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Elvis Presley photo from Wikipedia
The Gospel According to Elvis Presley
Part 2 in a series for Elvis Presley Week
Continued from Gospel Music 101: Who was Elvis Presley?
Born and raised in the Bible belt and baptized at First Assembly of God Church in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up singing in church, reading the Bible and developing his life-long interest in spiritual matters. According to elvisgospel.com, Elvis held Bible studies at his home in Bel Air, California, where he lived while making films during the mid 1960s, and Wikipedia indicates "It is well known that Elvis Presley was a devout Christian."
As reported in Who Was Elvis Presley? Elvis had a fascination with gospel music from his childhood and he named gospel pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe as an early influence. Rolling Stone once reported, "Gospel pervaded Elvis' character and was a defining and enduring influence all of his days." According to Christian Century, Elvis wrote more than 50 gospel songs and recorded many classic hymns in his career.
Elvis recorded and performed with gospel groups throughout his long career. Some of the gospel groups Elvis worked with would include: the Blackwoods, the Songfellows, the Imperials, The Jordanaires, the Sweet Inspirations, and J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet.
In 1957 Elvis released his first gospel EP as well as a Christmas album. The best-known gospel song Elvis recorded and performed is probably the hymn "How Great Thou Art" released on a 1967 album and again as a single. Elvis would sometimes personalize the song by singing "my God how great I think You are." His live version of "How Great Thou Art" won Elvis Presley a Grammy award in 1974.
In total, Presley won three Grammy awards for his gospel recordings: How Great Thou Art the album, "How Great Thou Art" the song, and the album He Touched Me.
Although Elvis Presley turned to spiritualism in his later years, he never completely turned from his Christian roots. According to his friend and background singer Joe Moscheo, not only was being a gospel performer the first dream of his life, it was one one Elvis never fully left. His last gospel recording was He Touched Me in 1972. Five years later, on August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley was dead.
Elvis Presley's gospel albums and EPs
A list of gospel albums and EPs recorded by Elvis Presley would include:
1957 Elvis' Christmas Album - this album was reissued and repackaged several times over the years
1957 Peace in the Valley - released as an extended play
1957 Elvis Sings Christmas Songs - released as an extended play
1958 Christmas with Elvis - released as an extended play
1960 His Hand in Mine
1967 How Great Thou Art - How Great Thou Art was Presley's second full-length gospel album and won a Grammy Award in 1967 for Best Sacred Performance
1971 Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas
1972 He Touched Me
Another popular gospel music video on YouTube is Elvis Presley singing "O Happy Day."
Read more of this series at:
Part 1: Gospel Music 101: Who was Elvis Presley? Gospel singer, music icon and more
Part 3: Top ten similarities between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson
Part 4: Elvis Presley: the 'King of Rock 'n Roll' and a real doll (with slideshow of Elvis dolls)
Elvis Presley - 75th birthday memories of the King of Rock 'n Roll
Comments
Interesting.
Gospel music was always Elvis' favourite musical genre. He sang it from the heart and it shows in the recordings. One of the things which made Elvis unique was his ability to sing in so many musical genres unlike most artists who stick to one or two in order to sell records more easily. Elvis did not bother about such issues - he recorded what he liked. Elvis was truly 'sui generis'.
Loved the article. Just wanted to note that I would not classify "Promised Land," recorded in 1973, as a gospel album. The song "Promised Land" was a cover of the 1964 Chuck Berry rock 'n' roller. The other songs on the album are mostly country. Like several of his other 1970s albums, it still includes one inspirational song, though: "Help Me."
Another minor correction for the sake of accuracy, his third Grammy was for the live version of "How Great Thou Art" on the 1974 album "Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis," which was not a single.
These articles are really bringing back memories, since I grew up listening to Elvis.
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