How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley album)

How Great Thou Art is the 28th album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo in February 1967. Recording sessions took place at RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 25, 26, 27, and 28, 1966. It peaked at No. 18 on the Top Pop Albums chart, and has been certified as triple platinum by the RIAA. It won a Grammy Award for 1967 in the Best Sacred Performance category.

Background

His previous gospel album His Hand in Mine had been a solid catalog seller for RCA.Jorgensen, Ernst. Elvis Presley A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998; pp. 203-420. While Presley faced difficulty getting radio airplay in the mid-1960s, during that decade radio stations played Christmas music at Christmas-time and religious music at Easter, and the Colonel was convinced Presley could break through in these niche markets. So, recording sessions were arranged with the purpose of producing a Christmas single and a follow-up LP to His Hand in Mine.

How Great Thou Art would in fact be Presley's first non-soundtrack album recording of new material since Pot Luck with Elvis in 1962, and his first album release not to include any soundtrack recordings since the previous gospel album in 1960. It also introduced producer Felton Jarvis to Presley on the singer's second non-soundtrack sessions...
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