Just in time for Easter RCA Victor released the gospel single "Crying In The Chapel" / "I Believe In The Man In The Sky". On April 24, 1965 the a-side entered Billboard's "Hot 100" at number 79, was listed for 14 weeks and peaked at number 3. On May 1st "Crying In The Chapel" also entered the "Easy Listening Chart". Here it reached the number one spot and kept it for seven consecutive weeks. In 1986 the RIAA honored the domestic sales with a Gold Award, seven years later the status was updated to Platinum. Outside the US the single also sold well, in Great Britain, Spain and Australia it became a number one hit. In total RCA Victor sold 3.75 million units, which equals 562.5 million paid streams. Commercially this release is a real comeback for the king, no other 45 since "Return To Sender" / "Where Do You Come From" (1962) had sold that well. "Crying In The Chapel" still is quite popular and clocks in at 28 million streams on Spotify. Even the remake, as featured in 2018 on the album "Where No One Stands Alone", was streamed 1.2 million times.

The picture on the front cover was made in 1964 to promote the movie "Girl Happy". RCA Victor used the backside to advertise the gospel album "His Hand In Mine" (1960) and the gospel ep "Peace In The Valley" (1957).

The single is not available on the streaming platforms. But "Crying In The Chapel" can be found on the album "How Great Thou Art" (1967) and "I Believe In The Man In The Sky" is part of "His Hand In Mine" (1960).

The ballad was written by Artie Glenn, the first recording was made in 1953 by his his son Darrell. Elvis had recorded three takes of "Crying In The Chapel" on October 30, 1960 for his gospel album "His Hand In Mine", but wasn't pleased with the results. 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. "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 released 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).

In contrast to "Crying In The Chapel" I would regard "I Believe In The Man In The Sky" as a real gospel. The first recording was made by Bill Kenny in 1953, the song was written by Richard Howard. Elvis needed four takes on October 30, 1960 to deliver a perfect master. RCA later released it on "His Hand In Mine" (1960) and "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2" (1971).