‘Country Christmas’ Benefit at Universal

Country singer Gary Morris summarized the spirit of Saturday’s “Country Christmas” benefit concert at the Universal Amphitheatre with a touching song about the homeless, “Somebody Lives There.”

The understated ballad proved that message songs don’t have to be preachy, just as the concert itself showed that benefits don’t have to be strident or somber. The event was a fund-raiser for the Los Angeles food-sharing program LIFE--short for Love Is Feeding Everyone (or, as headliner Dolly Parton quipped, Lord, I’m Fat Enough).

The five-hour concert, amiably hosted by actor Dennis Weaver, was itself on the fat side. And it included only one other song about about social concerns. John Denver, who was a member of President Carter’s Commission on World and Domestic Hunger from 1978-80, screened the highly effective video for his mid-’80s song “What Are We Making Weapons For?”

The message of universality was reinforced later in the show by the International Children’s Choir. Also on the bill: rockabilly great Carl Perkins (wearing blue suede shoes!), big-throated ballad singer Juice Newton and country/pop quartet Restless Heart.