Concert For George

Reviewed by: Erik Swift May 2004

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George Harrison’s death saddened the world on November 29, 2001. Tributes flowed for the reclusive Beatle, who had been ailing from cancer for some time. Countless people had worked with George over the years, but perhaps his closest comrade was Eric Clapton, one of the few outsiders to ever record with the Beatles. Harrison had invited the 23-year-old Cream guitarist to Abbey Road studios in 1968 to play on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” a moment that provided temporary relief during the insanity that the band’s recording sessions were becoming. Clapton immediately repaid the favor by allowing Harrison to play with Cream on “Badge,” the peak of the trio’s shabby odds-and-sods 1969 finale “Goodbye.” The start of a beautiful friendship, the guitarists traded licks often over the years, with Clapton even coaxing his friend onto the road again by backing him during a short Japanese tour in 1991. While many grieved George’s passing, Clapton was crushed – he’d lost his best friend. After much soul-searching, Slowhand decided the best way to cope was to honor George through the man’s music, so he assembled the former Beatle’s friends and family for an all-star concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall on the one-year anniversary of George’s passing. Documented on the Rhino Records/WEA double-DVD set “Concert For George,” the celebration of a man who touched the world is justly the best tribute concert ever.Harrison, along with Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, became enraptured with and mastered the sitar, bringing its sound to millions in the mid-sixties. It’s fitting that things begin with the music of Ravi Shankar, George’s spiritual and musical mentor. During the Beatles’ excursions to India, Harrison and Shankar formed a bond in music and faith. Twin pillars of his existence, George’s lifelong quest for God and meaning started there. As a chorus chants “salvation,” his widow Olivia lights candles to start the evening. After brief words from Musical Director Clapton, a frail Shankar takes the stage and introduces his daughter Anoushka, who proceeds to wow the audience with a sitar performance of “Your Eyes,” backed by only a sole percussionist. ELO’s Jeff Lynne joins her for a beautiful version of the Beatles B-side “The Inner Light,” and it’s here that Harrison’s lyric “The farther one travels, the less one knows” resonates deeply. Closing with new Shankar composition “Arpan,” the full orchestra surges and slows, gaining new energy with each note. It’s wonderful stuff, so don’t skip over that to the Monty Python portion of the evening.

Harrison’s ties to the Pythons started after the Beatles broke up in 1970. The guitarist often joked that the spirit of his former band went immediately into the comedy troupe, whose landmark television series debuted on the BBC the same year. Terry Gilliam roped Harrison into a co-producer role on his hit film “Time Bandits,” beginning a lengthy collaborative stint for the musician and the comics. Gilliam and his cohorts belt “Sit On My Face” after the intermission, and even Tom Hanks sits in for the proceedings on “The Lumberjack Song.” Singing “Spam, spam, spam, spam” as they walk offstage, the Pythons give way to a night of respect that covers the guitarist’s career from the Beatles through his solo and Traveling Wilbury material. A heavenly choir of backing vocals on “I Want To Tell You” reaches the stars, and when Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker takes over “Old Brown Shoe,” Clapton adds impressive muscle with his own vocal contributions. The dueling acoustic guitars from Lynne and Clapton on “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” combined with Lynne’s yearning vocals are strikingly good, and throughout this time one can’t help but wonder where the hell Bob Dylan is.

Other Wilburys manage to show up, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ set is one of the concert’s more anticipated performances. Mike Campbell – by far the most underrated guitarist out there - handles a ripping solo on “Taxman” while Scott Thurston’s backup work, on and off the mike, is unbelievable. The Byrds-inspired “I Need You” follows, and it’s fitting that a Byrds-inspired band plays it. Inviting Lynne and Harrison’s son Dhani onstage, Petty, Lynne and Thurston alternate the verses of the Wilburys’ “Handle With Care.” Clapton, who up to this point hasn’t hogged the show, unleashes a killer performance during “Isn’t It A Pity” while a soulful Billy Preston sings on. For many, the night’s ultimate highlight occurred after Ringo Starr’s set (the Harrison-penned “Photograph” and a cover of Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t”) when Paul McCartney stepped onstage for the first time in public with Ringo since the Beatles’ infamous Abbey Road rooftop finale on January 30, 1969. Macca takes over “For You Blue” like it’s his own, and thankfully doesn’t completely butcher “Something” via ukulele before the full band jumps in midway through the song. Clapton, McCartney and Lynne nail “All Things Must Pass,” uniting in a staggering moment that is a mere prelude to a thundering version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Bringing together three of the musicians that played on the original recording, McCartney’s unobtrusive piano and Slowhand’s crushing guitar combining with a team of drummers led by Ringo is undoubtedly the reason to own “Concert For George.”

Filmed in high definition with over a dozen cameras, every angle of the Royal Albert Hall is captured. Lynne produced the crystal-clear DTS 5.1 surround sound audio, and it’s a wonder that every guitarist and drummer can be heard…actually, scratch that – duh, Lynne produced it. There are two minutes more on the first disc than the second, and that’s not a typo. Disc I has the entire unedited concert, while disc II has the theatrical version that enjoyed a brief run last October, plus rehearsal footage and bonus interviews with just about everyone concerned. If you have no idea who Joe Brown is and why he’s singing “Here Comes The Sun” and “That’s The Way It Goes,” discover it here. Each person involved with the evening had a personal relationship with Harrison, and the interviews convey the depth of the feelings that the Quiet Beatle could bring out of the people closest to him.

The negatives are few – “Cheer Down” wasn’t performed, and nothing appeared from Harrison’s excellent “33 And A Third” or “Cloud Nine” albums. Between the two discs, the first is perfect but the second disc’s documentary film by David Leland (“Wish You Were Here,” HBO’s “Band Of Brothers,” the Traveling Wilbury videos) sure isn’t “The Last Waltz” or “Stop Making Sense” – it exasperatingly cuts into songs often. Annoyances aside, the great thing about this package is that it literally has everything about the show including the show itself. “Concert For George” raises the bar for how all music DVDs should be assembled.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!