God Bless America (charity album) performed a new arrangement of "God Bless America" on the telethon "". The recorded version of this, done the day before the telethon in the event something happened and Dion could not appear, became the title track of this compilation. It, along with a live acoustic performance by John Mellencamp, were the only tracks on the album not to have been previously released. The selections ranged over many decades, with recordings being used going back to 1945. The span of material was quite large; the album included "This Land Is Your Land", which Woody Guthrie had written in annoyed reaction
God Bless America Before the 2001 versions, the last time "God Bless America" had been a "Billboard" chart hit was in 1959 when Connie Francis reached No. 36 with her version (the B-side of her Top 10 hit "Among My Souvenirs"). Bing Crosby recorded the song on March 22, 1939 for Decca Records. In 1997, American country music recording artist LeAnn Rimes recorded a cover of the song on her second studio album, "". After the events of September 11, Rimes rereleased the song on a compilation album by the same name. Rimes also released the song on a CD single. Two versions