Down By The Riverside/When The Saints Go Marchin' In (from Frankie And Johnny)
Sing You Children (from Easy Come, Easy Go)
Swing Down, Sweet Chariot (from The Trouble With Girls)
Let Us Pray (from Change of Habit)
Gospel Medley: Where Could I Go But To The Lord/Up Above My Head/Saved (from the '68 Comeback Special)
If I Can Dream (from the '68 Comeback Special)
Why Me Lord (live)
How Great Thou Art (live)
Help Me (live)
I, John (from Elvis On Tour) (Bonus Track)
Bosom Of Abraham (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track)
You Better Run (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track)
Lead Me, Guide Me (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track)
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/Nearer My God To Thee (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track)
Oh, How I Love Jesus (home recording)(Bonus Track)
Show Me Thy Ways, O Lord (home recording)(Bonus Track)
Hide Thou Me (home recording)(Bonus Track)
This unique collection is a befitting tribute to Elvis Presley's 3 x Grammy Award-winning gospel and inspirational work. Discs 1 through 3 feature his entire non-secular studio masters in chronological order. Disc 4 covers... more » the additional masters made for Elvis' movies, his comeback TV special in 1968, and recordings made live on stage. Disc 4 also includes two segments of Elvis singing religious songs in a more informal setting. The first segment includes Elvis with J.D. Sumner and The Stamps relaxing at the end of a long day at RCA's Hollywood studio on March 31, 1972. The final three recordings were done at his Los Angeles home in 1966, in preparation for the album HOW GREAT THOU ART. This four discs set is remastered from the original tapes using the latest DSD technology for optimum sound quality. As with his secular music, Elvis invented his own version of gospel, drawing from every element of his vast musical knowledge - without any musical prejudice or racial barriers. I BELIEVE - THE GOSPEL MASTERS offers the most comprehensive overview of Elvis' non-secular performances and provides testament to Elvis's musical excellence and his contribution to the popularization of religious music.« less
This unique collection is a befitting tribute to Elvis Presley's 3 x Grammy Award-winning gospel and inspirational work. Discs 1 through 3 feature his entire non-secular studio masters in chronological order. Disc 4 covers the additional masters made for Elvis' movies, his comeback TV special in 1968, and recordings made live on stage. Disc 4 also includes two segments of Elvis singing religious songs in a more informal setting. The first segment includes Elvis with J.D. Sumner and The Stamps relaxing at the end of a long day at RCA's Hollywood studio on March 31, 1972. The final three recordings were done at his Los Angeles home in 1966, in preparation for the album HOW GREAT THOU ART. This four discs set is remastered from the original tapes using the latest DSD technology for optimum sound quality. As with his secular music, Elvis invented his own version of gospel, drawing from every element of his vast musical knowledge - without any musical prejudice or racial barriers. I BELIEVE - THE GOSPEL MASTERS offers the most comprehensive overview of Elvis' non-secular performances and provides testament to Elvis's musical excellence and his contribution to the popularization of religious music.
CD Reviews
Nobody sings gospel like the King!
steve_manassas | Manassas, VA USA | 03/16/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Nobody sings gospel like the King! This is a great-sounding collection of Elvis' best gospel recordings. How does it compare, you might ask, to the two previous Elvis gospel retrospectives - AMAZING GRACE: HIS GREATEST SACRED PERFORMANCES (1994) and PEACE IN THE VALLEY: THE COMPLETE GOSPEL RECORDINGS (2000)? Quite well, actually. I BELIEVE: THE GOSPEL MASTERS contains 54 of the 55 tracks from AMAZING GRACE. The only missing track is "Miracle of the Rosary"; why that was left off, I have no idea. As for the PEACE IN THE VALLEY collection, there are 21 tracks (22 if you count "Rosary") not found on I BELIEVE. But unless you're a hard-core Elvis completist who has to have everything, there's a lot less missing than meets the eye; 12 of the missing 21 tracks are from the Million Dollar Quartet sessions, which can easily be found on THE COMPLETE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (2006); if you want the MDQ, why not buy the whole thing? Of the remaining nine, seven are home or informal recordings ("When the Saints Go Marching In" from December 1956; "I Asked the Lord" and "He" from 1959-60; a 1:20 version of "Hide Thou Me" from 1966 (replaced on I BELIEVE by the longer 5:01 version from the TODAY, TOMORROW AND FOREVER box set (2002)); "Farther Along" and "Oh Happy Day" from 1970; and a giggle-filled version of "The Lord's Prayer" from 1971. The other two missing tracks are the Ed Sullivan Show version of "Peace in the Valley." which can be found on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOWS DVD set; and the 1977 live version of "How Great Thou Art" from ELVIS IN CONCERT, which was the King's last gospel recording before his death, but is not as good as the 1974 live recording.
I BELIEVE also contains two tracks not found on the earlier compilations: "I Was Born Ten Thousand Years Ago," from ELVIS NOW (1972) and the megahit single "If I Can Dream" from the '68 Comeback Special.
The only changes that I would have made to this set (which is why it gets only 4 stars, not 5) would be to add "Miracle of the Rosary," the single "Where Did They Go, Lord" (from WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES - THE ESSENTIAL '70S MASTERS (1995)), and the full unedited Gospel Medley (including "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" with Darlene Love) that was issued on PEACE IN THE VALLEY and the compilation MEMORIES: THE '68 COMEBACK SPECIAL (1998). I BELIEVE uses the edited version from the original ELVIS - NBC-TV SPECIAL album (reissued last year as part of THE COMPLETE '68 COMEBACK SPECIAL CD box set).
Other than that, the set is perfect."
Awesome sound quality and packaging!!!
Bill Porter | San Francisco, CA | 03/12/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For anybody who's on the fence about this new Elvis gospel box set I'd just like to point out that in comparison to the previous offerings "Amazing Grace" (1992) and "Peace in the valley" (1999) this new box set features dramatically improved sound quality and is a must-have if you didn't get last year's individually reissued gospel albums. It doesn't get any better than this!"
U must for Gospel collectors and all Elvis fans...
Can Balkan | 04/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First of all it's all masters. The second thing is, especially the fourth cd takes to an informal session with an inspired Elvis. The sound is AMAZING! Strongly adviced... TCB"
Elvis: Gospel Master
Maria C. Mendes | Sao Paulo, Brasil | 04/13/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What a great collection this is, with some of the most beautiful gospels ever sung by Elvis Presley.
"Working on the Building" is amazing, with an unexpected backing vocal which sounds like a duet with "the King".
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1