The 1974 tour was the first in North America by a former member of the Beatles since the band 's 1966 visit . Raising expectations further among fans and the media , it marked the first live performances by Harrison since his successful staging of the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh shows , which had also featured Shankar and Preston . Harrison had no wish to revisit his Beatles past , however , and he stated in the pre-tour press conference in Los Angeles : " it 's definitely not going to be a Bangladesh Mark II , if that 's what people are thinking . " At the same press conference , in reply to questions about a rumoured Beatles reunion , he said that his former band " were n't that good " , relative to musicians he had worked with since , and he dismissed the idea of ever being in a group with Paul McCartney again . According to author Peter Doggett , these remarks created " the same sense of shock " as John Lennon 's 1970 lyric " I do n't believe in Beatles " ( from the song " God " ) . Harrison biographer Simon Leng writes that the ensuing tour represented " a whirlwind of pent-up Beatlemania " in North America , " where the group had a status way beyond that of mere icons . " In his set list for the tour , Harrison included just four Beatles songs : his own compositions " Something " , " While My Guitar Gently Weeps " and " For You Blue " , and the Lennon – McCartney song " In My Life " . Aside from Scott and Preston , the musicians in Harrison 's band included the soul/R & B rhythm section of Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark , Scott 's L.A. Express bandmate Robben Ford ( on guitar ) , jazz percussionist Emil Richards , and horn players Jim Horn and Chuck Findley . Among Shankar 's orchestra of top Indian classical musicians were Alla Rakha , Shivkumar Sharma , Lakshmi Shankar , Hariprasad Chaurasia , L. Subramaniam and Sultan Khan . During the performances , the two groups performed both separately and as one , mirroring the East – West fusion of Shankar 's album '' Shankar Family & Friends ''
1966 visit
The Beatles' 1966 US tour
George Harrison and Ravi Shankar's 1974 North American tour