Concert for George
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Movie Reviews of Concert for George
Movie Review: You Don't See Me Cryin'...You Don't Hear Me Sighin'
Summary: 5 Stars
Thank you, Eric Clapton, for giving us the blessing of this beautiful and moving concert in honor of George. I grew up listening to the Beatles, and always had a particular affection for George and Ringo, the two 'stabilizing' members of the band. I always appreciated George's quiet consideration before speaking, and his thoughtfulness and the fundamental goodness of his heart. When George died, I was deeply saddened like many millions of others, and thought that no tribute or monument could ever do him justice. I was wrong. The Concert for George, primarily organized by his long time friend Eric Clapton, provided just the catharsis that his friends and fans needed. I was amazed that these close personal friends and relatives (Dhani was on stage the entire set) didn't get choked up at any point during the show, because I sure did (during 'Photograph'.) In fact the show was hard for me to watch the first time as I wanted to hear George singing. Eric said it best in an interview, though, when he explained that at first rehearsals were tough to get through, but the rehearsals and show provided a mechanism of grieving to all his personal friends. That explained it brilliantly: They had time to work through it, while the viewer at home did not. (Who says rock stars can't be truly insightful?) The musicians obviously worked very hard to get this just right and they succeeded brilliantly: this DVD beautifully captures it all.
There are actually two DVDs in the set, one is the unabridged concert, and the other is the edited concert for theatrical release and some short subjects. I recommend watching the unabridged concert first. It opens with Anoushka Shankar playing some Indian music, which, of course, George loved. I don't really care for it, but it was soulful and well performed. George was a huge Monty Python fan, and the Pythons were up next and performed "The Lumberjack Song" after a heartwarming spoof of a eulogy by Michael Palin that George would have loved. For me it was all good, but some of it was amazing. Ringo was a standout with "Photograph", which is still the best Ringo song, and a song that Ringo and George wrote together, and "Honey Don't", an old Carl Perkins song that George loved. Eric Clapton was wonderful on everything he performed on; I particularly liked his pseudo-duet with Paul on "Something", and with the whole ensemble on "Wah Wah", which had breathtaking percussion, and, of course, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", a song veritably made for him.
Without question though, the greatest performer in the show was Joe Brown, a major institution in early British rock, but today relatively unknown in the US. Joe's main set started with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of "Here Comes the Sun", and then went to "That's The Way It Goes", a song I have always loved, but never got the acclaim it deserved. Joe also closed the show with the dreamy "I'll See You in My Dreams", and he sang it like he meant it. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beautiful "Isn't It a Pity" by the multitalented Billy Preston, who would have won the best dressed award.
There were a couple of weaker performances to be seen. None that were overtly bad, but they certainly were not up to the standards of the rest of the show. The primary offenders here were Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who are normally great, but came across as lifeless and flat. I also found Jeff Lynne's voice to sound a bit tired, especially when he sang a verse of "Wah Wah" and to a lesser degree on "The Inner Light." I (really) hate to say it, but I also found Paul's version of "For You Blue" a bit dull. I think it's interesting that Paul picked a song of George's from "Let It Be", an album where tempers ran high and contentiousness prevailed; perhaps that has clouded my vision a bit on the subject. Despite that, it was wonderful seeing Paul and Ringo play together again, and I have to wonder if that's the last time we'll be able to see that.
Extras include a behind the scenes and rehearsal video, which is very interesting, a wonderful interview video, and a backstage video of the Monty Python crew. All are well done and worth watching.
For any fan of George's this is a must. I never thought that I could like this DVD as much as I do since I knew I would miss hearing George on the songs. After a few viewings, though, I now feel happy when I watch it, and have found it to be a fitting tribute to a great man. While we will always miss you, George, I will always be grateful for this beautiful and befitting tribute.
I'll see you in my dreams.
Movie Review: Beautiful Tribute For A Beautiful Guy
Summary: 5 Stars
This tribute to George's music and life is an incredibly poignant reminder of how much Mr. Harrison mattered, and how much he is missed. I was brought into this world around the time of 33 & 1/3, so watching & listening to "Concert For George" wasn't, for me, like taking a stroll down nostalgia lane. I feel really fortunate that I was able to discover the Beatles & George's solo work a bit independently of any trend or fashion. And what a discovery!
There is no one more qualified than Eric Clapton in spearheading this event. Obviously he & George were great friends, and Clapton's understanding & love for Harrison's music is utterly apparent. Eric gives us gorgeous renditions of "If I Needed Someone," "Beware Of Darkness," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Clapton's anguished solo on the latter is breathtaking.
For me the biggest surprise and delight of the show was the performance of Joe Brown. I had never heard him perform before, and I was blown away by his idiosyncratic voice & dignified renditions of George's songs. Of all the musicians present that evening, Joe Brown's musical approach on these songs most closely resembled George's. His version of "Here Comes The Sun" follows the original closely, yet still retains an appealing freshness. "That's The Way It Goes" was the most adventurous choice of the show set-list (it wasn't a hit or a Beatles song), but Brown's mandolin textures & soft voice fit this Gone Troppo classic perfectly. This song, along with Browns' moving rendition of "I'll See You In My Dreams", are in my opinion the highlights of the night, and both brought tears to my eyes.
Another moving highlight was the performance of Billy Preston. Preston gives us an incredible "Isn't It A Pity," and a soulful rendition of "My Sweet Lord." Gary Brooker gives a rowdy rendition of "Old Brown Shoe," and the Sam Brown & Jools Holland performance of "Horse To Water" is powerful. Incidentally, this performance is not included on the CD; nor are the Monty Python songs. Michael Palin gives a hilarious "tribute" (which is in the same vein as the "Oh Lord, You Are So Absolutely Huge" prayer in "The Meaning Of Life") that I'm sure would have brought a broad smile to George's face.
Anoushka Shankar's rendition of "The Inner Light" is incredible. Her virtuosity is apparent on "Your Eyes," and the Ravi Shankar composition is brilliant, of course. "Arpan" captures the essence, in my opinion, of George's spiritual searching and eventual contentment. This piece is both imposing and playful.
Ringo's contributions are excellent, and they show the flip side of George's image as a serious mystic. "Photograph" is immaculate pop, and "Honey Don't" is of the country/rockabilly tradition that both George & Ringo loved.
Jeff Lynne & Tom Petty were obvious choices for the concert; sadly, their performances are the weakest of the evening. I have never really cared for Jeff Lynne's voice, and he sounds particularly strained on "Wah Wah". His vocals are much better on "The Inner Light" and "Give Me Love," but I feel that his voice really isn't suited for these songs. Lynne's crooning of the Roy Orbison parts on "Handle With Care" is excellent. Tom Petty's rendition of "Taxman" seems a little uninspired, and Mr. Petty's singing on "Handle With Care" is not-that-great. His version of "I Need You" is superb, though. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that they were there & they are both obviously capable musicians. I just think that maybe they had an off-night.
Which brings us to Paul McCartney. He gives a great performance of "All Things Must Pass," which is ironic since he & Lennon deemed it unworthy to be on a Beatles' record. McCartney & Clapton deliver a beautiful version of "Something," and "For You Blue" is excellent. It must be said though that McCartney seems to have a compulsive need to always be the center of attention. His interrupting Joe Brown to make a joke was irritating, and perhaps in a weird way fitting, since McCartney apparently got under George's skin quite a bit. Tellingly, McCartney's interruption isn't included on the CD.
This CD/DVD set is a fantastic tribute, and whatever minor flaws that may exist are completely irrelevant in comparison to the powerful performances given by artists that all loved George Harrison & his great music.
Movie Review: The Concert For George
Summary: 5 Stars
I must admit that I was not looking forward to the release of this DVD. The sadness I felt (and still honestly feel) about the death of George Harrison made me hesitate to watch this tribute to his life and music. It was not that I thought the performers or intent would be insincere. It was that the whole concert would be a painful reminder of Harrison's passing.I found after Ravi Shankar's 'Arpan', that the rest of the concert was a breeze to get through, until Joe Brown's rendition of 'I'll See You In My Dreams'.
For those that are not familiar with classical Indian music, and that which was such a passion in George's life, Shankar's 'Arpan' may impress with its arrangement and technical precision and playing. But for those who do understand classical Indian's meanings and intents, 'Arpan' is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard anyone compose for anyone. Classical Indian music is a conversation. A dialogue about life, death, God, and all within. 'Arpan' encapsulates everything Ravi Shankar felt about George Harrison. There are moments of celebration and joy, great grief and sadness, and throughout there is the mutual respect they had for eachother spoken in the music. The instruments tell about the life of George Harrison and what he meant to Ravi Shankar. For me, this is the part of the concert I have a very hard time watching. It moves me to tears. And I have to honestly say, the rest of the concert was easy and light compared to the first section of the show. Anoushka Shankar's rendition of 'Your Eyes' was also a major highlight. But appreciation of Indian music is fundamental in understanding the love that is expressed for George in these two songs.
For me, the star performers were Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, Monty Python and the host of the show, Eric Clapton. The professional and social relationships they had with George really shine through in their performances of his songs (mainly from his Beatles career and 'All Things Must Pass'), and my opinion of Eric Clapton shot up about 80% after watching this concert. He handled everything gracefully and with dignity, considering Harrison and Clapton's history, the obvious love he has for George makes him literally the star of the Western portion of this concert. He never overplays, he sings George's songs with great passion and consideration for their words. I could not find one single thing that marred Clapton's performance in this show. Not one thing. His shared vocal with Billy Preston on 'Isn't It A Pity' is one of the best moments of the show.
Ringo has always been with George. The two were practically inseparable in their solo careers. 'Photograph' takes on much more meaning in this rendition of it, and I'm sure Ringo found (and maybe still finds) this song a little hard to sing now.
All of the people on stage really knew George, and I find the exception is Paul McCartney. He may have knew him in The Beatles, but George the solo artist and man I don't think Paul knew at all. It is why I do find a slightly humourous irony that Paul plays piano on 'Wah Wah', and may not be familiar at all with who the song was about. And this may displease some, but I honestly did not like Paul's ukelele version of 'Something'. It made the song sound like a 'ditty'. It's not a ditty. It's one of the most beautiful contemporary songs ever written about being in love, and that its subject matter is as much about God as it may have been about Pattie Harrison does not lessen its power and impact. When Clapton (and band) play this song in its original format, I forget all about the ukelele version that opened it. Paul's rendition of 'All Things Must Pass' is much better. There's a slight sadness in the fact that he was unfamiliar with the song (even though he felt strongly enough 30 years ago to help reject it from the Beatles song catalogue).
A worthy purchase, and if this does one thing for all those who just wanted to see Ringo & Paul perform together again, is that George Harrison is one of the most underrated musicians of his time. The concert barely skims the surface of how much great music that was written with heart & soul by Harrison there is. If this show gets people interested to hear what else Harrison had to say, it'd be a long time coming.
Movie Review: Most requested DVD in Mott's Pub
Summary: 5 Stars
This DVD concert never comes across as a sad Memorial concert for the late great George Harrison, more of a celebration of the life ,love, music ,and most of all faith of a wonderful human being.During George Harrison's tragically short life he touched many people. Obviously he was one of the lovable Moptops from Liverpool ,who's music and attitude changed the world as we know it. He also started the charity music culture with his concert for Bangla Desh in 1971. ( Would there have been a Live Aid etc with out the Charity concert held for the starving people of Bangla Desh if he had not been for George Harrison's groundbreaking concert a decade before?0 He almost single handedly made the world AWARE of whole new cultures from the Asia. Not forgetting his own solo career, at first the most successful Beatle to go solo, his first releases back in 1970 went to Number One all over the world with his magnificent triple album " All Things Must Pass",and the single taken from it " My Sweet Lord''. George also formed Handmade movies which saved the masterpiece " The Life Of Brian " by Monty Python ( George actually has a walk on part as the Mayor if you look closely.) the world would definitely be a sadder place without that little Python masterpiece.
This double DVD package has the first DVD devoted to the whole concert in it's correct running order, so that all of us that were not able to be there on that magical night at the Albert Hall in London on November 29 2002 can get an inkling of what was going on . The second DVD gives you snippets of the concert intererspersed with interviews from Georges friends,rehearsals and backstage footage ,interesting and sometimes hilarious stuff. There is over 2 hours and twenty minutes of material on DVD Two , whilst the concert on Disc One lasts for nearly 2 1/2 hours.
There are too many musical highlights to mention them all. But before I list the group of friends that turned up to celebrate Georges life ,and what songs they decided to play, I shall try to point out a few.
The concert starts out with a specially composed piece by Ravi Shankar written for George 'Aspan',where what I can only call a blend of Asian Folk/Orchestra meets western influences the results are quite stunning, with Ravi's daughter playing the sitar as beautifully as she looks , and she is very beautiful, matching Eric Clapton when he joins her on acoustic guitar. The Monty Python team, get on stage for two songs, the wonderful irreverence of the songs would have had George rolling around the aisles in laughter, notice also Tom Hanks the movie star having the time of his life as a Mountie in the chorus line.Eric Clapton does a wonderful job as musical director as well as contributing some stunning guitar work ,especially in recreating his solo from" My Guitar Gently Weeps '' from the Beatles 'White Album'. Poor Ringo barely keeping his emotions under control whilst singing 'Photograph'. It is also the first time that Paul McCartney , Billy Preston and Ringo Starr have all performed on the same stage together since a certain legendary roof top concert over thirty years ago.Although the concert would not of been the same without Paul McCartney, he for once does not dominate proceedings leaving plenty of room for others to shine ,and shine they do. George Harrison' son Dhani himself a fine musician is often allowed center stage.Whilst George Harrison's old mucker Joe Brown brings the concert to an emotional climax. The set from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in the middle of the second section is simply stunning. Tom Petty was in George Harrison's other group the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne,and Roy Orbison.Look out for the guitar solo from Albert Lee during " Honey Don't" it raises the Albert Hall Roof a few inches higher.The singing of Sam Brown and Gary Brooker are as ever highlights of any concert.
This DVD delivers in every possible aspect,and would not disappoint anybody with even a passing interest in the life and times of George Harrison. There is also a double CD of this concert which is nice to have whilst driving the car , but you get so much more with the DVD.
By Mott the Dog. Edited by Ella Crew.
Movie Review: A 10-Star Concert With Only One Thing Missing...
Summary: 5 Stars
How this concert slipped by me I'll never know. It would have been cool to see it in a theatre with a state of the art surround-sound system, but viewing it for the first time on DVD tonight was the next best thing I could've hoped for. There are 281 reviews ahead of mine, so I'll just add my own flourishes to what I'm sure has already been said: This is one of the masterpieces among concert films. Methinks George would be proud. There are highlights all the way THROUGH this fantastic 2-disc set, but the ones that remain in my mind a few hours after viewing it are: 1. The inclusion of Ravi & Anoushka Shankar (and Ravi's wife Sukanya, in a vocal cameo) & the performance of "Arpan," the symphonic tribute to George with a small orchestra and vocalists. An AMAZING performance from start to finish. This one has particular meaning for me having seen Ravi & Anoushka and their fellow musicians last month in concert. George's love for Indian music was one of the things that endeared him to me, and his few forays into that musical realm in the recording studio were, without exception, astounding. 2. Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney performing "Something" together. What starts out as an acoustic piece with Paul on ukelele (which I wasn't at all sure I was going to like) evolves at the drop of a hat into the full studio version, with orchestra...and hearing Eric and Paul singing harmony on the middle 8 of the song genuinely moved me to tears...as did several other moments during this concert. There is no doubt that this concert packs one hell of an emotional wallop when you hear the QUALITY of the performances; everyone involved wanted to do his/her absolute best. And with very few exceptions, the renditions were nearly flawless. It's good that this set includes both the theatrical release and a disc of the full, unedited, from-start-to-finish concert, without the comments of the musicians interfering with the songs.
I could go on, but you get the idea. If you loved George's music, beat a path to own, not rent, this DVD. It belongs in every music-lover's collection, every Beatles-lover's collection, every Harrison-lover's collection. It delivers & does not disappoint. Professionally-done with a minimal amount of sentimentality, Eric freely admits in one of the interview segments what I'm sure a lot of them were feeling...that a year after George's passing, the raw emotion of the grieving process was still going on and everyone involved missed him terribly. As do I.
I can't agree with the one reviewer who felt violated that the Pythons were allowed to perform "Sit On My Face." All who knew George knew that he had a wonderful sense of humor (anyone remember his "argument" with Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night Live regarding his payment for performing?); and besides, what better way to demonstrate the Yin & Yang principle than by following the Indian music performance with 4 of the Pythons mooning the Albert Hall crowd? I'll bet George was laughing along with everyone else.
The one thing missing? OK, my ONLY gripe: With a talented group of Indian musicians onstage, as well as a fine-sounding string section, I was surprised and disappointed that the musicians did not choose to include George's Indian masterpiece, "Within You Without You." To this day, 38 years later, WYWY remains my favorite Harrissong, and I'm dumbfounded why they all didn't jump on the chance to perform that song in concert. Maybe there wasn't enough rehearsal time available to perfect a live performance...I don't know. IMHO, it would have taken the overall beauty of the tribute and elevated it by light years. Ah well...at least we were treated to "The Inner Light."
At any rate: Buy it, watch it, enjoy it, revere it, treasure it. And thank you, Olivia, Dhani, Eric, and Ray Cooper for making it all possible.
...and with Joe Brown (and his "uke") onstage with the entire entourage, singing a sweetly-rendered version of "I'll See You In My Dreams"--and with another tear falling--we say goodnight to George.