achieve for the refugees from East Pakistan. The record's liner note essay accused the Pakistani Army of undertaking "a deliberate reign of terror" that represented "undoubtedly the greatest atrocity since Hitler's extermination of the Jews". The three LPs and booklet were housed inside a deep orange-coloured box. According to Jon Taplin, who served as production manager at the Madison Square concerts, Capitol executives were concerned that the cover image was too "depressing" and uncommercial. Harrison was resolute, however, and so Wilkes's design was used. Release The Concert for Bangladesh was released in the United States on 20 December 1971, and in Britain on 10 January 1972, with the same Apple Records catalogue number (STCX 3385) in both territories. The retail price for the lavishly packaged triple album was set at $12.98 in America and an extraordinarily high £5.50 in the UK, due to the purchase tax surcharge there. The prices drew some criticism, from Harrison for one, even if it was accepted that the proceeds were going to those in desperate need – or, as Beatles Forever author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1977, to "a nation still viewed as the worst pocket of misery on earth". Similarly, the relief project's funds controversy and tax problems, which came to light shortly after the release of the live album, were a source of frustration to Harrison, but commentators have noted that these problems took nothing away from the "resounding success" of Harrison and Shankar's Bangladesh relief project. Despite the cost, the album was an immediate commercial success. In America, it spent six weeks at number 2 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. On the other US charts, compiled by Cash Box and Record World, the live album peaked at number 2 and number 1, respectively. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 4 January 1972 for sales of over 500,000 units. In the UK, The Concert for Bangladesh became Harrison's second number 1 album, after All Things Must Pass in early 1971. In Melody Makers readers poll for 1972, it was ranked second in the "World" album category. The album was similarly successful on charts around the world. In Pakistan, the government banned the record. The government also advised its embassies and other foreign diplomatic offices that the album contained "hostile propaganda against Pakistan" and that they should pressure their local contacts to stop the music being