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Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances

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Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances
Compilation album by
ReleasedOctober 25, 1994
RecordedJanuary 1957 – March 1974
GenreGospel
Length1:22:17
LabelRCA Records
ProducerErnst Mikael Jorgensen
Roger Semon
Paul Williams
Elvis Presley chronology
From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters
(1993)
Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances
(1994)
Command Performances: The Essential 60's Masters II
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
MusicHound[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
Rough Guides[4]

Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances is a two-disc compilation of studio master recordings by Elvis Presley, released in 1994 on RCA Records and certified double platinum by the RIAA on July 15, 1999. The release also includes a booklet with session details and an essay by Charles Wolfe.

Contents

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The set, catalogued as number 66421-2, comprises recordings of gospel music made by Presley during his career. The contents of all three gospel albums Presley released in his lifetime are included, while other songs had appeared on singles, an extended play single, and other albums. The set also contains five previously unreleased selections, and the two discs present the studio masters in chronological session order.

Disc one contains the entirety of his two albums released respectively in 1960 and 1967, His Hand In Mine and How Great Thou Art. The other five tracks contain the four-song EP Peace in the Valley from 1957, incorporated later that year into his first Christmas album, and the 1965 hit single "Crying in the Chapel" which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was added as the final track to the 1967 album.

Disc two contains the entirety of his 1972 album He Touched Me, with the five previously unreleased selections derived from a jam session captured on March 31, 1972, during the filming for Elvis on Tour. The songs "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "We Call On Him" were released as two sides of a single in time for Easter in 1968, and "Only Believe" and "Help Me" appeared as b-sides of singles in the 1970s but were excluded from the 1970s box set discs compiling his complete singles from that decade. The remaining five tracks appeared on Presley albums released during the 1970s, the songs "How Great Thou Art" and "Why Me Lord" being concert recordings.

This set accompanied RCA's mid-1990s compilation reissue program for Elvis Presley, including the five-disc box sets The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters, From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential 60's Masters, Walk a Mile in My Shoes: The Essential 70's Masters, and the two-disc set anthologizing his 1960s soundtrack recordings, Command Performances: The Essential 60's Masters II. These nineteen compact discs, containing 507 recordings in total, constitute a substantial percentage of Presley's career output.

All selections recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, the Stax Recording Studio and the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. Unknown location for the March 1972 jam session. Original recordings produced by Steve Sholes or Felton Jarvis. Discographical information taken from Elvis Presley A Life in Music by Ernst Jorgensen.[5]

Track listing

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Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Original album releaseLength
1."I Believe"Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Al StillmanElvis' Christmas Album2:03
2."(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)"Thomas A. DorseyElvis' Christmas Album3:20
3."Take My Hand, Precious Lord"Thomas A. DorseyElvis' Christmas Album3:19
4."It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)"Stuart HamblenElvis' Christmas Album3:54
5."Milky White Way"Lander ColemanHis Hand in Mine2:12
6."His Hand In Mine"Mosie ListerHis Hand in Mine3:15
7."I Believe in the Man in the Sky"Richard HowardHis Hand in Mine2:11
8."He Knows Just What I Need"Mosie ListerHis Hand in Mine2:12
9."Mansion Over the Hilltop"Ira StanphillHis Hand in Mine2:55
10."In My Father's House"Aileene HanksHis Hand in Mine2:03
11."Joshua Fit the Battle"traditionalHis Hand in Mine2:39
12."Swing Down Sweet Chariot"traditionalHis Hand in Mine2:32
13."I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs"Culley HoltHis Hand in Mine1:50
14."If We Never Meet Again"Alfred E. BrumleyHis Hand in Mine1:58
15."Known Only to Him"Stuart HamblenHis Hand in Mine2:07
16."Working on the Building"Winifred O. Hoyle and Lillian BowlesHis Hand in Mine1:52
17."Crying in the Chapel"Artie GlennHow Great Thou Art2:24
18."Run On"traditionalHow Great Thou Art2:21
19."How Great Thou Art"Stuart K. HineHow Great Thou Art3:00
20."Stand by Me"traditionalHow Great Thou Art2:26
21."Where No One Stands Alone"Mosie ListerHow Great Thou Art2:42
22."So High"traditionalHow Great Thou Art1:56
23."Farther Along"traditionalHow Great Thou Art4:04
24."By and By"traditionalHow Great Thou Art1:49
25."In the Garden"C. Austin MilesHow Great Thou Art3:11
26."Somebody Bigger Than You and I"Hy Heath, Sonny Burke, Johnny LangeHow Great Thou Art2:25
27."Without Him"Mylon LeFevreHow Great Thou Art2:27
28."If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side"Henry SlaughterHow Great Thou Art1:36
29."Where Could I Go But to the Lord?"James B. CoatsHow Great Thou Art3:36
Total length:1:14:19
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Original album releaseLength
1."We Call on Him"Fred Karger, Sid Wayne, Ben WeismanYou'll Never Walk Alone2:31
2."You'll Never Walk Alone"Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard RodgersYou'll Never Walk Alone2:43
3."Only Believe"Paul RaderLove Letters from Elvis2:47
4."Amazing Grace"John NewtonHe Touched Me3:34
5."Miracle of the Rosary"Lee DensonElvis Now1:50
6."Lead Me, Guide Me"Doris AkersHe Touched Me2:39
7."He Touched Me"William J. GaitherHe Touched Me2:39
8."I've Got Confidence"Andraé CrouchHe Touched Me2:20
9."An Evening Prayer"C. Gabriel Battersby and Charles H. GabrielHe Touched Me1:54
10."Seeing Is Believing"Red West, Glen SpreenHe Touched Me2:53
11."A Thing Called Love"Jerry Reed HubbardHe Touched Me2:23
12."Put Your Hand in the Hand"Gene MacLellanElvis Now3:15
13."Reach Out to Jesus"Ralph CarmichaelHe Touched Me3:14
14."He Is My Everything"Dallas FrazierHe Touched Me2:39
15."There Is No God But God"Bill KennyHe Touched Me2:17
16."I, John"William Johnson, George McFadden, Phillip BrooksHe Touched Me2:15
17."Bosom of Abraham"William Johnson, George McFadden, Phillip BrooksHe Touched Me1:35
18."Help Me"Larry GatlinPromised Land2:27
19."If That Isn't Love"Dottie RamboGood Times3:39
20."Why Me Lord"Kris KristoffersonOn Stage In Memphis2:52
21."How Great Thou Art"Stuart K. HineOn Stage In Memphis3:34
22."I, John"William Johnson, George McFadden, Phillip Brookspreviously unreleased2:11
23."Bosom of Abraham"William Johnson, George McFadden, Phillip Brookspreviously unreleased0:53
24."You Better Run"traditionalpreviously unreleased2:09
25."Lead Me, Guide Me"Doris Akerspreviously unreleased2:36
26."Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" / "Nearer, My God, to Thee" (medley)Helen Howarth Lemmel / Sarah Fuller Flower Adamspreviously unreleased2:52
Total length:1:06:41

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Amazing Grace: His Greatest Sacred Performances at AllMusic
  2. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 893. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  3. ^ "Elvis Presley: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  4. ^ Simpson, Paul (2004). The Rough Guide to Elvis. London: Rough Guides. p. 155. ISBN 1-84353-417-7.
  5. ^ Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1998, ISBN 0-312-18572-3