In 1971, George Harrison put on the Concert for Bangladesh, and Ringo Starr was the only former Beatle to perform. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney worried about the optics of performing with former bandmates and declined to join the event. Starr admitted that Harrison also had these concerns; because of this, he said Harrison didn’t expressly invite him. Regardless, Starr showed up to perform.
The Concert for Bangladesh was one of the first concerts of its kind
In 1971, Harrison and Ravi Shankar hosted two benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden to fund relief efforts for refugees from the Bangladesh Liberation War. He welcomed a number of musicians, including Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, and Billy Preston.
The benefit concert was a success and set the tone for the celebrity benefit concerts to come. Beyond that, though, it helped raise awareness of a conflict many Americans knew nothing about.
“Overnight, everybody knew the name of Bangladesh all over the world,” Shankar said, per NPR. “Because it came out in all the newspapers everywhere. So it had a tremendous value to it.”
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Ringo Starr admitted George Harrison didn’t invite him to perform at the concert
In the wake of The Beatles’ break up, the former band members were not on the best terms. Lennon wasn’t happy that Harrison didn’t want Yoko Ono to perform, and McCartney was in hot water with his former bandmates for suing the group. On top of that, they didn’t want to stoke the rumors of a Beatles reunion. Neither Lennon nor McCartney performed. Starr, however, was happy to join in the benefit concert, even without an invitation.
“Well, that was the first like All Starr Band,” Starr told Spin in 2022. “He had Eric, Bob [Dylan], me, Leon [Russell], and a lot of other people playing. Billy [Preston] was playing. And we all came out for George. He didn’t ask me, because he didn’t want it to be like a Beatle-y thing. I said, ‘Well, I’m coming anyway.’ So, I just turned off and got down to it.”
Starr had a great time, even if he wasn’t invited.
“Leon Russell and I are playing behind Bob Dylan. I’m playing tambourine, Leon’s playing bass. And Bob does his songs, and we played them,” he said. “Then, we go back to the hotel because there were two shows. Then we came back, and we did the second show, and Bob, it’s time for Bob, and Bob’s up there singing, and we’re playing like we did the first show. Bob turned everything into a waltz, but, he didn’t bother telling us [Laughs].”
With George Harrison, Ringo Starr proved he was the most affable Beatle
This anecdote is a perfect example of why Starr rarely found himself at the center of The Beatles’ conflicts. He got along well with each of his bandmates because he was less concerned about his image and band politics than the rest of them. Instead, he wanted to support his friend and former bandmate.
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