| | |  | Music | Home » » I Believe: The Gospel Masters | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | 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. | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| March 10, 2009 | | Studio:
| Sony Legacy | | Number Of Discs:
| 4 | | Format:
| Box set | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 39 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | Disc: 1 | | | 1. | I Believe | | 2. | (There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me) | | 3. | Take My Hand, Precious Lord | | 4. | It Is No Secret (What God Can Do) | | 5. | Milky White Way | | 6. | His Hand In Mine | | 7. | I Believe In The Man In The Sky | | 8. | He Knows Just What I Need | | 9. | Mansion Over The Hilltop | | 10. | In My Father's House | | 11. | Joshua Fit The Battle | | 12. | Swing Down, Sweet Chariot | | 13. | I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs | | 14. | If We Never Meet Again | | 15. | Known Only To Him | | 16. | Crying In The Chapel | | 17. | Working On The Building | | | Disc: 2 | | | 1. | Run On | | 2. | How Great Thou Art | | 3. | Stand By Me | | 4. | Where No One Stands Alone | | 5. | So High | | 6. | Farther Along | | 7. | By And By | | 8. | In The Garden | | 9. | Somebody Bigger Than You And I | | 10. | Without Him | | 11. | If The Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side | | 12. | Where Could I Go But To The Lord | | 13. | You'll Never Walk Alone | | 14. | We Call On Him | | 15. | Who Am I? | | | Disc: 3 | | | 1. | I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago | | 2. | Life | | 3. | Only Believe | | 4. | Amazing Grace | | 5. | Lead Me, Guide Me | | 6. | He Touched Me | | 7. | I've Got Confidence | | 8. | An Evening Prayer | | 9. | Seeing Is Believing | | 10. | A Thing Called Love | | 11. | Put Your Hand In The Hand | | 12. | Reach Out To Jesus | | 13. | He Is My Everything | | 14. | There Is No God But God | | 15. | Bosom Of Abraham | | 16. | I, John | | 17. | I Got A Feelin' In My Body | | 18. | Help Me | | 19. | If That Isn't Love | | | Disc: 4 | | | 1. | Down By The Riverside/When The Saints Go Marchin' In (from Frankie And Johnny) | | 2. | Sing You Children (from Easy Come, Easy Go) | | 3. | Swing Down, Sweet Chariot (from The Trouble With Girls) | | 4. | Let Us Pray (from Change of Habit) | | 5. | Gospel Medley: Where Could I Go But To The Lord/Up Above My Head/Saved (from the '68 Comeback Special) | | 6. | If I Can Dream (from the '68 Comeback Special) | | 7. | Why Me Lord (live) | | 8. | How Great Thou Art (live) | | 9. | Help Me (live) | | 10. | I, John (from Elvis On Tour) (Bonus Track) | | 11. | Bosom Of Abraham (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track) | | 12. | You Better Run (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track) | | 13. | Lead Me, Guide Me (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track) | | 14. | Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/Nearer My God To Thee (from Elvis On Tour)(Bonus Track) | | 15. | Oh, How I Love Jesus (home recording)(Bonus Track) | | 16. | Show Me Thy Ways, O Lord (home recording)(Bonus Track) | | 17. | Hide Thou Me (home recording)(Bonus Track) | |
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39 of 41 found the following review helpful:
 Nobody sings gospel like the King!Mar 16, 2009
By steve_manassas
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.
24 of 25 found the following review helpful:
 An amazing collection!Mar 12, 2009
By A Fan
This is an outstanding collection of Elvis' Gospel music. Gospel was one of Elvis' early musical influences and loves. He puts his heart into every performance and of course his voice is unmatched. The only "Grammies" he won were for his Gospel recordings.
The first three CDs include songs recorded for 1957's "Peace in the Valley" EP and his three outstanding Gospel albums 1960's "His Hand in Mine", 1967's "How Great Thou Art", and 1972's "He Touched Me" along with some other Gospel songs recorded during the period that were released on other albums. The EP and all three Gospel albums were hits when they were released and all have been certified PLATINUM or MULTI-PLATINUM by the RIAA. Some of the songs were hits on the singles chart in the US, including "Peace in the Valley", the classic "Crying in the Chapel", and "You'll Never Walk Alone".
The last CD has Gospel songs from his movies, from the 1968 comeback TV special, including the moving "If I Can Dream" (while it is not technically a Gospel song, it is certainly inspirational), and live concert performances. There are also a few demo recordings.
The songs have all been remastered and sound better than any previous releases. This collection is a must for Elvis and Gospel music fans! Highly recommended!
23 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Awesome sound quality and packaging!!!Mar 12, 2009
By Bill Porter
"thenexte"
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!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Great-- but if you have the "Peace in the Valley" box, you'll have a dilemma...Oct 14, 2009
By G. C. Todd
"GCT"
First, let me make it clear that this set is very good and the music is 5 stars. However, after comparing the 3 Elvis spiritual/gospel box sets "Amazing Grace", "Peace in the Valley", and "I Believe", one cannot help but be a bit disappointed with this one because it's something of a missed opportunity. As others have noted, there is a significant amount of previously released material that has unfortunately been left off. The very idea of omitting the "Miracle of the Rosary" is mind boggling--a bit like leaving "Hey Jude" off of a Beatles singles collection ("Miracle..." is on both previous box sets as well as "Elvis Now").
There are any number of Elvis gospel single disc compilations, but the double disc set, "Amazing Grace," was clearly aimed at those looking for a reasonably broad overview that goes a wee bit further than a single disc. On the other hand, the "Peace in the Valley" box was designed for those (like me) who have really wanted a complete collection of the Elvis gospel material. (One critic from All Music Guide criticized it for being overly complete!)
With the current "I Believe" box, which has been marketed as updated and comprehensive, the compilers should have begun with everything on the "Peace in the Valley" box, and then added whatever additional rarities or alternate tracks they could come up with-- possibly including more broadly spiritual numbers (e.g."Bridge over Troubled Water"). When I initially found out that the "I Believe" box would be a 4 disc set, I incorrectly assumed that the extra disc would consist of such music. In fact, there is less here than on the 3 disc "Peace" box. Many of the rarities not included here are, in my view, VERY essential.
"I Believe" is very good but if you already own the "Peace in the Valley" box set you may want to simply purchase and download the few songs that are not already on the earlier but more extensive box.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
U must for Gospel collectors and all Elvis fans...Apr 14, 2009
By Can Balkan
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
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