His Hand in Mine is the twelfth studio album by 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.[2]
Contents[]
Content[edit][]
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.[3] 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.[4]
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. 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.[5]
This album was reissued on vinyl under a new catalogue number ANL1-1319 by RCA in 1976. It has a completely different front photo, and the back photos were replaced with advertising of many different available albums from RCA. It does contain exactly the same tracks as the original issue.[6]
On March 11, 2008, RCA issued a remastered version of this album for compact disc, 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.
The song "In My Father's House" was arranged and adapted by Elvis Presley which was published by Elvis Presley Music.
Personnel[edit][]
- Elvis Presley – vocals and acoustic guitar (on "Milky White Way")
- 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
Track listing[edit][]
Original release[edit][]
| Side one | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "His Hand In Mine" | Mosie Lister | October 30, 1960 | 3:15 | ||||||
| 2. | "I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs" | Cully Holt | October 31, 1960 | 1:50 | ||||||
| 3. | "In My Father's House" | Aileene Hanks (Arranged and adapted by Elvis Presley) | October 31, 1960 | 2:03 | ||||||
| 4. | "Milky White Way" | Landers Coleman | October 30, 1960 | 2:12 | ||||||
| 5. | "Known Only to Him" | Stuart Hamblen | October 31, 1960 | 2:07 | ||||||
| 6. | "I Believe in the Man in the Sky" | Richard Howard | October 30, 1960 | 2:11 | ||||||
| Side two | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Joshua Fit the Battle" | Traditional | October 31, 1960 | 2:39 | ||||||
| 2. | "He Knows Just What I Need" | Mosie Lister | October 30, 1960 | 2:12 | ||||||
| 3. | "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" | Traditional | October 31, 1960 | 2:32 | ||||||
| 4. | "Mansion Over the Hilltop" | Ira Stanphill | October 31, 1960 | 2:55 | ||||||
| 5. | "If We Never Meet Again" | Albert E. Brumley | October 31, 1960 | 1:58 | ||||||
| 6. | "Working on the Building" | Hoyle Bowles | October 31, 1960 | 1:52 | ||||||
2008 reissue bonus tracks[edit][]
| Tracks 1-12 consist of the original album's content. The following bonus tracks were original issued on the Peace in the Valley EP: | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording date | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)" | Thomas A. Dorsey | January 13, 1957 | 3:22 | ||||||
| 14. | "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)" | Stuart Hamblen | January 19, 1957 | 3:53 | ||||||
| 15. | "I Believe" | Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Al Stillman | January 12, 1957 | 2:05 | ||||||
| 16. | "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" | Thomas A. Dorsey | January 13, 1957 | 3:16 | ||||||
2008 Follow That Dream reissue[edit][]
Disc1
|
Disc 2
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||