How Great Thou Art

Presley, Elvis

album cover

The Finest from the Choirboy King

Some speculate that Elvis Presley's sedate performance of "Peace in the Valley" on the Ed Sullivan Show in January 1957 was a type of media atonement, to make up for his incendiary hip-swiveling appearances the year before. That may be true—who knows what calculations were going on in those frenzied days when the Memphis rocker was just becoming a star—but it shortchanges the devout Presley's sense of himself as an artist. The future icon had an abiding love of gospel and a keen sense of how to make it his own. The sacred works stand among the most stirring, plainly beautiful material in his massive catalog.

Presley (1935–1977) once boasted, "I know practically every religious song that's ever been written," and, beginning with an EP connected to the Sullivan appearance, began documenting a songbook of hymns, spirituals, and up-tempo jubilees featuring traditional gospel quartet singing. How Great Thou Art is his second full gospel collection, and it covers quite a range: Supported by pianist Floyd Cramer and the vocal groups the Imperials and the Jordanaires, Presley does a few brisk revival-meeting tunes ("So High," "Run On"), several pieces set in a medium-tempo rocking-chair pulse ("Farther Along," "Where Could I Go but to the Lord," both enriched by Cramer's plinking asides), and the obligatory trembling rubato hymns (the title track, one of Presley's all-time best).

Presley was completely at home singing religious songs. The warm, full voice that launched rock and roll grows bigger and fuller as it glides effortlessly through these expressions of faith. There's no hype, no sales pitch. Just a servant sharing the glory of what God gave him.

Genre: Gospel, Pop
Released: 1967, RCA
Key Tracks: "How Great Thou Art," "Run On," "Where Could I Go but to the Lord."
F.Y.I.: Presley's four Grammy awards were all connected to his religious records.
Catalog Choice: He Walks with Me
Next Stop: Sam Cooke: Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers
After That: Louis Armstrong: Louis Sings the Good Book
Book Pages: 609–610