Rock Musicians, Public TV Join in Quake Relief

An alliance of rock musicians and public television will unite Nov. 26 for a telethon benefitting Northern California earthquake relief agencies.

San Francisco public television station KQED and concert promoter Bill Graham announced today that they will produce “Earthquake Relief,” a 12-hour concert from three Northern California sites.

Musicians scheduled to perform include Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, John Fogerty, Steve Miller, Eddie Money, Bonnie Raitt and Tower of Power.

“The difficulty we had was not in getting the artists’ approval but in working out for them to be here on the same day,” Graham said. “We have another show we could have put together, and the Grateful Dead wanted to be in it but couldn’t, so they’re going to be in another show in Oakland on Dec. 6.”

The concerts will be held at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center and Watsonville High School.

KQED needed a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission to air the telethon, because FCC requirements bar a public stations from raising money for other organizations. KQED President Tony Tiano said such a waiver has been granted only once before.

The broadcast will be available to be aired by all California radio and television stations, with Channel 28 and Channel 24 in San Bernardino airing four hours of the concert from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Tiano would not give any estimates about the fund-raising goals but did say Graham had pledged a $1-million challenge grant.

“Earthquake Relief” is television’s third fund-raising effort on behalf of victims of the Northern California earthquake. Showtime and four Northern California radio stations raised more than $400,000 last weekend, and the Discovery Channel has a three-hour telethon scheduled for Dec. 15.