The song also has spoken-word sections by ministers including Craig Strickland, pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church (EPC).

Dozens of local Memphis musicians including “American Idol” performer Alexis Grace and members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra came together recently to record “A Message from Memphis,” a song to raise funds for Haiti earthquake relief.

It’s a bit like the song “We are the World,” which Michael Jackson and other stars recorded in 1985 to help African famine victims, said Larry Dodson, the 59-year-old lead singer of R&B group The Bar-Kays.

There’s one key difference.

“Everything about this is Memphis,” said Dodson, who co-wrote the song with Archie Love and organized the project with his son, Larry Dodson Jr.

It was impossible to get all the musicians together at the same time, so over a period of six weeks, they used multiple studios to record tracks by artists from a wide range of genres, said the younger Dodson.

He said he wasn’t sure exactly how many musicians participated.

“We’ve got two choirs and a section of kids from the Stax Academy,” he said. “That from itself is about 70 people.”

The credits list several dozen performers, including blues singer Ruby Wilson and rapper Gyft.

Dodson Jr. said his father got the idea after coming home from church one day and seeing news coverage of a similar fundraising effort led by gospel singer Kirk Franklin.