Elvis Presley
Elvis inspirational

Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special was packed with remarkable moments, but perhaps none could equal his rendition of "If I Can Dream." This inspirational number, written especially for the climax of the now-Iegendary broadcast, was literally a showstopper. Elvis' straight-from-the-soul performance made you want to stand up and cheer right in your living room. While the staging may have been stylized, the passion Elvis summoned in the television studio that day could never be faked. This was a glimpse of the Elvis who'd been reared on gospel music at humble, racially mixed Pentecostal Churches in Mississippi and Tennessee, who once dreamed of joining a gospel quartet when he grew up. Of course, things turned out very differently for him, and the young rock and roller would be denounced from many a pulpit, but Elvis never forsook his spiritual side. It's in ample evidence on this collection, which combines traditional Christian hymns (like a reverential interpretation of one of Elvis' personal favorites, "How Great Thou Art") with contemporary pop anthems (like his dramatic reworking of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water") and stirring social commentary (the powerful, chart-topping parable about poverty and racism, "In The Ghetto").

What we rediscover on these 20 tracks is the music to which Elvis had perhaps the most profound lifelong attachment as an artist and as a man. His public persona may have suggested otherwise, but in the wee small hours at Graceland or during a grueling live run in Las Vegas, Elvis would often turn to gospel as an after-hours balm, joined by band-mates and back-up singers like the Jordanaires or the Stamps. In the 1972 Elvis On Tour film, Elvis himself, talking about Vegas, revealed, "We do two Shows a night for live weeks. A lot of times we'll go upstairs and sing until daylight - gospel songs. We grew up with that... it more or less puts your mind at ease. lt does mine." In a CNN interview, Jordanaire Ray Walker concurred: "He loved to sing spirituals because they told a story. lt was his roots. He was a deeply spiritual man, more spiritual than anyone around him."

Not only do these songs reflect Elvis' highest aspirations, they illustrate once more the remarkable breadth of his musical vision and the dexterity of that magnificent voice. Singing and recording inspirational music, sacred and secular, old and new, was a careerlong commitment, not just a phase. The sound, feel and fervor of gospel holped to shape every aspect of what he produced on stage and in the studio. Small-minded critics may have accused Elvis Presley of doing the devil's work, but it's clear from these tracks that he'd always been hanging out with the angels. (from the liner notes)