Artist: Elvis Presley
Album: Where No One Stands Alone
Label: RCA/Legacy Recordings
Release Date: 8.10.2018
The King is gone but not forgotten. In fact, he’s back singing a duet with Lisa Marie. No, this is not a headline from the National Enquirer but rather real, good news. RCA/Legacy Recordings has released Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone, which features 14 original performances of the King’s favorite Gospel Songs produced by Joel Weinshanker, Lisa Marie Presley, and Andy Childs.
To be clear, Lisa Marie sings a duet with her father on the title track “Where No One Stands Alone” through the magic of overdubbing an old recording. Still, the feeling is fresh. About the experience she states, “It was very powerful and moving experience to sing with my father. They lyrics speak to me and touch my soul. I’m certain the lyrics spoke to my father in much the same way.”
Apparently, Elvis was most comfortable singing Gospel and used to sing these tunes at home (Graceland) and to warm up before concerts. Elvis once said, “Since I was two years old, all I knew was gospel music. It became such a part of my life, it was as natural as dancing. A way to escape my problems, and my way of release.”
Luckily Elvis fans can explore this lesser known side of his repertoire in this package. The CD begins with the aforementioned duet with Lisa Marie and also includes the 1965 Top 5 smash “Crying In The Chapel”, “How Great Thou Art”, praise filled gospel rockers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s “Save”, “Amazing Grace”, and other classics. Filling out the sound are some of the original backing singers with whom Elvis used to work including Darlene Love (who first sang with Elvis on his 1968 NBC Television special); Terry Blackwood, Armond Morales and Jim Murray (members of The Imperials, who sang on Elvis’s How Great Thou Art – with the title song winning the 1967 Grammy for Best Sacred Performance); and Donnie Summer, Bill Baize, Ed Hill and Larry Strickland (members of Presley’s longtime backup group, The Stamps).
“This was his favorite genre—no question about it,” says Lisa Marie in her album notes. “He seemed to be at his most passionate, and at peace while singing gospel. He would truly come alive – whether he was singing just for himself and me at home, or on stage in front of thousands of fans.”
What you won’t hear here are the typical Elvis hits, which makes this collection best suited for diehard fans who can appreciate every phase, secular or religious, of the King’s career.
Elvis once said in an interview featured in the documentary Elvis On Tour, recorded during one of his residencies at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, “A lotta times we’ll go upstairs and sing until daylight – gospel songs. We grew up with it…It more or less puts your mind at ease. It does mine.”
Put your mind at ease by listening to this collection of Elvis spirituals. All hail the King of Kings.
—Mike Cobb
Thank you. Elvis in the music charts again!
Elvis Presley’s earlier Gospel songs on Elvis’s Christmas Album of 1957 came as a huge and very welcome surprise. ‘Peace in the Valley’ and ‘Precious Lord’. are not to be missed.