"[16] At the same press conference, in reply to questions about a rumoured Beatles reunion,[17] he said that his former band "[weren'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.

[18] 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".

[21] All of Shankar's musicians had recently participated in his Music Festival from India tour of Europe,[22] which Harrison presented under the auspices of his Material World Charitable Foundation.

[27] Some reviewers were scathing in their assessment:[5][28] Harrison was criticised for failing to respect the public's nostalgia for the Beatles, his choosing to afford considerable stage-time to Shankar's ensemble, his spiritual pronouncements and on-stage demeanour, and particularly the rough quality of his singing voice,[29][30] caused by overexertion in the months leading up to the opening concert.

[31] Other reviews were highly favourable, admiring Harrison's humility in sharing the spotlight with his fellow musicians and the lack of overly theatrical presentation,[32] and praising the breadth and adventurousness of the musical programme.

"[41] Writing for Record Collector in 2001, Peter Doggett said that the available bootlegs reveal the full extent of Harrison's damaged vocal cords, but equally, "tapes of the better nights of the tour prove that the enterprise deserved a better fate.

[21] More recently, the 1974 Harrison–Shankar tour has been recognised by some commentators as a forerunner to the 1980s world music genre,[43][46][47] popularised by Western artists such as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel[48] and David Byrne.

"[50] Nick Hasted of Uncut views the reworking of the Beatles' "Something" as "unforgivable" but deems the programme "in retrospect, an admirable show" and a precursor to Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.