Charity Track Hits Big in Download Universe

03/02/2005 8:21 PM, Reuters
Chris Morris

Veteran TV producer-director Ken Ehrlich's got a hit -- and, despite his long history in the music business, it's no run-of-the-mill event.

"I've spent my life promoting other people's hit records," Ehrlich says, "and now I've got one."

Ehrlich was the spark behind the all-star performance of the Beatles' "Across the Universe" at the Feb. 13 Grammy Awards ceremony. (Ehrlich served as executive producer of the CBS telecast.) The Internet-only benefit track, distributed through the iTunes Music Store, became a download smash, entering Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart last week at No. 22 as the top debut on the chart.

"It's not anything I ever imagined could be part of my resume," Ehrlich says.

He first discussed the possibility of a charitable component on the Grammy broadcast with Recording Academy president Neil Portnow in November. "Without being overt about it, our industry has always been there to help," Ehrlich notes. "It's part of who we are."

When the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami devastated Southeast Asia in late December, Portnow and Ehrlich immediately decided that a segment of the show should be devoted to aid for the ravaged region. The medium would be a performance on the telecast that would be offered as a download through Apple's iTunes store.

"The academy already had a deal in place with iTunes," Ehrlich says. "They jumped on it immediately."

Ehrlich had a list of about 10 songs he considered for the benefit number, but "Across the Universe" -- which first appeared on a charity album in 1969, before its release on the Beatles' "Let It Be" -- kept springing to mind. On "Come Together," a 2001 John Lennon tribute Ehrlich produced for TNT, Lennon's son Sean and Rufus Wainwright had performed the tune. (Wainwright later memorably interpreted the song on the soundtrack for "I Am Sam.")

"The song never left me," the producer says. "It was something that was really resonant."

Ehrlich called Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and told her about his plans for the song. "She got it right away and said, 'Let me help,' and she called (publisher) Sony ATV. They cleared it in a couple of hours."

The all-star talent came on board quickly.

"The core was always Bono and Stevie (Wonder)," Ehrlich says. In rapid succession, the show secured Alicia Keys, Tim McGraw, Steven Tyler, Norah Jones , Brian Wilson , Alison Krauss, Velvet Revolver and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong.

"There was a half-hour rehearsal in the middle of our dress (rehearsal), and that was it," Ehrlich says.

As rough as the performance sometimes is, viewers found it stirring. "Across the Universe" became one of the first tracks to benefit from Billboard's new chart criteria, which now take purchased downloads into consideration as a factor for Hot 100 positioning.

"We knew (the track) would have impact, and it did," Ehrlich says. "But I don't think in any of our minds we thought we'd have a hit record."

Perhaps more importantly, it's a hit that's music to the ears of UNICEF , which will distribute the proceeds to tsunami victims. That's a gift that truly reverberates across the universe.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter