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Concert for George
Genre | Music Videos & Concerts |
Format | Widescreen, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Anamorphic, NTSC |
Contributor | George Harrison, Tom Petty, Olivia Harrison, Terry Jones, Paul McCartney, Katie Kissoon, Klaus Voormann, Billy Preston, Sam Brown (II), Terry Gilliam, Tom Hanks, Jim Capaldi, Andy Fairweather-Low, Albert Lee (II), Eric Idle, Anoushka Shankar, Marc Mann (III), Ray Cooper (II), Dhani Harrison, Carol Cleveland See more |
Language | English |
Runtime | 4 hours and 46 minutes |
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Product Description
Product Description
Filmed on November 29, 2002 before a sold-out audience at Royal Albert Hall in London, "The Concert For George" is a beautifully filmed, joyous celebration of some of the most significant music of the 20th Century. Friends including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Ravi & Anoushka Shankar, the cast of Monty Python and other artists who worked with George Harrison throughout his lifetime, present his music in a special concert to commemorate the first anniversary of his passing. This 2 DVD set includes the full 2 hour & 40 minute concert and the 1 hour 40 minute documentary filmed in high definition by David Leland ("Band Of Brothers") featuring concert footage and interviews with the artists about George's life and music. Documentary produced by Ray Cooper, Olivia Harrison and Jon Kamen.
Amazon.com
Exceptionally moving but not the least bit sentimental, Concert for George is a splendid tribute to the late George Harrison, whose contributions to the Beatles were so often hidden in the long shadows of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A year to the day after Harrison's November 29, 2001 death, Eric Clapton assembled some musicians--people who had played with Harrison and known him intimately, including McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty--to perform his music at London's Royal Albert Hall. They take on not just the predictable ("My Sweet Lord" and "Something," beautifully sung by Billy Preston and Sir Paul, respectively), but also lesser-known fare like "Old Brown Shoe" and "Beware of Darkness," all to superbly empathetic effect. But the tune most likely to make you misty-eyed is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which brings together three of the five musicians who played on the original recording: Ringo on drums, Clapton replicating his own classic solo, and McCartney playing piano and harmonizing with Clapton's lead vocal. Concert for George enjoyed a brief theatrical release, but even those who caught it on the big screen will delight in this two-disc DVD edition. Disc 1 features the complete concert (sans interview and rehearsal footage, but with a few additional songs and in the original running order), while disc 2 contains the theatrical version and some additional backstage and photo material. All in all, a beautiful piece of work. Wish you were here, George--but man, what a way to be missed. --Sam Graham
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.85:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches; 8.64 ounces
- Media Format : Widescreen, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Anamorphic, NTSC
- Run time : 4 hours and 46 minutes
- Release date : November 18, 2003
- Actors : Andy Fairweather-Low, Ray Cooper (II), Sam Brown (II), Albert Lee (II), Olivia Harrison
- Subtitles: : English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Unqualified, English (DTS 5.1)
- Studio : Rhino
- ASIN : B0000CEB4V
- Writers : George Harrison
- Number of discs : 2
- Best Sellers Rank: #26,038 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #216 in Special Interest
- #460 in Music Videos & Concerts (Movies & TV)
- #466 in Documentary (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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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.
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.
Top reviews from other countries
This whole package has the stamp of quality about it. An event meticulously planned (3 weeks of rehearsals), orchestrated and pulled off with the single-minded determination of love, that turned into a night the spectators in the Royal Albert Hall will never forget. Fortunately for the rest of us, it was captured on film and packaged as a two-disc DVD.
Disc One consists of three parts: the first is a 35-minute performance of Indian music courtesy of Harrison's great friend and mentor Ravi Shankar. Ravi's daughter Anoushka, a sitar virtuoso, opens this mesmerizing portion, accompanied at first by a single tabla (an Indian percussion instrument). For her second piece (a song written by George Harrison), Jeff Lynne sings and plays guitar and more instruments join in, both Indian and non, and Dhani on piano. Anoushka then directs the other Indian musicians in a number called "Arpan" (which means "offering") composed for the occasion by Ravi Shankar to honour George and his life. Ravi's wife (a former singer) contributes a vocal solo, and Eric Clapton plays acoustic guitar at the end. It was a beautiful and moving tribute by people who clearly felt deep emotions but chose to express them in music. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the Indian segment immensely and often play it as background music when I don't have time to watch the video. I think it proves the truism that when something is done extremely well, anyone can appreciate it.
The second part is basically a comic tribute from the Monty Python troupe and friends dressed as Canadian Mounties. To appreciate the significance of this segment, it helps to know that Harrison was a huge Python fan and financed the production of "Life of Brian" when the original producer dropped out at the last moment. This light-hearted and irreverent segment reminded us of George's exuberant sense of humour and served to lift the mood, when it would have been all too easy to sink into maudlin sentimentality.
The third part, billed as "George's Band" gets the most play in my house. Here the chosen musicians take turns in performing a selection from the surprisingly vast catalogue of music written by the ex-Beatle, always staying true to his original arrangement. As Eric Clapton explains, on the night every single one of them gave their best ever performance and the emotion is palpable.
The full list of musicians and the songs performed is readily available, so I won't repeat that information. It's also pointless to mention my personal favourites, just about every song would qualify, but for sheer musicianship, I have to single out Gary Brooker's version of "Old Brown Shoe", a particularly difficult song which Gary sang and played with great gusto to Clapton's evident satisfaction. "Beware of Darkness" really got to me, "Isn't It A Pity", "Something" and the finale "I'll See You in My Dreams" performed by Joe Brown with a tiny ukulele come to mind, and if you have a dry eye as the rose petals fall, well ... what can one say? But the beauty of this concert is that it was fantastic from start to finish. The bit when Ringo and then Paul come on stage to do their songs is particularly moving, but for the rest it is a joyful, uplifting performance.
Disc Two contains the theatre release of the concert, which is not as good as the full concert. Some of the songs, out of order and interrupted by random bits of interviews. The Extras section, on the other hand, is excellent: three features, mirroring the three parts of the concert, and a fourth one devoted to Interviews. Finally there is a Photo Gallery, which is a slide show of stills of the concert.
The audio options are: DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Digital stereo and, in my opinion, the sound mix is superb, courtesy of the legendary Jeff Lynne who surpasses himself here as audio producer. The entire concert is subtitled in seven languages. Visually, it is a feast for the eye, filmed with great skill by fourteen camera-people and providing good coverage of all the musicians on stage. During some of the later numbers like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", there are some terrific sideways shots showing 3 or even 4 drummers playing in perfect synchrony. Pure class.
If there is a better live concert DVD, I have yet to see it, although Roxy Music - Live at the Apollo [DVD] [2001 ] and In Concert With The Danish National Concert Orchestra & Choir [DVD] [2009] [NTSC ] are also superb, but with a different vibe. This one is very special.