Elvis Presley recorded three gospel albums during his career, and this is the third and final of them, being distinct from both of his previous LPs as it was not only recorded five years after the prior album, but included a far different set of songs and musicians. This is his contemporary gospel record, including material from Bill Gaither (the title song), Andraé Crouch ('I've Got Confidence'), and Dallas Frazier ('He Is My Everything'), with vocal backgrounds from the Imperials and J.D. Sumner & the Stamps, and the instrumental arrangements leave space for electric guitar and electric bass. Though it's spiritual, it doesn't have the sacred feel of 1960's 'His Hand in Mine' or the first half of 1966's 'How Great Thou Art', and a number of the tracks were overdubbed with strings and horns after recording was completed. On a recent box set of Nashville sessions, the original undubbed versions of the songs were included, which was a thrill for the Elvis Today blog....until they heard them. Here is their opinion of the undubbed versions:
Having listened to the undubbed Christmas masters from Elvis 'Back In Nashville' all through the Holidays, I decided to turn my attention to the undubbed religious masters on the same CD set. Just like the Christmas masters, the track order is identical to the original album, in this case 'He Touched Me' released in 1972. The exception is 'Amazing Grace' which is included on disc one among The Country/Folk Sides. Unlike the Christmas material, the religious songs were recorded with background singers present in the studio, and most of the tracks were then left undubbed for release on the 'He Touched Me' album. I guess this was a decision on producer Felton Jarvis part, mimicking the sound of Elvis singing gospel privately with his friends and backup singers to help unwind after a show. A look in my well thumbed copy of 'Elvis Session III' by Joe Tunzi revealed that only four of the religious songs on the 'He Touched Me' album were overdubbed: 'Amazing Grace' and 'I, John' (both with more backup vocals), 'He Is My Everything' (with strings) and 'A Thing Called Love' (with strings and horns). Still, I was looking forward to the whole undubbed 'He Touched Me' experience, and it started well. The title track and album opener was as moving and soothing as ever, and the sound crystal clear. Then followed the more modern up tempo Christian number 'I've Got Confidence', sounding fantastic with the electrical guitar more prominent and the song lasting about 25 seconds longer than on the original album, with frantic hand clapping and the band cooking. What a treat! Next up was another pleasant surprise.
Usually, when I listen to 'Amazing Grace', I almost wonder if Elvis is there at all due to all the backing vocals. But in the undubbed format, I noticed that Elvis' voice was more up front and the background singers more in the, well, background. The whole thing sounded so much clearer and less muddled. I then turned my attention to 'Seeing Is Believing', with electrical sparks flying from James Burton's guitar. As always, it reminded me of 'I've Got Confidence', and I noticed another few extra seconds at the ending here as well. I bet the writer of the song, Red West, was in the studio listening. How exciting it must have been for him to hear this. I was then unexpectedly disappointed, as while I listened to 'He Is My Everything' without the strings, I noticed that the original backing singers were gone, too. Slightly confused and irritated, my spirits lifted with the help of the next track, 'Bosom Of Abraham'. I always find it irresistible and infectious, reminding me of some of the spirituals on Elvis' earlier religious albums. The interaction between Elvis and the Imperials is pure joy. In my imagination, I then flipped the album to the B-side. The two first numbers, 'An Evening Prayer' and 'Lead Me, Guide Me' sounded beautiful as always, maybe even more so in this new mix. But then surprise, as disappointment struck again.
As was the case of 'He Is My Everything', the background vocals had been eliminated on 'There Is No God But God'. Although a pleasant enough song, in my opinion it really benefits from the backing vocalists responding to Elvis' singing. Fortunately, the rest of the tracks from 'He Touched Me' were left undubbed as they were recorded in the studio. 'A Thing Called Love' without the strings and horns worked well, even though bass singer Armond Morales' vocals were mixed down (in the original recording he is singing in union with Elvis throughout the song). 'I, John' sounded more like a gospel quartet song without the overdubbed female singers and 'Reach Out To Jesus' ended with the passionate ending I remember so well. Two more religious tracks were recorded during the Nashville sessions 1971, and they are included after the 'He Touched Me' tracks. 'Put Your Hand In The Hand' and 'Miracle Of The Rosary' were eventually saved for 'Elvis Now', but it's evident they would have fit on Elvis' third religious album as well. All in all, I enjoyed the undubbed version of 'He Touched Me', but it annoyed me that two of the tracks had their backing vocals removed. It also rhymes badly with what is written in the booklet: NOTE: As the vocal interaction between Elvis and the backing singers is deemed fundamental to the gospel performances, they have been left as originally intended by Elvis and A&R man Felton Jarvis.
To put things right with this new version of this album, I've removed the strings from 'He Is My Everything', but left the backing vocals intact, and also run 'There Is No God But God' through the programme in case there were any strings hidden away on there, and slotted both of them back in among the other undubbed tracks. I've also removed the horns and strings from the original album version of 'A Thing Called Love' so that Armond Morales' vocals are back where they should be, and we now have the whole album as if it had been recorded in the studio and then pressed up and issued straight afterwards. I've also added those final two out-takes from the sessions, so that we have everything that was recorded at that time all in one place.
Track listing
01 He Touched Me
02 I've Got Confidence
03 Amazing Grace
04 Seeing Is Believing
05 He Is My Everything
06 Bosom Of Abraham
07 An Evening Prayer
08 Lead Me, Guide Me
09 There Is No God But God
10 A Thing Called Love
11 I, John
12 Reach Out To Jesus
13 Miracle Of The Rosary
14 Put Your Hand In The Hand
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