Benefit CD and DVD - Telethon CD, DVD in the Works - Aside from the current "Should a Canadian be singing 'God Bless America'?" debate raging on Internet message boards, the next most-asked question seems to be when fans can get their hands on the music from Friday night's all-star telethon.

Soon, as it turns out. Organizers are working to put together both a CD and DVD version of the two-hour fund-raiser, America: A Tribute to Heroes.

The benefit, which raised more than $150 million for the United Way's September 11 Fund, featured a slew of memorable performances, from Bruce Springsteen's "My City of Ruins" to Neil Young's "Imagine" to, yes, Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." While several media outlets reported that the CD would be ready in a matter of weeks, telethon spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti said Wednesday there's still plenty of legwork to be done-- such as securing rights to all of the performances.

"To do anything else, we have to go back to the artists," Brogliatti says. "Everyone's working very feverishly."

The New York Daily News reported this week that the artists have agreed to waive their royalty fees for the album, which would be distributed by Interscope Records with proceeds going to the September 11 Fund.

Brogliatti couldn't confirm any specifics Wednesday. But unlike the logistical nightmares usually associated with Hollywood egos, Brogliatti says everyone has been helpful and willing to pitch in on the project.

"I don't think there's been anything with this that hasn't been easy [to accomplish]," she says. "But there's just a lot of artists. It's time consuming."

TP Helps MJ - Billboard Magazine - Sept. 29 by Melinda Newman - Michael Jackson aims to raise $50 million from sales of a new charity single for relief funds in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. The Jackson-penned song "What More Can I Give" has no release date or label yet, but Jackson has enlisted the help of a number of artists, including Tom Petty, Reba McEntire, Destiny's Child, Mya, Seal, Billy Gilman, Usher, Aaron Carter, and Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter. The single may also be recorded in Spanish. The song will not be included on Jackson's new Epic album, Invincible, due Oct. 30 in North America.

America: A Tribute To Heroes - According to the official site, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will play "I Won't Back Down"!! For security reasons, the venue is not being advertised. (9/19/01, 3 p.m. ET) -- Recording artists, television personalities, and movie actors including Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Tom Cruise will unite to participate in an industry-wide network telethon Friday night (September 21) to raise money for relief efforts following last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. In an unprecedented move, the four major broadcast television networks--CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox--will simultaneously air America: A Tribute To Heroes commercial free from 9-11 p.m. ET (the show will be tape delayed in Mountain and Pacific time zones). The networks will pay for the broadcast, and all of the talent will donate their time for the cause. Other cable networks will carry the special as well, including VH1, MTV, Lifetime, and E!.

Viewers will be told how they can donate during the broadcast. It has not yet been determined whether or not the networks will set up their own relief organization for victims of the WTC and Pentagon (news - web sites) attacks or direct viewers to existing relief groups. A joint press release from the networks reads: "America: A Tribute To Heroes will seek to unite a shaken world with words and music while paying tribute to the indomitable spirit, unfaltering fortitude, and courage that truly makes America 'the land of the free and the home of the brave.'"

The list of artists slated to participate also includes Bon Jovi, Neil Young, Amy Brenneman, Jim Carrey, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, Dennis Franz, Kelsey Grammer, Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Ray Romano, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Conan O'Brien (news - Y! TV), Will Smith, Sela Ward, and Robin Williams, and still more are likely be added.

-- Sue Falco, New York

Happy Birthday Ron Blair! - How rude of me! I'm sorry Ron. This should have been up yesterday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to former Heartbreaker and current Dirty Knob Ron Blair! Ron was born September 16, 1948. 18 years and ONE DAY before me! haha Hope you had a great day!

More On The Hank Williams Sr. Tribute - From Billboard (Sept. 8th) - There's a certain reverence that accompanies the task of rerecording a Hank Williams song. So when Lost Highway Records began compiling a full album's worth of material as a tribute to Williams, that reverence turned to veneration among those involved.

That's not to say that the artists who cut Williams' songs for Timeless felt the need to adhere to strictly faithful versions. Each artist put a unique stamp on the song he or she chose, from Bob Dylan's almost peppy "I Can't Get You Off of My Mind" to Beck's "Your Cheatin' Heart," on which he sounds like a surprisingly effective cross between a lounge act and the Beach Boys.

The only commonalities among the artists on the project are that they are singer/songwriters and that none would be considered mainstream country artists by today's standards. And while a previously expressed appreciation for Williams was not a prerequisite for participation in the project, it turned out that all of the artists who agreed to it were fans of his music.

In addition to Dylan and Beck, the project features Sheryl Crow (who yodels like a pro on "Long Gone Lonesome Blues"), Keb' Mo' ("I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"), Mark Knopfler with Emmylou Harris ("Lost on the River"), Tom Petty ("You're Gonna Change [Or I'm Gonna Leave]"), Keith Richards ("You Win Again"), Harris with Knopfler ("Alone and Forsaken"), Williams' grandson Hank Williams III ("I'm A Long Gone Daddy," which he previously recorded as a duet with his father, Hank Williams Jr., on a 1996 Curb Records album), Ryan Adams ("Lovesick Blues"), Lucinda Williams (who has never sounded better than she does on "Cold, Cold Heart"), and Johnny Cash (on the half-spoken, half-sung "I Dreamed About Mama Last Night").

The album, produced by Bonnie Garner, Mary Martin, and Mercury and Lost Highway Records chairman Luke Lewis, is due Sept. 25.

Martin worked on the project as an independent producer but was hired as VP of A&R at Mercury after it was completed. The idea for the album, she says, was initiated by Lewis, who previously was involved with a Grammy-winning boxed set of Williams' music.

Martin says her job was to "honor Hank's legacy by requesting some of today's incomparable artists to each contribute a side." Each participant, she says, "was chosen for their unique artistry."

The artists were allowed to pick the song they wanted to cut and were then sent off to arrange and record the songs on their own. Each chose a different path. Keb' Mo' put a recording session together. Petty retreated to his basement studio and played all the instruments on his track with the exception of steel guitar (added later by veteran Nashville session player J.D. Manus).

Lewis says, "We really wanted [the artists] to interpret it on their own and record it with their own producer and players. We thought it would all turn out better that way." The end result, he says, has "exceeded my expectations. These are brilliant performances on here. My sense is these artists have so much reverence for Hank's work, they weren't going to let him down."

In The Studio! - Story By Greg Heller - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have begun work on their next album. Tracking at Los Angeles' Cello Studios, the band is again working with Rick Rubin, who produced 1999's Echo, 1996's She's the One and Petty's last solo album, 1994's Wildflowers." Many tracks on Echo, which was inspired by the band's twentieth anniversary return to the road, were a return to the Heartbreakers' Seventies raucous rock sound. However, guitarist Mike Campbell says the band has no intention of revisiting its past for nostalgia's sake alone.

"I don't care if it rocks or if it's slow or melancholy as long as it's a quality song," he says. "We've got a handful of really good songs and it's much more focused I think than [Echo] started out.

"We make an effort to not play the same riffs or use the same sounds from song to song," Campbell adds. "I don't know how far out there we'll get, but the effort is to go in and do something we've never done before. And if we can't do that, let's do something we did before that's really good." With only four songs finished thus far, Campbell says he doubts the album will see a release this year. When asked if bassist Howie Epstein, who was busted in June for possession of heroin and a stolen car, is in on the sessions, Campbell is guarded. "Howie is getting healthy at the moment," he says. "That's about all I'm gonna say."

Those who enjoyed his lead vocals debut on Echo's "I Don't Wanna Fight" will be happy to hear Campbell has a side-project. The guitarist has recruited original Heartbreakers bassist Ron Blair, present Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone and guitarist Jason Sinay of L.A.-based Five Easy Pieces to form the Dirty Knobs.

"It's rougher-edged [than Petty's material]," Campbell says of his Knobs. "It's slightly over-driven, less polished, lots of Sixties influence -- the Kinks, Zeppelin, the Animals. It's something I probably should have done a long time ago, but I didn't 'cause I was wrapped up in the Heartbreakers."

While Campbell says the Dirty Knobs have already committed some material to tape and have more songs at the ready, for the time being they're not shopping for a deal and remain content working things out at occasional club gigs in Los Angeles.

"I think it's a little weird for Tom to hear me sing after all these years," Campbell confesses. "He seems to be OK with it, but generally if I bring a song in that I sing on and he likes it, his take on it is, 'Yeah that's really good, but I think I can sing it better.' But he's been pretty cool about [the Dirty Knobs]. We haven't had any major conflicts.

"It's just a lot of fun to be able to go out and play songs, any songs you want," he continues. "With the Heartbreakers there are certain things we have to play, and it gets a bit hard sometimes to play the same songs for twenty years."

While the Heartbreakers' next full-length is still in its infancy, the band can next be heard on Labor of Love -- The Music of Nick Lowe, coming September 25th. The group contributes its version of Lowe's "Cracking Up" to the tribute, which also features Elvis Costello , Marshall Crenshaw and Sleepy LaBeef. The cover was first issued as a B-side to the Heartbreakers' 1985 single, "Make It Better (Forget About Me)."