My Sweet George

In all, 40,000 fans packed Madison Square Garden. Bill Ray—Time&Life Pictures/Getty Images

Believe it or not, there was a time not too terribly long ago when disasters and crises were not immediately followed by benefit concerts. So which genius had the idea for the first one, and who or what was the inspiration? Some of us remember George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh. The concert, which was actually two concerts, took place on Aug. 1, 1971, and included the likes of Leon Russell, Bob Dylan, and Ravi Shankar (slideshow): http://life.time.com/culture/concert-for-bangladesh-photos-from-the-first-ever-benefit-rock-show/?iid=lf|latest#1
   For those who may not be familiar with some of Harrison's work, the title of this post comes from one of his more popular songs, "My Sweet Lord," which, of course, now that he's gone, is so full of meaning. I couldn't find a video of him actually singing it, but this version is pretty good, as it's a slideshow of him at various points in his life (and, as he was my "favorite Beatle" ~ well, next to John Lennon ~ [we all had a favorite, you know], it's particularly bittersweet): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kNGnIKUdMI