Concert for Bangladesh Revisited with George Harrison and Friends Page #3

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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... #

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