Performance at the Concert for Bangladesh Although he left Apple midway through 1971, as a result of business issues related to
the Beatles' break-up, Preston continued to work with Harrison throughout the 1970s. In response to a request from the former Beatle, Preston agreed to play at the
Concert for Bangladesh on 1 August 1971, to raise funds and awareness for refugees of the
Bangladesh Liberation War. Preston joined a large band that included Harrison, Clapton,
Ringo Starr,
Leon Russell and backing singers such as
Claudia Lennear and
Joe Greene, the last of whom co-wrote some of the songs on Preston's first A&M album,
I Wrote a Simple Song. Two shows were held that day, at
Madison Square Garden in New York, at each of which Preston performed a rousing version of "That's the Way God Planned It". The performance from the evening show, which appeared on the
live album of the event and in the
1972 concert film, ended with Preston leaving his seat behind the Hammond organ and dancing across the front of the stage, delighting the New York audience. In his review of the live album, for
Rolling Stone,
Jon Landau described "That's the Way God Planned It" as "sheer delight" and remarked: "The song is beautiful and while some of its musical force is lost at the end, when Preston was too busy playing with the song visually to sustain his vocal, it nonetheless remains one of the true highpoints of the album." In
Melody Maker,
Richard Williams wrote that Preston "whips the band into a feverishly exciting" performance, adding: "Towards the end, as Billy dances across the stage the band speeds up and the audience goes absolutely wild." Referring to the song's segment in the concert film, Justin Gerber of
Consequence of Sound praises Preston's showmanship and suggests that this "powerful" live version "could cause pause for a non-believer" as the singer undertakes "a full-on dance of someone who has seen the light". Similarly impressed, Nigel Williamson of
Uncut writes of Preston "giving the performance of his life" on the song. In his book
1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, Tom Moon opines that the triple live album "is worth the retail price just for that track", which he describes as "pure bolts of energy, live on stage".
Live European Tour The song continued to be a highlight of Preston's concert performances. In a report for
Blues & Soul on the London press launch for
I Wrote a Simple Song,
David Nathan wrote: "No [Preston] show would be complete without his British hit, 'That's The Way God Planned It' …" Nathan remarked of this song and Preston's cover of the Harrison-written "
My Sweet Lord": "Billy Preston is one of the very few artists who manage to draw out all the power of gospel music and pour it into their stage performance, and religious beliefs completely transcend the whole impact of his work …" Although it did not appear on Preston's
Live European Tour album, released the following year, a live version of the song was included on A&M Japan's 2002 reissue of that album. ==Personnel==