The 1960s found Elvis Presley cranking out two or three movies and accompanying soundtrack albums each year. By 1967, it had been almost five years since Elvis had issued a true studio album.<\/p>\n
How Great Thou Art<\/i> was a breath of fresh air for Elvis and his fans. Elvis returned to what may have been his strongest musical love and recorded an album of gospel and spiritual songs, which won the Grammy for the Best Sacred Performance of 1967. Interestingly, while Elvis received many Grammy nominations, the only three he won were all for sacred or gospel music. <\/p>\n
I received this album as a present when it was released in 1967. Even in my Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan teenage musical haze, I realized that this was an excellent release, although Elvis never put out a bad gospel album. The songs meant something to him, and so he was always consistently invested in the recording process. It was also produced by Felton Jarvis, who from that time onward produced exclusively for Elvis.<\/p>\n
How Great Thou Art <\/i>reached only number 18 on the album charts. However, it would continue to sell and ultimately became one of his five biggest-selling releases. <\/i><\/p>\n
The traditional hymn and album title song \u201cHow Great Thou Art\u201d is a perfect vehicle for Elvis\u2019 voice. A choir introduction leads to just his vocals accompanied by a piano for the majority of the song. If anyone wants to hear the \u201860s Elvis at his vocal best, this song is the perfect place to start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn The Garden\u201d continues the focus upon Elvis\u2019 vocals, as there is just a subtle backing, which includes piano, bass and strings. \u201cStand By Me\u201d is a true classic and he comes across as sincere in this smooth performance. \u201cSomebody Bigger Than You and I\u201d is a full-blown production featuring an organ out front, a full choir, plus some strings with Elvis soaring above the mix. The song continues to build throughout as he brings it to an emotional conclusion.<\/p>\n
Side two of the original LP release is more up-tempo than side one, containing three faster numbers. \u201cSo High,\u201d \u201cWhere Could I Go But To The Lord\u201d and \u201cIf The Lord Wasn\u2019t Walking By My Side\u201d are all given a bouncy treatment and provide a good counterpoint to the combined seriousness and inspiration of the first side. <\/p>\n
The album concludes with the 1965 hit single \u201cCrying In The Chapel.\u201d While it may not be a true gospel song, it certainly fits the album. It was recorded in 1960 but not included on the His Hand In Mine<\/i>. Released as a standalone single five years, later it soared to number three on the charts. Elvis strips this old standard down to its basics and give it a unique interpretation. <\/p>\n
How Great Thou Art <\/i>is one of the superior releases in the Elvis Presley catalogue. The production is crisp and the vocals, even on my old vinyl LP, are crystal clear. The Jordanaires and Imperials provide stellar backing vocals. This disc remains a must for any fan of gospel, and especially of Elvis Presley. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":30431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6914],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-42094","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-elvis-presley","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42094"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}