ARTIST/ALBUM INFO:

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer, musician, and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley on rhythm acoustic guitar was accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, he became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, made him enormously popular—and controversial.

In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.

Presley is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, blues, and gospel. He won three competitive Grammys, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.

His Hand in Mine is the fifth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2328, in November 1960. It was the first of three gospel music albums that Presley would issue during his lifetime. Recording sessions took place on October 30 and 31, 1960, at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. It peaked at #13 on the Top Pop Albums chart. It was certified Gold on April 9, 1969 and Platinum on March 27, 1992 by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Background

Presley had a lifelong, fundamental love of church music, and often used it to rehearse and loosen up before concerts and at the beginning of recording sessions.Presley had earlier devoted an extended play single, Peace in the Valley, to his love for gospel songs, and was eager to record a full album of this music. This fit well with the plans of Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to steer his client into a family-friendly image as he switched Presley's career concentration toward movie stardom in Hollywood.

Content

All the selections for His Hand In Mine were completed in one fourteen-hour session. The songs "Surrender" and "Crying in the Chapel" were recorded during the session, but withheld for issue as singles. "Surrender" would be his first single of 1961 and top the chart, but "Crying in the Chapel" would wait until April 1965 to be issued, going to #3 on the chart. The song "In My Father's House" was arranged and adapted by Elvis Presley which was published by Elvis Presley Music.

Presley later re-recorded "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" (not to be confused with the popular "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot") for the soundtrack of his 1969 film, The Trouble with Girls.

Reissues

In 1976, RCA reissued the album in its lower priced "Pure Gold" series, with new cover art under a new catalogue number, ANL1-1319. This reissue contains the same tracks as the original release.RCA first reissued the original 12 track album on compact disc in 1990, utilizing the revised cover art from the "Pure Gold" series LP reissue.

On March 11, 2008, RCA issued a remastered version of this album on CD, adding as bonus tracks the four songs which had originally appeared on that 1957 EP single Peace in the Valley, its contents later incorporated into Elvis' Christmas Album. The Presley fan-club label Follow That Dream issued an extended two-disc version the same year.

Personnel

• Elvis Presley – vocals, acoustic guitar

• The Jordanaires – backing vocals

• Boots Randolph – saxophone

• Scotty Moore – electric guitar

• Hank Garland – acoustic guitar

• Floyd Cramer – piano

• Bob Moore – double bass

• D.J. Fontana, Buddy Harman – drums