesh Revisited with George Harrison and Friends Page #2

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HE LAUGHS 'And Phil Spector was in the trunk.

'He said, "Where did he go?! Where did he go?!"

'The band was jamming and it was pumping, the people were with us!

'You know, I just had to rejoice.'

# That's the way... Come on!..God planned it!

# That's the way God wants it to be

BACKING SINGERS:
# That's the way!

MUSIC REACHES A CRESCENDO, THEN STOPS

A couple of numbers from Leon.

The thing I remember about it was I thought I would be real nervous.

I got up there and it was so relaxing,

cos all these huge stars were all there.

And I was just sort of there. All the pressure wasn't on me.

But I didn't do anything but show up and sing.

# I was born in a cross-fire hurricane

# And I howled at my mama in the driving rain!

# But it's all right now

# In fact, it's a gas!

# But it's all right, yeah

# I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash It's a gas, gas, gas!

# Whoa-oh!

# Whoa-oh!

# Whoa-oh!

# Whoa-oh!

# Whoa-oh!

# Yeah, but it's all right now

# In fact, it's a gas!

# It's all right, yeah!

# I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash It's a gas, gas, gas, yeah... #

It was just one high-level experience from beginning to end.

The thing that I remember in rehearsal was...

it was just a question of trying to pick up stuff that everyone knew.

# But it's all right now

# In fact, it's a gas!

# But it's all right, yeah

# I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash It's a gas, gas, gas!

# Whoa-oh! #

A lot of the very last-minute logistics

happened in the last two weeks before the concert.

We had booked rehearsal halls at Carnegie Hall.

Above Carnegie Hall, we had a big rehearsal hall booked.

I was basically the concert producer.

I was the production manager of staging it.

And so most of the musicians didn't gather until

literally seven days before the concert.

GEORGE GIVES ORDERS TO CREW, THE BAND TUNE UP

The most obvious missing person was Eric Clapton.

MUSIC:
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

'We had him booked on every flight out of London to New York for about seven days.

'We were told, "He's on this flight!"

'We'd go to the airport and he wasn't there.'

By the third day, George was getting a little anxious that he wouldn't have a guitar player.

And by the fourth day, word must've been getting out.

Cos all of a sudden, a lot of guitar players started showing up in the lobby

at the Park Lane Hotel in New York, where we were staying.

And George figured, "I gotta get somebody."

So he hired Jesse Ed Davis, who had been in Taj Mahal's band.

'With Jesse E Davis being an optimist -

'he's carrying his guitar and amplifier, hanging around.

'So we said, "Right!"

'And Klaus Voormann, who was playing the bass in the concert.

'He volunteered just to run through all the tunes,

'so we'd at least have another guitar player.'

'We'd sent a telex to Apple in London -

'in those days, you still were using a telex -

to tell Eric he wasn't needed.

And of course, Terry went out to tell him and he said, "I'm coming!"

'And he played great - no rehearsal at all.

'I mean, Eric is just a gem.'

MUSIC SLOWLY STOPS, CROWD CHEERS

I made it really hard for myself. That guitar is not the right guitar

to play that kind of song on. I should've used the fender

or a solid Gibson or something, not a semi-acoustic.

I made it really difficult for myself.

But that was because I was in another world. Not really there.

And I had been in a period of retirement, shall we say,

for quite a long time - maybe about 2 years.

And I think I went to a rehearsal the day before the gig

and couldn't make it, I was in such bad shape.

And I showed up, I think, for the sound check.

# Yeah, the woman I love

# Left with my best friend

# But some joker got lucky

# And stole her right back again.

# I said you'd better come on in my kitchen

# Cos it's gonna be raining outdoors... #

For me to get on a plane to go to New York

was a very difficult thing for me, especially with my circumstances...

I saw myself as a bit of a squire amongst knights, you know.

But I really made the extra effort,

mainly because of all these people who showed up

and we're gonna do this thing and it was outside of the normal line of duty, really.

And I think, you know, the fact that George took a risk

just assembling the whole thing and making it make sense.

All for this cause - it was a bit move, yeah.

To my mind, it took a lot of humility for George,

at this stage in his life, you know, when, er...

The Beatles had split up, he'd had a huge hit album with All Things Must Pass.

He'd never fronted a big show like that before.

This was the first time ever for him.

'So it took a lot of humility on his part,

'to be able to call around and get people to do him favours.

'With the obvious risk, you know, of, er...being turned down.'

# If not for you

# Winter would hold no spring

# Couldn't hear the robin sing

# I just wouldn't have a clue

# If not for you... #

'My relationship with Bob was...

'You know, I just always tried to be straight with him and, you know, he responded.'

Bob would come in and rehearse with the band what songs he was gonna do,

'and so, it was really a matter of working it out at the last minute.'

# If not for you my sky would fall!

# Rain would gather too

# Without your love I'd be nowhere at all

# I'd be lost if not for you

# If not for you

# Winter would hold no spring... #

'Right up until the moment he stepped on the stage, it was not sure he was coming.

'Cos the night before we went to Madison Square Garden,

'he saw all these cameras and microphones and this huge place,

'and he was saying, "Hey, man, this isn't my scene. I can't make this."

'By that time, I'd had so much on my plate, trying to get it organised.

'And I was saying, "It's not my scene either.

' "I don't do this every day. In fact, this is the first time I've done anything on my own.

' "You at least have been a solo artist for years."

'So, on stage, I had a little list on my guitar

'and I had the point where... where it said

'after Here Comes The Sun, I've got "Bob" with a question mark.

'And it got to that point, and I looked around,

'to see if there was any indication that Bob was gonna come on or out.'

The stage was dark and I looked around,

and here's this guy in a jean jacket walking toward me, and I knew it was him.

'He was there and was so nervous - his harmonica on, his guitar in his hand.

'He was walking on stage, it was like, "Now or never!" And so, I just say...'

I'd like to bring on a friend of us all - Mr Bob Dylan.

HUGE CHEER FROM THE CROWD

HE TUNES UP:

MUSIC:
"Just Like A Woman"

# Nobody

# Feels any pain

# Tonight

# As I stand inside the rain

# Everybody knows

# That baby's got new clothes

# But lately

# I see her ribbons and her bows

# Have fallen from her curls

# She takes

ALL:
# Just like a woman

# And she waits

# Just like a woman

# Then she breaks

# Just like a woman

# But she breaks just like a little girl

# Queen Mary

# She's my friend

# Yes, I believe

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