Elvis Planted Seeds Of Faith

 

Over 170 people attended the First Roman Catholic Elvis Church Service in Holland. Imperials-member Joe Moscheo praised Elvis for what he did for God and his Belief. “Not a show went by without at least one spiritual song: ‘How Great Thou Art’, but also ‘Trilogy’, ‘The Impossible Dream’, ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’… Elvis introduced God to thousands, perhaps millions of people all over the world. His music still offers help to those who are searching. That way, Elvis planted seeds of Faith. So, it wasn’t only his remarkable voice who made him the world’s best Gospel singer– but the way he introduced countless others to God.”

 

Source: ElvisMatters / Updated: Mar 17, 2008

 

Gospel was always Elvis' first love and, I, like many other Elvis fans, was introduced to gospel by him :wub:

White Gospel

 

Tonight BBC4 feature a documentary looking at White Gospel as the influencing factor on Country Music in the USA. The show cannot fail to overlook Elvis, who grew up with a great love for gospel music and out of the fourteen Grammy nominations Elvis received, his three wins were for gospel recordings.

 

Programme details from the BBC:

 

The story of America's most enduring and obscure musical sub-culture, from the sound of ancient harmonies sung in remote country churches through to the modern fiery anthems of the religious right.

 

Elvis Presley's favourite musical genre, White Gospel is the foundation of Country music. It taught generations of southerners the principles of harmony, and produced its own legends and stars, such as The Louvin Brothers, Dottie Rambo and The Blackwood Brothers.

 

White Gospel is shown on BBC4 tonight, March 21, from 9pm – 10pm

 

Source: BBC / Updated: Mar 21, 2008

 

Will try and get to watch this :dance:

I watched White Gospel and it certainly didn’t overlook Elvis. Right at the start of the programme, they showed Elvis on his final Ed Sullivan appearance where he ‘showcased’ his love of Gospel, singing Peace In The Valley, backed by the white gospel group, The Jordanaires It was said that ‘if you want to truly understand Elvis Presley, you have to understand that gospel is where the heart of Elvis’ music originated.’

 

Donnie Sumner talked about how Elvis admired the Blackwood Brothers who were the patriachs of southern gospel music and of course, J.D. Sumner who first ‘created’ the idea of an entertainment customised bus for touring stars.

 

Gordon Stoker and Ray Walker of the Jordanaires told of how Elvis was raised on gospel and how he got the ‘leg shaking’ from James 'Big Chief' Wetherington of the Statesmen. They spoke of recording at Studio B and how Elvis used spirituals to vocalise before a recording session. They told of the recording of the Grammy winning album How Great Thou Art and how Elvis was feeling the acute pressure in his life as he sang the verses to Where No One Stands Alone and the programme showed a clip of Elvis On Tour as he listened to the Stamps perform a gospel song on stage during one of his concerts. Even when the show moved onto Dottie Rambo, the Elvis connection was there with a photograph taken of the two of them. Anyone watching the show would not be left in any doubt of Elvis’ love of gospel :dance:

Anyone who missed this, here’s the link to watch it B)

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/i...on_pid=b009hpct