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Amen

Rating:
3.4 / 5

Words & Music: Jester Hairston

Recordingdate: 1975/05/06, first released on: Elvis Aron Presley (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of Amen:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(piano)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)

Others*

(baton)

*Orchestra, overdubs

Availability

Find available albums with Amen.

bastiaanvinke wrote on June 18, 2009
Heard it too much. The message to little
Natha wrote on November 21, 2009
Boring. It takes all the power away. Always skip it.
Monster wrote on November 21, 2009
Enjoyable the first 500 times, then it begins to get tedious, especially after 1974 when it just dragged on forever...
Steve Morse wrote on November 21, 2009
It's torture to listen to.
Great Dane wrote on November 21, 2009
I like JD on this one,costed me some speakers too.
ElvisDayByDay wrote on November 21, 2009
A nice song if Elvis hadn't turned it into a live freak show with JD Sumner; I usually skip it.
Steve V wrote on November 21, 2009
Yes its too bad it turned into a kind of goof with JD. This is a great Gospel/Christmas song by The Impressions, a hit single in 1964. Elvis could have blown the doors off it had he done it in a studio for either a Gospel or Christmas LP.
old shep wrote on November 21, 2009
Elvis had a habit of taking some songs to their exacting limit this is just one of them. Extremely tedious and a version that will have Curtis Mayfeild spinning in his grave.
Jim Hoff wrote on November 21, 2009
Why spoil 'I Got A Woman' with this carnival-intermezzo-like gospel nursery rhyme?
dgirl wrote on November 21, 2009
A concert rut. Once Elvis got into a schtick, he didnt let it go. Too bad becaus this became unbearable after a while.
Deano1 wrote on November 21, 2009
Always performed in a medley with "I Got A Woman" in numerous concerts from 1973-1977. I first heard this medley on the 1977 Elvis LP "Elvis In Concert" (although it was first released on the 1974 LP "Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis") and I loved it. Elvis transitions beautifully from an upbeat rocker into this gospel number and invites the audience to sing along. From there he allows JD Sumner to show off his unbelievably deep voice (the dive bomber) and then goes into a silly narrative about how he can't stand still. Did he do it too much in concert? Maybe. Did he ever think that 32 years after he died us crazy fans would be buying audience and soundboard recordings of every concert we could get our hands on? The answer is No.
NONE000000 wrote on December 07, 2010
First, I don't especially enjoy listening to it, BUT I think it is pretty interesting for Elvis to have sort of grounded "I Got A Woman" with it's gospel roots. Also, I'd imagine Elvis liked the song-along aspect of the song, making it feel like one of those gospels sings he'd go to when he was younger. But no matter how much I can say in favor of it, between the sexism of "I Got a Woman" and the long drawn out JD bits of "Amen", I almost always skip both.
GEORGE (GK) wrote on February 27, 2012
"Did Elvis, ever think that 32 years after he passed, the fans would be buying audience and soundboard recordings of every concert, we could get our hands on? The answer is No". In conclusion, Elvis, was on stage, in different cities almost every day & Night, while on tour, so the "I got a woman/Amen" routine, wasn't overdone, for the fans, going to the shows. But now that alot of the shows are on albums and CDs, the fans have grown a bit tired of it, which is understandable. Being in the audience, and watching Elvis and J.D. Sumner, do the bit was always alot of fun.
NONE000000 wrote on February 27, 2012
Elvisnews forgot to post the lyrics to this one! Lemme help: "Amen", repeat until fatigue sets in
freedom101 wrote on February 27, 2012
Is that all there is to it, A EFFIN MEN? I'll let it go because it's "The King".
Lefty wrote on July 17, 2012
Better than the scarf tossing versions of Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel, but not by much. Then again, was there a better way to showcase JD Sumner's B-52 low note?
sugartummy wrote on February 23, 2013
You can hardly call this a song; difficult to rate it. Ray Charles based his song on a gospel, so it's fitting. I'm religious; I don't mind.
Cruiser621 wrote on April 07, 2017
One of the many reasons I stopped buying live recordings by Elvis. boring, absolutely boring. One live recording melded into another and they were all basically the same. The fast and I mean fast medley of Teddy Bear and Don't Be Cruel was a absolute travesty.
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