Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential listening., September 22, 2000
In his book CARELESS LOVE, Peter Guralnick rates this album as a must-have for any fans of Elvis and of American music. He's dead-on correct. This album is unbelievable, and shows a completely overlooked side of Elvis. These days, Elvis Presley is almost criminally overlooked as an artist -- drowned in a sea of fat jump-suit bad-movie jokes. But what other artist can sing rock n'roll, country, R&B, schlock like "My Way" and gospel music so effortlessly and convincingly? Answer: No one. "Amazing Grace" suffers from double-album disease, i.e. weaker songs interspersed with heart-stopping tunes. But repeated listens to songs like I,John, Bosom of Abraham, Lead Me, Guide Me, and the soaring How Great Thou Art are without question worth the cost of this 2-CD set. Gospel was the music that moved Elvis most, and you can just feel it in his voice -- the conviction, the faith, the anguish. No music lover should be without this album.
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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elvis' real love, December 30, 1999
I have a large number of Elvis CDs at home but "Amazing Grace" has been getting the most play at home and in the car for about the last six months. Elvis' love of gospel music is legendary and, by all accounts, his knowledge of both white and black gospel acts was staggering. I interviewed Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick in late '98 when "Careless Love" was published and, when asked what he thought Elvis might have been doing had he lived, said that he thought that Elvis would have concentrated on gospel music later in his career, since it was what he really loved singing and was happiest doing. RCA has collected probably 98% of Elvis' gospel recordings on this 2-CD collection, along with a number of previously-unreleased tracks (mostly rehearsals and impromptu recordings). The collection includes excellent liner notes that also lists the original sources for the songs (mostly gospel records that Elvis grew up with by the Statesmen, the Blackwood Brothers, the Golden Gate Quartet, and others). The mastering is excellent, fully revealing the tremendous vocal work of not only Elvis but also of the Jordanaires, the Imperials, the Stamps, and the other vocal groups that backed Elvis on these numbers. I'd like to think that 100 years from now the jokes about Elvis' personal life, his weight problem in his later years, etc. will be largely forgotten and that, instead, he'll be remembered for his terrific music. Though his Sun recordings were probably more revolutionary, his gospel recordings were at least as exciting and probably say a lot more about the man in the end.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Elvis, November 26, 1999
This compilation is a must for any fan of gospel music. Elvis was the first contemporary Gospel singer. Sample a few of the music clips and you will the understand why this *Rock Star* was awarded three Grammy Awards for his Gospel music.The negative to this set is the compilation is not complete. For some reason RCA chose to leave off the song Who Am I that was recorded at American Sound Studios in 1968 and the song I Got A Feelin In My Body recorded at Stax Studios in 1973. So unfortunately as with many of RCA's box sets you will have to purchase a few more albums to have all the gospel songs. The positive is they chose to add some rehearsals that were previously unavailable and you can actually feel what Elvis got out of this music and understand why he continued to love gospel music to the day he died.
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