Warner: Concert for George, Warner Music Group (2 DVD Set, 2003) — George Harrison Tribute

In VERY GOOD condition! As pictured! Buy with confidence!

Product Details

• UPC: 0603497024124
• Catalog Number: 0349-70241-2
• Product Type: 2 DVD Set
• Brand / Label: Warner Music Group / Warner Strategic Marketing
• Subject: George Harrison tribute concert
• Recorded: Royal Albert Hall, London, November 29, 2002
• Release Year: 2003
• Genre: Rock / Pop
• Style: Classic Rock, British Rock, World Music
• Video: PAL, Color, Widescreen
• Audio: Dolby Digital, DTS, 5.1 Surround & Stereo
• Total Runtime: 286 minutes (approx.)
• Subtitles: 7 languages
• Directed by: David Leland
• Musical Director: Eric Clapton
• In Aid of: The Material World Foundation

Product Features

• Format: 2 DVD slipcase set
• Disc 1: Complete concert, 2 hr 26 min
• Disc 2: Theatrical version with additional material, 2 hr 20 min (includes Monty Python backstage, rehearsal footage, musician interviews, photo gallery)
• Video: PAL, Color, Widescreen
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, Stereo
• Subtitles: 7 languages
• Condition: Very Good — discs and packaging in excellent used condition
• Label: Warner Music Group / AOL Time Warner

Overview

On November 29, 2002 — exactly one year after George Harrison's death — a remarkable gathering of musicians took the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London to play his songs. Concert for George is the document of that evening, and it stands as one of the most moving tribute concerts ever committed to film.

The musical direction was handled by Eric Clapton, who assembled a band and a guest list that reads like a summit of British and American rock: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Jools Holland, Joe Brown, Dhani Harrison — George's son, who is a startling physical and musical presence throughout — alongside Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar for the Indian music sequences. Monty Python performed "Sit On My Face" and "The Lumberjack Song" in full costume, which is very much in the spirit of what Harrison would have wanted.

The set list covers Harrison's career from its Beatles origins ("Taxman," "Here Comes the Sun," "Something," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "For You Blue," "If I Needed Someone") through his solo peak ("My Sweet Lord," "All Things Must Pass," "Give Me Love," "Handle With Care," "Isn't It a Pity") to his later work. The Indian classical sequences open the concert in a register entirely different from the rock that follows — a reminder of how wide Harrison's musical world actually was.

Disc 1 is the complete concert in running order, 2 hours 26 minutes. Disc 2 is the theatrical cut with additional material: Monty Python backstage footage, George's band rehearsals, Ravi's orchestra rehearsals, musician interviews, and a photo gallery. The total runtime across both discs is 286 minutes.

Interesting Facts

• George Harrison died on November 29, 2001, at a friend's home in Los Angeles; the concert was staged on the first anniversary of his death, a date chosen deliberately by Olivia Harrison.
• "Something," performed here, was the first Harrison composition ever released as an A-side Beatles single (1969) and was described by Frank Sinatra as the greatest love song of the past 50 years.
• Dhani Harrison, George's son, was 24 at the time of the concert and bore such a strong physical resemblance to his father that audience members and musicians reportedly found the likeness overwhelming.
• Jeff Lynne, who produced the concert audio, had been one of Harrison's closest friends and collaborators since the Traveling Wilburys in 1988; his production style is all over Harrison's final solo album Brainwashed (2002), released posthumously just weeks before this concert.
• Billy Preston, who appears here, was known as "the Fifth Beatle" — he played keyboards on the Let It Be sessions in 1969 and was the only non-Beatle to receive a performance credit on a Beatles record.
• The concert raised funds for The Material World Foundation, the charitable organization Harrison established in 1973 to support humanitarian causes, which Olivia Harrison has continued to run since his death.

Track Listing

Disc 1 — The Complete Concert (2 hr 26 min)

Your Eyes / The Inner Light / Arpan / Sit On My Face / The Lumberjack Song / I Want to Tell You / If I Needed Someone / Old Brown Shoe / Give Me Love / Beware of Darkness / Here Comes the Sun / That's the Way It Goes / Horse to the Water / Taxman / I Need You / Handle With Care / Isn't It a Pity / Photograph / Honey Don't / For You Blue / Something / All Things Must Pass / While My Guitar Gently Weeps / My Sweet Lord / Wah Wah / I'll See You in My Dreams

Disc 2 — Theatrical Version with Additional Material (2 hr 20 min)

Concert film (theatrical cut) + Monty Python backstage / George's band rehearsals / Ravi's orchestra rehearsals / Interviews with musicians / Photo gallery

Individual track timings not printed on packaging.

Publishers

Warner Music Group presents a @Radical.Media production "Concert for George." © & ℗ 2003 Oops Publishing Limited. Warner Strategic Marketing, Warner Music Group, an AOL Time Warner Company. In aid of The Material World Foundation.

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