George Harrison Did It First.
Good Day,
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I had a somewhat frustrating conversation over New Year.
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It is amazing sometimes, how people seem to think that only the stuff that they personally experienced is true, and how totally rigid they can be about their version of the truth.
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This particular conversation was about Sir Bob Geldorf and how he and Midge Ure invented the musical charity concert in order to ‘Save The World’.
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But while Live Aid was indeed tremendous and well worth all the respect and appreciation that it engendered, they were not the first to gather together all of the modern superstars for a charity concert to aid the helpless.
It was the marvellous George Harrison who did it first.
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In the early 60′s we were all crazy for the Fab Four.
Everyone had their favourite Beatle….in my case I could never quite make up my mind.
Paul McCartney was soooo pretty, John Lennon was very acerbic, Ringo Starr was laid back and George was always appealing.
Together they were a group of working class Liverpool lads who had a sharp humour….and amazing songs….and great hairstyles.
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They may not seem ground breaking now but in our world they were awesome indeed.
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Not so long before then, everyone dressed just like their parents and did as they were told.
Most of the popular music was rubbish stuff that our parents listened too, nothing that really moved us until we heard Rock and Roll.
Teenagers were born and the young began to rebel against adult ideas and expectations.
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In about 1966 George met Ravi Shankar, a wonderful musician and sitar player, who introduced him to eastern religious ideas and themes.
I think that around then he had began to feel dissatisfaction with his new life, and this was finding expression in a search for God.
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The beliefs of India spoke to him in a new way.
Their Swamis’ explanations of the search for enlightenment spoke to his heart.
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How strange it must be to wish for money, fame and fortune, to see it all as the answer to finding happiness, then to actually find yourself in a rare place of adulation.
But then to find that it has not brought you meaning.
George was looking for a path to God.
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Amazingly, he actually brought his spiritual thinking to the public in an acceptable way.
You would think it impossible to do this, without ruining your career and alienating your audience, but George managed to do it in an unbelievable way.
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Although he was the youngest and had been overshadowed by the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership, he proved that he could write the most wonderful songs.
We all sang his compositions.
After he created one of the most beautiful songs of all time….Something …. no one could doubt his talent.
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There were more marvellous songs after that.
Some of them being mantras, prayers and poems set to music.
Hare Krishna Mantra was amazing and thanks to him it was being sung all over the whole world.
Then Lp’s such as ….All Things Must Pass….with the beautiful single My Sweet Lord.
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Both at the top of the American chats.
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Then in the early 1970′s George heard about the war between the two newly independent states of Pakistan.
Ater the split East Pakistan was renamed as Bangladesh.
The resulting war between the two states meant that millions of displaced people were pouring into refugee camps in India, with resulting starvation, disease and death.
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George decided to do something to help these people and bring their plight to the attention of the world.
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He spent a month making persuasive appeals to rock superstars, asking them to give up their time for free and join him in a humanitarian gesture to help the desperate people of Bangladesh.
He worked amazingly quickly, as he wanted to speak to the world while his cause was still newspaper-worthy.
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August 1st was chosen as the most auspicious day for the concert to take place….I think that this may have been done with the help of astrology.
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George booked Madison Square Garden for the concert.
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Rehearsal time was short but George was able to carry everyone with him, putting his trust in God and gaining the necessary strength from his beliefs and his need to help others.
Two shows were planned.
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On the day there were world famous artists like Ringo, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Badfinger and most amazingly of all,,,,the reclusive Bob Dylan.
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Almost half a million dollars was made for the people of Bangladesh.
George was magnificent!
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He spent the rest of his life searching for God.
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George Harrison died in Los Angeles at 1.30pm on the 29th of November 2001.
He was 58.
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God bless him.
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Jx.
If you have any comments, or I have made any mistakes etc. please let me know.
There is a new film out now about John Lennon….Nowhere Boy.
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