The hymn was written by Mosie Lister, the composer and arranger of The Statesmen. The group had released the song in 1953 and it was a favorite of Gladys and Vernon Presley. Elvis recorded five takes of "His Hand In Mine", the master was spliced of the takes 5 and 4. The harmony voice was provided by Charlie Hodge. I like the song very much. RCA Victor re-released it in 1969 on a single, coupled with "How Great Thou Art". But the record sold so little copies, that it didn't even chart.

This is one of my favorites on the album. Elvis recorded five takes, but in the end he selected the first one for release. In 1948 the song was written by Cully Holt, by then the bass singer of The Jordanaires. At the time the king recorded "I'm Gonna Walk Them Golden Stairs" everyone thought it was on public domain. To save him from hard negotiations with Colonel Parker, Gordon Stoker adviced Cully to let them believe the track was without copyright until the album was released.

Elvis recorded eight takes of the song, but to create the master a workpart-take was needed. The song was written by Ailecne Hanks and was recorded for the first time by The Blackwood Brothers in 1954. The group was another of Gladys' and Vernon's favorites.

One of the album's highlights is "Milky White Way". It's not known, who wrote the song, but Elvis' version definitely was inspired by the version of The Trumpeteers, which was released in 1947. The king's performance has such a great, relaxed groove and the singer couldn't have sounded any better. He needed eight takes to archive this performance. In February 1966 RCA re-released "Milky White Way" together with "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" on a single, but it sold just 40,000 units and never charted.

This one was also issued in early 1966, but "Joshua Fit The Battle" / "Known Only To Him" was as unsuccessful as the afore mentioned gospel single. The hymn was written by Steward Hamblen and recorded by The Statesmen as well as The Blackwood Brothers. Elvis needed five attempts to get "Known Only To Him" right.

"I Believe In The Man In The Sky" was also from The Statesmen's repertoire. Elvis performed the song a bit faster, but otherwise he copied their arrangement. Take 4 became the master. The song was written by Richard Howard.

While serving the US Army in (West-) Germany Elvis was made aware of The Golden Gate Quartet by Charlie Hodge. The group was known for their uptempo songs, which also included the traditional "Joahua Fit The Battle". Of course everyone knew the song and so the king and his crew needed just four takes to nail a perfect version on tape. As mentioned before, RCA Victor re-released the track on a single in early 1966. For me, "Joshua Fit The Battle" is one of the highlights of this album.

Originally "When You Travel All Alone" was planned for the session, but Elvis desided to record "He Knows Just What I Need" instead. Both songs were written by Mosie Lister. At first Charlie Hodge sang along, but soon it turned out that the key was too high and so Millie Kirkham took over. Take 10 was selected for release.

Just like "Joshua Fit The Battle", this song also originated from the repertoire of The Golden Gate Quartet. Once again four attempts were enough to record a perfect version of the traditional. In 1966 RCA Victor re-released the track on the b-side of "Milky White Way", two years later Elvis recorded the song again for the movie "The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It)".

With "Mansion Over The Hilltop" Elvis returned to the catalogue of The Blackwood Brothers. He taped the song by Ira Stamphill within just three takes. 

This song was recorded even faster, everything was said and done within a single take. "If We Never Meet Again" was written by Albert Brumley, later it was sung by The Blackwood Brothers as well as by The Statesmen.

The album closes with a song of The Jordanaires' repertoire. Elvis keeps his performance close to their version and stays in the background a bit to merge with the group. Lillian Bowles and Winifred O'Hoyle are credited as writers, but in fact "Working On The Building" is an old traditional of unknown origins.

The ballad was written by Artie Glenn, the first recording was made in 1953 by his his son Darrell. After having recorded three takes Elvis wasn't pleased with the results at all. Besides that, there were some insecurities regarding the copyright and so it was decided to put the recordings in the vaults. By 1965 the legal problems were solved and a payment of 10,000 USD convinced the king to approve the release of take 3. On Billboard's "Hot 100" it peaked at number three, on the "Easy Listening Chart" the tune even bacame a number one hit. Worldwide "Crying In The Chapel" / "I Believe In The Man In The Sky" sold 3.75 million units, which equals 562.5 million paid streams. In 1986 the RIAA honored the domestic sales with a Gold Award, seven years later the status was updated to Platinum. "Crying In The Chapel" isn't a gospel song, it's more a kind of pop ballad that uses the scenery of a small chapel. Without doubt the song is well written and well performed. RCA Victor re-relleased it as a bonus track on the album "How Great Thou Art" (1967) and also used it on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970).

After "It's Now Or Never" turned out to be a sales monster, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman used the same principle and turned "Torna A Surriento" into "Surrender". First Elvis taped nine takes of the song, then he produced eight workpart-takes. The master was spliced of take 4 and workpart-take 8. With mediterranean music and dramatic vocals the singer tries to convince a lady to succumb to him. Commercially they did. In early 1961 "Surrender" / "Lonely Man" became a number one hit and when BMG re-released the single in 2005, it surprisingly made it up to number two of the UK Charts. During Elvis' lifetime RCA re-issued the track on the longplayer "Elvis' Golden Records - Volume 3" (1963) and on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970). By the way: The original single sold 6 million copies, which translates to 900 million paid streams.