I heard Charlie Daniels interviewed about this by Bill O'Reilly (sp?) today, as well as a statement or two from PBS spokespeople.  It seems PBS initially invited Daniels on, with the idea that he'd do some of his big hits like "Devil Went Down To Georgia" and "Orange Blossom Special."  [No, "A Capitol Fourth" is not all opera and show tunes.  They have marches, quite a bit of pop, some R & B, some Dixieland, etc., too---plus, contrary to what O'Reilly implied today--quite a lot of traditional and more contemporary "patriotic" music.]

When Daniels told them of his plans to sing his new song [which hasn't been released yet] on the show, they looked over the lyrics or heard the song and said it didn't fit the upbeat spirit of the song.  As far as I know, they didn't reject it because it dealt with 9-11 per se.  Daniels said he was told its tone was "too angry."

Again, contrary to the headlines I've been hearing on the radio, Daniels did not "get the boot" from PBS.  He told PBS that if he couldn't do his new song, he wouldn't perform for them.

One way of looking at it is that Daniels was offered this performance venue because of the kind of music he's famous for--his big hits--, and that he intended to use it as a platform for launching his new release and for expressing his political views at the same time.

[Don't well-known artists face this all the time, anyway?  Try to introduce your audience to your new stuff and all they want to hear is the old stuff that made you famous in the first place.]

Jim D., you made a good point. Couldn't it be possible that if many songwriters 'auditioned' their new patriotic or 9-11 related songs specifically for the Capitol Fourth celebration, PBS might have found one or more that they thought DID fit the mood of their celebration.  [They usually do include Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA" and maybe Garth Brooks's "We Shall Be Free."]

The question really should be:  Should Charlie Daniels's NEW 9-11 SONG get national exposure on PBS's July 4th celebration simply because Charlie had been invited to play his well-known songs?

Genie