Elvis Presley and Gospel Music
On 08-14-2007
at 2:31 pm
At one time Elvis was at a crossroads in his life. On one side he had his love of Gospel Music. He would sneak in backstage and listen to the such groups as the Blackwood Brothers and the Statemen quartet. He was very good friends with bass singers J.D. Sumner of the Blackwood Brothers and the “Big Chief” Wetherington of The Statesmen. Elvis really was amazed by bass singers. And these two were among the best. At one time the Blackwood Brothers were interested in having Elvis singing with them. On the other side he grew up with the influence of blues and country music. Just when the Blackwood Brothers were going to ask him to sing with them, Elvis chose the latter. But he did not forget how Gospel Music influenced them. Elvis loved late night gospel music jam sessions with such gospel groups as The Stamps Quartet, The Jordanaires(who were his first his back up vocalists), the Imperials and the aforementioned Statesman Quartet. There is a new book that has been written by Imperial quartet member Joe Moscheo called The Gospel Side of Elvis. This book describes a first hand account through the eyes of Moscheo. Joe also produced the extremely popular documentary He Touche Me: The Gospel Music of Elvis Presley. As I described another blog, Elvis could just straight up sing gospel music. What is your favorite Gospel song that Elvis has performed?
Being an Elvis FAN (IMO no one better) – How Great Thou Art has to be number one for me. Of course, had Elvis sang the Memphis Phone book, I would have been happy to buy a copy.