Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Elvis Presley - He Touched Me: Elvis' Gospel Music

'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC'
Radio Script

Music (under): So High

Joe Moscheo: Elvis had a real passion for the gospel music, that's what he liked to sing. I think he sang all these others songs because he was Elvis and he had to put on a show and do the movies and all that, but when he had time or when he was alone, he always wanted a gospel group around to sing with him.

Jerry Schilling: Religion always played an important part of Elvis' life and quest of his purpose in life. He was a searcher of knowledge and is a much more intelligent person than has been documented in history so far.

MANY OF THE CLASSIC IMAGES OF ELVIS PRESLEY INVOLVE SOME SORT OF HIP SHAKING AND KNEE WOBBLING. AFTER ALL, HE WAS THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL, AND WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED IN HIS SHORT LIFE CHANGED MUSIC FOREVER.

BUT ALL THROUGH HIS CAREER, THERE WAS A SECOND TRACK. ELVIS WON THREE GRAMMYS IN HIS LIFE, AND NONE OF THEM FOR ROCK AND ROLL. ALL THREE WERE FOR RELIGIOUS RECORDINGS. ELVIS SANG A LOT OF GOSPEL MUSIC, AND IN THE NEXT HOUR, WE'RE GOING TO HEAR HOW DEEP THOSE GOSPEL ROOTS RAN.

WE'RE JOINED BY LIFELONG FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE JERRY SCHILLING, JOE MOSCHEO OF THE IMPERIALS QUARTET AND GORDON STOKER OF THE JORDANAIRES.

I'M LAURA CANTRELL, AND WELCOME TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.'

Joe Moscheo: There were signs that of course he was a believer and that he was a Christian, and that he loved gospel music and was raised on the church. Certainly in the back of his mind, these teachings and music were never that far from him, and I thought that it was a side of Elvis that I thought that people should know.
Music (under): Crying in the Chapel

JOE MOSCHEO SANG WITH THE IMPERIALS QUARTET AND IS THE AUTHOR OF 'THE GOSPEL SIDE OF ELVIS.'

BOTH JOE AND ELVIS GREW UP ATTENDING THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH.

Joe Moscheo: It's a charismatic church, they believe the full gospel church, they speak in tongues, and they believe in the full Pentecostal version of the gospel. I was brought up very strict, and it was surprising that Elvis was raised the same way, the Assembly of God church from where he was from down in Tupelo was a small Assembly of God church, a rural church, and they sang hymns and believe in baptism in water, where you're submerged in water, the songs and the dynamic preaching. That's the way he was brought up. But the music was the thing, the music was a big part of the service, and everyone sings and raises their hands and it's very very passionate about the music, and I think that's how Elvis was brought up, that's what impressed him, and he liked that music until the day he passed.

Music: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (2:33)

'SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

WHEN ELVIS WAS 13, HIS FAMILY MOVED FROM TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. THEY CONTINUED GOING TO A PENTECOSTAL CHURCH, WHERE THE MUSIC WAS CENTRAL.

GOSPEL MUSIC WASN'T JUST HEARD IN CHURCHES, EITHER. MEMPHIS NATIVE JERRY SCHILLING WAS A LIFELONG FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE OF ELVIS.

Jerry Schilling: You know, when Elvis and I were growing up in the South, television, part of that time, wasn't even here, and what a big kind of entertainment at that time was revivals, tent church revivals and the singing. I used to go with my grandparents to these Baptist Bible things that were really crazy and wild, but it was entertainment. I always liked entertainment.

Music: If the Lord Wasn't Walking By My Side (1:38)

'IF THE LORD WASN'T WALKING BY MY SIDE' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY, WITH SINGERS MILLE KIRKHAM, JUNE PAGE, DOLORES EDGIN, THE JORDANAIRES AND THE IMPERIALS QUARTET.

NOW IN A BIG CITY, ELVIS HAD MORE ACCESS TO LIVE SHOWS. HE WAS A HUGE FAN OF THE GOSPEL QUARTETS.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK 'ME AND A GUY NAMED ELVIS,' JERRY SCHILLING.

Jerry Schilling: At Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, they would have these gospel groups come in a couple times a year, and they'd be really famous, because gospel music back then really sold. And there were gospel groups like the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen.

Music (under): I, John

LIKE A BASEBALL FAN WHO KNOWS ALL THE STATS ON HIS FAVORITE PLAYERS, ELVIS SEEMED TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT GOSPEL GROUPS.

JOE MOSCHEO OF THE IMPERIALS QUARTET LEARNED THAT FIRST-HAND.

Joe Moscheo: I was a member of a group out of Atlanta, Georgia called the Harmoneers, and I was at the National Quartet Convention in Memphis, TN, and I was just a young guy, I don't remember, 19 or 20, 21 in 1960. And I heard a rumor that Elvis was going to come backstage at the Ellis Auditorium that night. Whenever he was in Memphis and the quartet convention was happening, he would usually stop by, he liked to come and see the Statesmen, the Blackwoods, his idols. So sure enough he shows up, and he's got a bunch of his guys with him and they come backstage, and of course when he walks in and everybody gathers close, they want to talk to him or take a picture or get an autograph or just be close to him. I was about 20 feet to the side, watching all the commotion he was stirring up, and finally when I saw an opening, I walked up and introduced myself, and it was unbelievable, he said 'oh I know who you are, you're the piano player for the Harmoneers, aren't you'' So I said 'yes, sir,' I was so surprised that he knew that.' I told him that me and my family were huge fans, could I have an autograph, and he said 'tell you what, I'll give you mine if you give me yours.' Well my gosh.

GORDON STOKER OF THE JORDANAIRES HAD A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE WITH ELVIS.

Gordon Stoker: We were working with Eddie Arnold in the 50's, we worked with Eddie Arnold for a long time. We were doing a program at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, and he came back behind, he'd been hearing us sing on the Grand Ole Opry, and a lot of time on the Grand Ole Opry, we'd sing a spiritual, and this is the music that he really loved, this is what attracted him to the Jordanaires sound, the fast moving, finger snapping, hand clapping spiritual. So he came backstage at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis to meet us. You'd think that he'd come back to meet Eddie Arnold, but he didn't, he came back behind stage to meet us. And he told me that right now I'm on the Sun label, but if anything should happen that I get on a major label, I want you guys to work with us. So when RCA signed him in January of 1956, he asked for us, and that was a relationship that we had for almost 15 years.

Music: Where Could I Go But To The Lord (3:38)

'WHERE COULD I GO BUT TO THE LORD' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.' I'M LAURA CANTRELL.

ELVIS' MOTHER, GLADYS PRESLEY, ONCE WROTE: 'WHEN ELVIS WAS JUST A LITTLE FELLOW, HE WOULD SLIDE OFF MY LAP, RUN DOWN THE AISLE, AND SCRAMBLE UP TO THE PLATFORM OF THE CHURCH. HE WOULD STAND LOOKING UP AT THE CHOIR AND TRY TO SING WITH THEM. HE WAS TOO LITTLE TO KNOW THE WORDS, OF COURSE, BUT HE COULD CARRY THE TUNE.'

AS A TEENAGER, ELVIS TRIED TO MAKE THAT PASSION INTO A CAREER.

GORDON STOKER SINGS LEAD TENOR FOR THE GOSPEL GROUP THE JORDANAIRES.

Gordon Stoker: Elvis loved gospel music. He auditioned for two male quartets in Memphis and didn't pass the audition. I finally ran into one of the guys in the first group that he auditioned for and I said 'you mean to tell me that Elvis didn't pass the audition'' and he said 'no, you give him a part like second tenor and before you knew it, he was trying to sing bass.' So you've got to stick to the part you're given when you're in a group, you can't jog off and start singing another part, and you can't do that cause otherwise you'd be doubling somebody else. And that's what he did. So Elvis he just wanted to sing the pretty parts, and if it had a lead that was pretty, he wanted to sing that, and of course you can't do that in a group. We've often wondered where we'd be if he'd passed that audition, because of course he wouldn't have gone on to be the artist that he was, and he might have just stayed with singing in a quartet and traveling with a quartet, and he would have been one of the Blackwood Brothers. (laughs)

SO INSTEAD, ELVIS SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH GOSPEL SINGERS FOR HIS ENTIRE CAREER, STARTING WITH THE JORDANAIRES, THEN THE IMPERIALS AND FINALLY, J.D. SUMNER AND THE STAMPS.

HERE HE IS WITH THE JORDANAIRES. IN 1960.

Music: Milky White Way (2:15)

'MILKY WHITE WAY' ARRANGED AND PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY WITH THE JORDANAIRES AND MILLIE KIRKHAM.

IN A MINUTE, WE'LL HEAR MORE ABOUT THE EARLY INFLUENCE OF GOSPEL MUSIC ON ELVIS, RESISTANCE TO IT, AND A LOT MORE MUSIC.

I'M LAURA CANTRELL, AND YOU'RE LISTENING TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.'

Break 1 with music bed: 'His Hand in Mine' (1:00)

WELCOME BACK TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.' I'M LAURA CANTRELL.

Jerry Schilling: I can understand very much how that gospel music influenced Elvis in those early times, because these people, they moved, they were sharp dressers, all these things us poor boys looked up to, they were on stage smiling and singing and whatever.

JERRY SCHILLING WAS A LIFELONG FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE OF ELVIS.

Jerry Schilling: But again, it was one of the few influences that Elvis had. I would say gospel and R&B were the initial influences on Elvis. And all of this music sprang up from basically poor people who didn't have a voice, where church and music in the cotton fields were the only voice people had back then.

Music: Run On (2:23)

'RUN ON' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

Jerry Schilling: I think Elvis took more of his stage persona from R&B, and two, the gospel groups were not as choreographed energetically, I shouldn't even say choreographed ' unchoreographed ' as early R&B. but I think a gospel background kind of made you ready for R&B, as weird as that sounds. It was the next step to something different.

Music (under): Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho

LIFELONG FRIEND OF ELVIS, JERRY SCHILLING.

Jerry Schilling: You know, before this birth of rock and roll, young kids were basically exposed to the music of their parents, which Elvis and all of us were, too. When Elvis first went to Sam Philips' Sun Records, he didn't go in doing 'That's All Right, Mama,' you know that what we did Saturday night on Beale Street.

SAM PHILIPS OF SUN RECORDS WAS ON A MISSION TO SPREAD WHAT R&B AND BLUES, WHAT HE CONSIDERED AMERICA'S TRULY UNIQUE MUSIC. LIKE THE OTHER ARTISTS THAT WERE ON SUN RECORDS, JOHNNY CASH, JERRY LEE LEWIS, CARL PERKINS, ELVIS WAS NOT ALLOWED TO RECORD GOSPEL MUSIC. PHILIPS WASN'T INTERESTED, AND IT DIDN'T SELL LIKE THE POP MUSIC.

ALSO, ELVIS DIDN'T MIX HIS GOSPEL AND POP MUSIC.

GORDON STOKER OF THE JORDANAIRES.

Gordon Stoker: He didn't sing gospel songs like a rock and roll singer at all, he had a lot of heart and soul, a lot of meaning to each one of the gospel songs that he sang. He had listened to gospel quartets and gospel singers so much that he knew exactly the feeling they had, and he could put the same feeling into those songs.

Music: Take My Hand, Precious Lord (3:18)

ELVIS PRESLEY PERFORMED 'TAKE MY HAND, PRECIOUS LORD.'

THAT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST GOSPEL SONGS ELVIS RECORDED FOR RCA, BUT EVEN HIS NEW MAJOR LABEL DIDN'T WANT HIM TO DO MORE.

Gordon Stoker: RCA didn't want him to do religious songs, they fought him on that.

GORDON STOKER OF THE JORDANAIRES.

Gordon Stoker: He wanted to do 'Peace in the Valley' on the Ed Sullivan Show, and they said 'no, we've never had any religious song on the show and you're not going to sing one now.' He said 'look, I promised my mother that I would sing Peace in the Valley for her and I'm going to do it.' And the producers of the show said no, but when Ed Sullivan showed up, he told him 'i'd sure like to sing Peace in the Valley for my mother,' and Ed Sullivan looked at the producer and director and said 'let this boy do what he wants to do,' and since Elvis was such a super nice guy, who could say no to him'

AND EVEN THOUGH HE WAS SINGING GOSPEL AND NOT DOING HIS CHARACTERISTIC HIP GYRATIONS, ELVIS AND THE JORDANAIRES WERE FILMED FROM THE WAIST UP. THAT MEANT THE AUDIENCE MISSED WHAT WAS HAPPENING ON THE FLOOR.

Gordon Stoker: He wanted to be as close as possible to us. He just wanted the encouragement of us being close to him, and we stood as close to him as we could get, and at the end of the song he'd step back and stomp our toes. (laughs)

Music: Peace in the Valley (3:21)

'PEACE IN THE VALLEY' PERFORMED BY ELVIS IN 1957.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.' I'M LAURA CANTRELL.

ELVIS' LIFELONG FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE JERRY SCHILLING WATCHED THE DISCOURAGEMENT HEAPED ON ELVIS. BUT HE ALSO WITNESSED HOW ELVIS REACTED TO IT. TO SCHILLING, ELVIS CHANGED THE WORLD.

Music (under): In My Father's House

Jerry Schilling: I don't think you can talk about the birth of rock and roll and Elvis Presley and not talk about segregation, and particularly in the South where we grew up. There were no mixing of the races whatsoever back in time when we grew up. It was a lot of fear of the unknown, you know you may hear stories about people who may look different, and I'm sure they hear stories about us and whatever, and that was the beauty of rock and roll, that was the strength of Elvis Presley, to have the courage. It was dangerous for us kids to be listening to R&B, but to be playing it, and to be successful at it, it kind of shook up the whole society, because I think most learned social behaviors are usually based on some kind of economic situation, and I think that our society down South, the cotton fields and other low level wage jobs, segregation helped promote that, because you start giving equality to other people, they may even want equality in wages. I may be over philosophizing it, but I do believe strongly that it was based on the economic society of the South, and that's the bad news. The great news is that we've come a long way, and I think music, especially Elvis', you know, with his gospel, with his R&B, you know as much as he was dangerous doing R&B, he was getting the same criticism for wanting to do gospel on Ed Sullivan. He was told he couldn't do it, and he said 'no, I'm going to do it.' And then he went to Vegas, he had a gospel section, he had a gospel quartet on stage with him, they said you don't sing gospel in Vegas, he said 'I do.' But then again Elvis was not the kind of guy who stood on a platform and said 'look at what I did.' He just was so cool, he just did what he believed in and let everybody else talk about it for the next century or so.

Music: He Touched Me (2:39)

'HE TOUCHED ME' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

IN A MINUTE, A LOOK AT ELVIS' MORE PERSONAL MOMENTS WITH GOSPEL MUSIC AND HOW HE HELPED SPREAD IT TO A NEW AUDIENCE.

I'M LAURA CANTRELL, AND YOU'RE LISTENING TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.'

Break 2 with music bed: 'Mansion on the Hill' (1:00)

WELCOME BACK TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.' I'M LAURA CANTRELL.

FROM THE MOMENT OF HIS SUCCESS, ELVIS COULDN'T REALLY LEAD A NORMAL LIFE, AND THAT INCLUDED GOING TO CHURCH.

JERRY SCHILLING WAS A MEMBER OF THE MEMPHIS MAFIA, A GROUP OF ELVIS' CLOSE FRIENDS AND EMPLOYEES.

Jerry Schilling: I don't think you can be Elvis Presley and lead a normal life, it's just not possible. As down to earth as he was, it got difficult for him to go to church because he was too much of a distraction, and I think his going to church was enjoyment of singing gospel music with his friends, and he did that a lot. That was most of the happiest times. Even after concerts, getting a bunch of guys from stage with him and guys hanging around the piano, sing gospel music, laugh, it's a real camaraderie that I miss today. People today are on their computers or watching their tv show, I miss that camaraderie of the Memphis Mafia and all of our girlfriends and friends and wives and we spent time singing together, laughing together, talking about life.

Music: Amazing Grace (3:34)

'AMAZING GRACE' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

LIFELONG FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE JERRY SCHILLING LIVED AT GRACELAND FOR ALMOST 10 YEARS. HE SAW THE PRIVATE SIDE OF ELVIS.

Jerry Schilling: one of the most special moments, I'll never forget, was in 1964 and I had been living at Graceland for a couple of weeks. I lived downstairs, and we had been up kind of late the night before. I was the youngest and usually the first one up, I was a football player and kind of a health nut, and one morning I hear music upstairs. And I thought somebody left the radio on, and I walk upstairs and Elvis is sitting at the piano, nobody else up in the house, and singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone.' It was so powerful, it scared me, and I thought 'oh my god, I'm interrupting some great moment here.' And as he sang so powerfully, and he always sang great when he played the piano, he looked up and gave a wink and a little smile like it's cool and continued on his song 'You'll Never Walk Alone.'

Music: You'll Never Walk Alone (2:44)

ELVIS PRESLEY PERFORMED 'YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.'

Joe Moscheo: I don't think consciously he said 'we're going to play gospel music and we're gonna make these people listen,' I don't think he consciously did that. I think it was just so important to him, and he was being himself, and he wanted the people to hear this music, and it wasn't that he wasn't going out to save the world, or that he was going to be this instrument, you know, he wasn't trying to set any records or make any statement, but I do think subconsciously that he was saying 'you know what, this is great music, it has touched my life, and I want to share it with my audience.' I think that was the motive there. Whether or not any of us want to admit it, there was this calling on his life, and he was answering this calling, and he couldn't get away from it, you know' He had a huge following, a huge fan base, a group of people that would listen to anything that he sang, and this was a great opportunity to share this gospel music with that audience.

Music (under): Somebody Bigger Than You and I

JOE MOSCHEO SANG IN THE IMPERIALS QUARTET, BACKING UP ELVIS FOR YEARS IN LAS VEGAS.

Joe Moscheo: we were all waiting in the wings for the right time to go on, and a lot of times, he'd say 'let's pray before we go on,' and we'd get in a big circle, and somebody would lead a prayer and he'd encourage that. Or standing back in the wings waiting to go on , he'd break into 'Bosom of Abraham' or some gospel song like that, 'Peace in the Valley,' and he'd start singing it and everybody would start humming it in the background. It was like a cue that we'd, it was a way for him to get ready and a way to relax. There was a lot of that going on, he was a very spiritual guy.

Music: Bosom of Abraham (1:36)

'BOSOM OF ABRAHAM' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

YOU'RE LISTENING TO 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC.' I'M LAURA CANTRELL.

ELVIS SANG MORE AND MORE GOSPEL MUSIC AS TIME WENT ON, BUT HE WAS PLAGUED BY A CAREER THAT SEEMED OUT OF HIS CONTROL.

LIFELONG FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE, JERRY SCHILLING.

Jerry Schilling I think later on, as he matured and his life gets more difficult and was more experienced, he turned back to gospel music for strength, even for ways to communicate with his family and friends. And I think that was just a real source of his strength at difficult times and I think that was his way of going to church, and he certainly spread a lot of good religion through his gospel songs, you know, around the world.

AS A MEMBER OF THE JORDANAIRES, GORDON STOKER WORKED WITH ELVIS FROM 1956 TO 1971.

Gordon Stoker: His personality changed, he was not happy. He wasn't happy with the material, he wasn't happy with the Colonel, and everybody just gave him static, and he didn't want that, he just wanted to sing his song and be happy and go on about his happy way. And it worked out to be different than that.

ONE THING THAT CONTINUED TO MAKE ELVIS HAPPY WAS SINGING AND RECORDING GOSPEL MUSIC.

JERRY SCHILLING WATCHED ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS IN PERSON.

Jerry Schilling: I was there one night in the recording studio and he was in the recording room, and he recorded 'How Great Thou Art. At the end of that song, he had given his body and soul, and he just went down to the ground on one knee and turned white. And he kind of looked up, and he kind of knew that he had done something great, and he gave just a little smile. And of course that was his first Grammy, his first of three all for gospel music, never for rock and roll, and I still get chills this moment thinking about that moment.

Music: How Great Thou Art

'HOW GREAT THOU ART' PERFORMED BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

Music (under): So High

'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC' WAS PRODUCED BY JOYRIDE MEDIA, PAUL CHUFFO AND JOSHUA JACKSON ARE THE PRODUCERS.

OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER IS JOHN VERNILE.

ALL SONGS ON THIS PROGRAM CAN BE FOUND ON THE RCA LEGACY CD 'ELVIS: ULTIMATE GOSPEL.'

SPECIAL THANKS GO TO JEFF JONES, MATT STRINGER, ROB SANTOS, IRIS MAENZA, ROSEANN RIZZO, SAM GOMEZ, SHANNON MUELLER, ANDY CAHN, NADINE NASSAR AND ERNST JORGENSEN.

I'M LAURA CANTRELL, AND THANKS FOR LISTENING.

PROMO:

Jerry Schilling: it got difficult for him to go to church because he was too much of a distraction, and I think his going to church was in his enjoyment of singing gospel music with his friends, and he did that a lot.

I'M LAURA CANTRELL. JOIN US FOR 'HE TOUCHED ME: ELVIS'S GOSPEL MUSIC,' A LOOK AT THE LESSER-KNOWN SIDE OF ELVIS PRESLEY.

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