The next release in FTD's classic album series will be How Great Thou Art:
Disc 1
ORIGINAL ALBUM Side 1
01 How Great Thou Art (Stuart K. Hine)
02 In The Garden (Charles A. Miles)
03 Somebody Bigger Than You And I (John Lange/Hy Heath/Sonny Burke)
04 Farther Along (Arranged by Elvis Presley)
05 Stand By Me (Arranged by Elvis Presley)
06 Without Him(Mylon LeFevre)
ORIGINAL ALBUM Side 2
07 So High (Arranged by Elvis Presley)
08 Where Could I Go But To The Lord (James B. Coats)
09 By And By (Arranged by Elvis Presley)
10 If The Lord Wasn’t Walking By My Side (Henry Slaughter)
11 Run On (Arranged by Elvis Presley)
12 Where No One Stands Alone (Mosie Lister)
13 Crying In The Chapel (Artie Glenn)
BONUS SONGS
14 You’ll Never Walk Alone (Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein)
15 We Call On Him (Fred Karger/Ben Weisman/Sid Wayne)
16 If Everyday Was Like Christmas (Red West)
FIRST TAKES
17 How Great Thou Art – takes 1 & 2
18 Somebody Bigger Than You And I – takes 1,3,11
19 Stand By Me – takes 1 & 2
20 Without Him – take 1
21 So High – take 1
22 By And By – take 4
23 If The Lord Wasn’t Walking By My Side – take 1
24 Run On – takes 1 & 2
25 Where No One Stands Alone – takes 1 & 4 spliced
26 You’ll Never Walk Alone – take 1
27 We Call On Him – takes 1 & 2
Disc 2
MAY 1966 SESSIONS
1 Run On – takes 3-6
2 Stand By Me – takes 5-7
3 Stand By Me – takes 9 & 10
4 Where No One Stands Alone – takes 2, 3 & wp 1
5 Where No One Stands Alone – wp takes 2, 3 & 5
6 So High – takes 2 & 3
7 Farther Along – takes 1& 2
8 By And By – takes1, 2, 3, 4 (fs), 5 & 7
9 By And By – takes 8 & 9
10 In The Garden – takes 1-3
11 Somebody Bigger Than You And I – take 12
12 Somebody Bigger Than You And I – takes14 (fs), 15 & wp 5
13 Without Him – takes 4 & 8
14 Without Him – takes 11, 13 & 14
15 If The Lord Wasn’t Walking By My Side – takes 2-4
16 If The Lord Wasn’t Walking By My Side – take 6
JUNE 1966 SESSIONS
17 If Every Day Was Like Christmas – takes 1 & 2 (undubbed master)
SEPTEMBER 1967 SESSIONS
18 We Call On Him – takes 4 & 5
19 We Call On Him – take 7
20 We Call On Him – take 8
21 You’ll Never Walk Alone – take 2
22 You’ll Never Walk Alone – takes 3, 4, 6 & 8
Wp = work parts
Fs=false start
Disc 1 tracks 1-12 and 17-24 & disc 2 tracks 1-16 recorded May 25-27, 1966 at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville.
Guitar: Scotty Moore, Chip Young; Bass: Bob Moore; Bass & Harmonica & Guitar: Charlie McCoy; Drums: D. J. Fontana; Drums & Tympani: Buddy Harman; Piano: Floyd Cramer; Piano & Organ: Henry Slaughter, David Briggs; Steel Guitar: Pete Drake; Sax: Rufus Long, Boots Randolph; Vocals: Millie Kirkham, June Page, Dolores Edgin, The Imperials, The Jordanaires
Disc 1 track 13 recorded October 30, 1960 at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville.
Guitar: Hank Garland, Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley; Bass: Bob Moore; Drums: Buddy Harman, D. J. Fontana; Piano: Floyd Cramer; Vocals: Millie Kirkham, The Jordanaires
Disc 1 track 14 & disc 2 track 17 recorded June 10, 1966 at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville.
Elvis’ vocals recorded June 12, 1966 at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville.
Guitar: Harold Bradley, Scotty Moore, Chip Young; Bass: Bob Moore; Drums: D:J. Fontana; Drums & Tympani: Buddy Harman; Piano: David Briggs; Organ: Henry Slaughter; Steel Guitar: Pete Drake; Vocals: Millie Kirkham, June Page, Dolores Edgin, The Jordanaires, The Imperials
Disc 1 tracks 14-15 & disc 2 tracks 18-22 recorded September 11, 1967 at RCA’s Studio B, Nashville.
Guitar: Harold Bradley, Scotty Moore, Chip Young; Bass: Bob Moore; Drums: D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman; Piano: Floyd Cramer, Elvis Presley on “You’ll Never Walk Alone”; Organ & Harmonica & Guitar: Charlie McCoy; Steel Guitar: Pete Drake; Vocals: Millie Kirkham, The Jordanaires
Compilation produced and Art directed by Ernst Mikael Jørgensen & Roger Semon
Mastered by Sebastian Jeansson
Original A&R: Felton Jarvis, Steve Sholes (disc 1 track 13)
Original engineers: Jim Malloy, Bill Porter (disc 1 track 13), Al Pachucki (September 1967)
great news as my fav gospel album. hopefully promised land and jailhouse rock no 2 not too far behind.
A class release. My second favourite Elvis sacred album after 'His Hand In Mine. I will definately be buying this one.
HGTA-nice to have a 'Classic album' release this time as we have had a recent run on 'Soundboards'.......not that i am complaining!....Soundboards,Classic albums all welcome in my eyes. Just wondering why FTD/ERNST have not been forcoming with info about this release and future projects??.....HGTA to be released on 21st June.....this may change??....and we have only just been given the info and to be honest most sites were tipping this to be released so maybe FTD have bowed to pressure and gone with what the fans want this time? Let's hope FTD/ERNST do listen to the fans and release future projects that we want......hey even the fabled 'SUN PROJECT'.........still again a nice addition to the FTD side of things and look forward to this when it arrives.
This is indeed a true classic in the Elvis Presley catalogue. I'm glad to see the tapes were placed in the hands of Sebastian Jeansson. His work on TTWII made me a fan of his talents. My only complaint is that this album is such a respected piece of work, why bother adding tracks that weren't on the album or even recorded at the same session ? I mean If Every Day Was Like Christmas is a nice track, but it doesn't belong here at all. It's like having someone hired to touch up the Mona Lisa and the artist changes the color of her dress. Re-think this move Ernst - you're messing with the album that won Elvis his 1st Grammy. Even if "Love Letters" were on here, it would be a no-no, but it would atleast make sense considering it was cut at the same session. This release needs to be handled with care, guys.
This one is a Must Buy. I love this album. Elvis really put on some fantastic performances here and the track listing and extras sound just great. Thanks Ernst.
Great news this - anyone know a possible release date??
this one will be released this month,this is really a must have
It's perfect as it is. Certainly, one of my most precious album. The inclusion of If Everyday Was Xmas and the 1967 We Call On Him and You'll Never Walk Alone totally fit in there, contextwise and contentwise. And these orphans will have been settled once and for all. The rest of the non-reilgious material for these sessions will be adressed further on their own. I guess FTD will need to have more space for the Nashville 1966-67-68 secular material down the line... Great release can't wait to listen to it. Pure joy! I was expecting this one dearly.
Excellent news - HGTA gets the FTD treatment - this will no doubt be regarded as one of the most significant Elvis releases of 2010 (along with the Elvis On Tour DVD) and a fitting way to commemorate Elvis' 75th.
I agree with Tornado's comments regarding the inclusion of the additional tracks - it makes more sense to include them here, as opposed to another release and they shouldn't detract from the rest of the album.
Congrats to Ernst and everyone else involved with FTD - can't wait to own this one!!
Amazing news .......can't wait for this one..........this is a must have release........well done for releasing this great gospel album.
Hello, the Presley legend has accumulated so much baggage it's easy to be distracted from ultimately the only aspect of Elvis that needs to concern us - he was a wonderful singer. And his singing on HGTA is simply majestic. I'm greatly looking forward to hearing Elvis develop the feel and smoothness of these songs from the early takes through to the masters. A truly Classic Album.
Hmmm.... I'm less positive than most of us. I always thought these gospels were "too heavy". Of course Elvis sang beautifully, but the atmosphere of His Hand In Mine and He Touched Me is much more positive. HGTA gives me always a depressive feeling, like hard core Christians do in general (to me). But I DO love If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Site :-)
I don't find the original Album or this news at all 'Depressing!' in fact its EXCELLENT 'news'
Yes Lex, I am with you! I never listen to those CDs. Yet I am happy for those who asked for this release for a long time. I hope the next FTD will offer us a real Rocker again.
Emjel - release date is given as June 21st, according to Elvis Unlimited.
Great news. Looking forward to this one as its one of my fave albums. I'm sure the sound will be better than the bootlegs which were good too. This is where the comeback and the road back to the top really began!
I like Gospel music in general, so this release surely is on my list. Appreciate (again) Natha's posting : not being keen on this release, but being happy for those who welcome it with open arms.That's the spirit ! Always El.
I agree, the Christmas song does not belong on this album! It is a seasonal song yes, but not even close to a christian song. The natural place for it should be on a Christmas album...
Further I agree with "snowplow" about Golden Records Vol. 2. Too many classic records have been messed with and lost their original feel. GR2 was like a new studio album at the time containing 1957-58 recordings not yet released on LP. It should be re-released without any gospel or christmas songs, only containing 1957-58 recordings and remaining songs/singles not included on Loving You and King Creole (such as All Shook Up, Jailhouse Rock etc). The Golden Records series should be deleted since all singles now are included in a proper way on their respective classic albums. GR2 should remain the only representative for all the GR albums, inherit some songs from GR1 and be THE original studio album that covers the 1957-58 era completely! Only the cover is an everlasting classic in its own right.
Im with Lex on this one. Elvis got committed again and this sure was a welcome release in 1966 compared to the lame soundtracks, but this is my least favorite gospel album. My favorite is He Touched Me which is contemporary Christian music which was huge in the early 70's. Besides with So High & The Easter Special , FTD is now releasing some of these songs for the 3rd time. No thanks. I'll play the master CD when I'm in the mood for it.
Great! This is one of my all time favorite Elvis albums, let's just hope the mixing is good on this one!
SPK wow. I am Christina and pretty devout but to post what you did would offend every non-Christian person who visits this site. Please lets keep our religious & political views to ourselves. Elvis did. ( and he had a lot of Jewish friends remember?)
Steve V, You are right on point with your comment. Not everyone is a Christian, by any means. I don't believe Muslims would buy the stuff SPK is selling.
Steve V : strange you didn't react on Lex's posting of june 6th, about getting a depressing feeling when "hardcore christians " come in ? Afraid of reacting because Lex is the webmaster of this site ? ( by the way : I'm a christian myself !) Always El.
I have a question. Has Sebastian Jeansson mastered all of these tracks, or are they using Vic Anesini's masters and Jeansson has mastered the outtakes?
I really think we need to stop any religious reaction regarding this release. As has been said below, when comparing this album to the film soundtracks, the imorovement is 'night and day'. Now talking about artistry and not the song content, I think that there is a certain boredom creeping into Elvis' performances when he recorded He Touched Me. So my favourite gospel albums are How Great Thou Art and His Hand In Mine, both Elvis' performances, backing musicians and recordings are masterful. I welcome this release with open arms
It's been a long time coming. This is my fave Elvis gospel album. He Touched Me had too much of a contemporary sound (in it's time) for my taste. As for the secular material recorded at the HGTA sessions I believe we well eventually get a redo of the Tomorrow Is A long Time CD on FTD. Much the same as For The Asking/The "Lost" album morphed into Elvis Sings Memphis, Tennessee, on FTD.
Hi Benny - No I didnt comment on Lex because he runs this site. I actually agree with him. Hard core anything (including hard core Elvis fans) are hard to reason with and many cases hard to comprehend. So I understand his comments about hard core Christians depressing him. It like radical Islam but with a different religious point of view. Remember hard core Christians advocate the killing of aboriton doctors. Its all sick to me.
Hi Steve, like i wrote before, i like gospel music and songs in general. In my opinion one hasn't even to be religious to like this branch of music. As for my remark about reacting to one posting and not to another is IMHO a matter of being consequent. But the religious subject ( Christians or whatever other religion ) should not have been mentioned in the first place, and it was not you who made the first remark. So i think clp1093 is right. Let's focus on the music and stay to the topic "an sich". Always El.
In my opinon it's more that just an album. Everything is perfect on this. And Elvis takes it also to a high level. I know that the title track has done by many artists, but never they come close to the warm and powerful version of E.P. And that counts also for this one. But including the other gospels is a good choice and i thnk the christmas song. I have my dobts. But... It comes from the same session as YNWA and WCOH and has the same spirit. And the title say it already, If everyday was like christmas. A season about peace and joy. And that's what gospel also says. In that vision it belongs also to this version.
SPK, your appologies are accepted (I am one of those non-christians, though I did not feel offended as I understood your drift). By the way maybe you should have reacted like: for me ... because I think that is why Steve V reacted upon your statement (generalizing opinion) not to Lex (personal sentiment). For me Elvis music is never background music. One exception: I don't like gospels, but I admit that I use Elvis' gospels sometimes as such because of his beautiful voice.
SPK, I wasn't offended at all ! Know you meant no harm. That's the beauty of freedom, see ! Natha doesn't like gospel, I do, also religious-wise we differ, but that is no obstacle to get along very well with each other. Just a matter of mutual respect, and that should be the case for everybody.But, like Natha wrote : there's always that wonderful voice of Our Man. All the best to you ! Always El.
Well said, my friend Benny Scott.
I think the non-gospel songs should have been included to give the 'session' feel to the project but that would have turned this into a 3-disc set. I'll be interested to see what FTD will do with those songs and outtakes.
I am also very happy with this release, since Elvis sounds great on it! However, I believe that the song 'If Every Day Was Like Christmas' should not have been included. I believe it should be added to an upcoming Classic Album release of the 1971 album 'The wonderful world of Christmas'. That would be a good release for Christmastime this year.
Elvis fans are above all religions? We are? Errrrrrrr... I mean, I am? Please refrain from making such wild generalizations.
As for this release I can't wait to get it.
It's not the religion, but the people. See what's wrong in the world. Islam , katholiks, christians, jehova's ect ect But that means that the people who's believin are bad.No not at all. But please stay with this FTD release. It's more than a gospel album. That's why he won a grammy for it. you don't have to believe in the man ( or woman) in the sky. It's a superB album. A real classic.So give your opion , but have respect for if you believe in a god or not
As always, the FTD release will not carry all of Elvis' studio comments that can be heard on the bootrelease. Besides,
the FTD release comes about 30 years TOO late. Disrespectful to fans, as who else will be buying this digipack ? Goes to show they take us for granted. Too bad EPE and FTD
When I buy an Elvis release I want to hear him sing. I don't buy it to listen to him yapping. It's bad enough that the '69 concert releases contain that monologue. 10 minutes (or more) of boring yapping.
You don't have to be a believer to appreciate gospels. When it hit the mainstream a long time ago, it became simply a musical genre for the market. But you can use it to help you pray, if you want to. It's up to each one do more than just listen to it. Besides, I don't think I need to hear all Elvis's comment during a recording sessions It has to be interesting, fun and balanced, so that the whole thing can be an enjoyable listening. Up to now, FTD did just that and I'm satisfied with that. It's rather unfair to put EPE and FTD in the same box too. StephanieEsq you should consider that EPE is not for most interested in the music inasmuch as it served it's own interest for Graceland wich is their main thing. As for FTD, let's be realistic. they just can't release everything in one shot. We tend to forget how messy was the whole affair of getting the records straight on Elvis music. Now FTD is (and Sony too for the mainstream) is doing fine and provides at times updated and upgraded product for us to enjoy. It's never too late for me when it comes to getting the best of Elvis's music.
Somebody here wrote that this release is thirty years too late, although CDs were not even invented thirty years ago. The other comment was that EPE are being disrespectful to fans by releasing it, since when were EPE a record company??!!
