Elvis recorded his second gospel album, How Great Thou Art, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 25, 26, 27, and 28, 1966. The album won a Grammy in 1967 for Best Sacred Performance. During this time period Elvis was having difficulty getting radio airplay and Elvis’ manager, Col Tom Parker (see picture above), was convinced that Elvis could get some radio airplay with more religious music. This album proved that Col Parker was right. Some insight from the recording sessions for this album are provided below (thanks to Wikipedia for this info)…..
As the sessions progressed, Elvis rejected many of the planned songs for which Freddy Bienstock had obtained publishing deals, and began picking favorites of his own and those of the musicians. The five songs in the public domain were credited as “arranged by Elvis Presley” and published by Elvis Presley Music allowing Bienstock to secure the royalties for those selections. In fact, it is likely that an engaged and enthusiastic Presley indeed did the arrangements, as he certainly did with the title song, his months of practice at home on his beloved gospel songs paying off.
One of those public domain songs was called By and By and I have chosen it as the featured song for my first Time Machine Tunes (TMT) post. By and By was recorded on May 26, 1966 and I have a portion of that recording session for you. It is great to hear the song progress through early rough takes to what sounds like a final polished cut. Even better, it is amazing to hear Elvis relaxed and having a good time in the studio. You might not be able to travel back in time to be in the studio for this recording but I am giving you the next best thing. Enjoy………
To give you the complete picture, here is the final version of By and By as released on How Great Thou Art……
I hope you enjoyed this first TMT post. Please let me know your thoughts…..
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 