Concert for George is a live tribute soundtrack album in honour of George Harrison, recorded on the first anniversary of his death, and issued in 2003 in conjunction with the simultaneous DVD release of the same name. Featuring performances of many of Harrison's best-known songs, played by his closest musician friends, Concert for George is considered a fitting and heartfelt celebration of Harrison's considerable career.
| Concert for George | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by various artists | |
| Released | 17 November 2003 |
| Recorded | 29 November 2002 Royal Albert Hall, London |
| Genre | Disc 1: Indian classical music Disc 2: Rock |
| Length | 116:50 |
| Label | Warner Bros. |
| Producer | Jeff Lynne |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Hot Press | 7/10[2] |
| Record Collector | [3] |
| Uncut | [4] |
Tribute concert
editRecorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002—the first anniversary of Harrison's death—the performance features a wealth of talents who knew Harrison well. Eric Clapton, one of Harrison's closest friends, served as the musical director of the show, which was advertised as the Concert for George. Representing Indian music, an important influence on Harrison's life, is Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka Shankar. Among Harrison's rock and roll cohorts are Jeff Lynne, Gary Brooker, Joe Brown, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston and Jim Keltner, together with Harrison's former Beatles bandmates Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, and his son Dhani.
Before the Indian portion that opened the concert, Ravi Shankar said to the audience: "I strongly feel that George is here tonight. I mean, how can he not be here, when all of us who loved him so much have assembled here to sing for him and play music for him? I'm sure he's here."[5]
Release and reception
editConcert for George was issued on 17 November 2003 in Britain, with a US release following on 18 November.[6] A double album, it peaked at number 97 on America's Billboard chart.
Uncut magazine's reviewer wrote: "Concerts like these are usually long on sentiment and short on worthwhile content. But under the directorship of Eric Clapton, the concert for George Harrison at the Albert Hall in November 2002 was an exception. The event exudes a powerful atmosphere and genuine musicality…"[7] Writing in The Word, Paul Du Noyer described the posthumous tribute to Harrison as "the grandest send-off that he could possibly have wished for". Du Noyer said of the live album, "Its sins are only those of omission", and recommended the accompanying DVD release, before concluding: "In either format, however, [Joe Brown's] show-closing 'I’ll See You In My Dreams' is an exquisitely poignant note to end upon".[8]
In 2005, the Concert for George DVD won the Best Long Form Video Grammy. Directed by David Leland, it contains material not found on the album, including "Sit on My Face" and "The Lumberjack Song" by Monty Python, and "Horse to the Water", featuring Jools Holland with vocals by Sam Brown.
iTunes released Concert for George in 2008 with "Horse to the Water" added to the album.
In 2018, Concert for George was released in several packages and formats, including 180-gram vinyl LP records, to celebrate Harrison's 75th birthday.[9] The new vinyl and digital edition included additional tracks not present on both the original and 2018 reissue CD editions: "Sit on My Face" and "The Lumberjack Song" by Monty Python, and "Horse to the Water" by Sam Brown.
Track listing
editAll songs written by George Harrison, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sarve Shaam" | traditional | 3:18 | |
| 2. | "Your Eyes (Sitar Solo)" | Ravi Shankar | Anoushka Shankar | 8:23 |
| 3. | "The Inner Light" | Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison and Anoushka Shankar | 3:02 | |
| 4. | "Arpan" | Ravi Shankar | Anoushka Shankar | 23:02 |
Personnel
editFrom Warner Strategic Marketing's 2003 CD release R2 74546
Eric Clapton - musical director
Featuring: Joe Brown, Eric Clapton, Jools Holland and Sam Brown, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and...
- Dave Bronze - bass
- Gary Brooker - keyboards
- Jim Capaldi - drums
- Ray Cooper - percussion
- Dhani Harrison - guitar
- Jim Horn - alto sax
- Jim Keltner - drums
- Katie Kissoon - backing vocals
- Albert Lee - guitar
- Andy Fairweather Low - guitar
- Marc Mann - Lead guitar
- Tessa Niles - backing vocals
- Tom Scott - tenor sax
- Henry Spinetti - drums
- Chris Stainton - keyboards
- Klaus Voormann - bass
The Heartbreakers:
- Ron Blair - bass guitar
- Mike Campbell - guitar
- Steve Ferrone - drums
- Benmont Tench - keyboards
- Scott Thurston - guitar/harmonica
Arpan
- Composed by Ravi Shankar
- Conducted by Anoushka Shankar
Performed by:
- Anoushka Shankar - sitar
- Sukanya Shankar - vocal-shloka
- M Balanchandar - mridangam
- Vishwa Mohan Bhatt - slide guitar
- Tanmoy Bose - tabla & dholak
- Chandrasekhar - violin
- Eric Clapton - guitar
- Pedro Eustache - wind instruments
- Sunil Gupta - flute
- Anuradha Krishamurthi - vocalist
- Jane Lister - harp
- Gaurav Mazumdar - sitar
- Snehashish Mazumdar - mandolin
- Ramesh Mishra - sarangi
- Pirshanna Thevarajah - percussion
- Kenji Ota - tanpura
- Barry Phillips - cello
- Rajendra Prasanna - shahnai
- Emil Richards - marimba
- Baul Raghuraman - violin
- Partho Sarathy - sarod
- O.S. Arun - vocalist
- Hari Sivanesan - veena
- Sivaskti Sivanesan - veena
Boys' and Girls' Choir
English Chamber Choir
London Metropolitan Orchestra
Strings conducted and arranged by Michael Kamen
References
edit- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Original Soundtrack Concert for George". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ Hayden, Jackie (27 November 2003). "Concert For George". Hot Press. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
- ^ Staunton, Terry (July 2011). "George Harrison – Concert for George". Record Collector. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ Watts, Peter (2018). "Live and Compilations". Uncut Ultimate Music Guide: George Harrison. London: TI Media. pp. 114–15.
- ^ Wright, Helen (17 November 2003). "Various – Concert for George". musicOMH. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Concert For George Album Out Today in UK". georgeharrison.com. 17 November 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ Staff (December 2003). "Various Artists – The Concert For George". Uncut. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ Du Noyer, Paul (January 2004). "Concert For George". The Word. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (17 January 2018). "All-Star George Harrison Tribute Concert Gets Massive Vinyl Reissue". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 January 2018.