How ELVIS came to sing the HAIL MARY
Elvis Presley sang about blue suede shoes and devils in disguise — and once the Hail Mary. On the 45th anniversary of the singer’s death at 42, Günther Simmermacher explains how the Pentecostal Christian came to sing a most Catholic of songs.
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S THE WORLD LOOKS BACK at the life of Elvis Presley on the 45th anniversary of his death at 42 on August 16, 1977, Catholics may note with interest that the erstwhile King of Rock & Roll once sang a song about the Rosary. Elvis was not a Catholic — he came from a Pentecostal background — but he was a devout Christian. Indeed, he was greatly influenced by gospel music, no less so than he was by rhythm & blues and country music. All of these often overlapped at the time anyway to give birth to rock & roll in the 1950s. Sometimes, these influences crossed over into the Catholic terrain, as they did in 1950 when one of Elvis’ childhood heroes, country star Red Foley (whose song “Old Shep” was young Elvis’ favourite), recorded a song dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. Presley drew his influences widely, but when he was a young upand-coming singer, Elvis shared with his beloved mother Grace an obsession for the white gospel duo the Louvin Brothers. Elvis once described gospel music as “the purest thing there is on this earth”, and loved to sing songs of faith — in the studio, on stage, and especially in private jam sessions. The singer did not always live an exemplary Christian life, but he was always seeking God. “I believe in the Bible. I believe that all good things come from God. I don’t believe I’d sing the way I do if God hadn't wanted me to,” he once said. His interest in faith was lifelong. Found next to his dead body on August 16, 1977, was a book on the Shroud of Turin.
Elvis the Gospel Singer
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Throughout his career, Presley put on record many gospel songs of different backgrounds: traditionals, black gospel, country gospel, and church The Southern Cross
Elvis Presley and Lee Denson
hymns such as “How Great Thou Art”. With one of them, “Crying In The Chapel” (previously a hit for vocal group The Orioles), he had an international bestseller. The most unusual of the lot must be “Miracle Of The Rosary”, which Elvis recorded for his 1972 album Elvis Now!, which also featured covers of hits such as The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain”. The Rosary song is the LP’s second title, after the Kristofferson and before The Beatles songs. The lyrics couldn’t be any more devout: Oh Blessed Mother we pray to Thee Thanks for the miracle of your Rosary Only You can hold back Your Holy Son’s hand Long enough for the whole world
to understand Hail Mary full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed are thou among women And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Oh Holy Mary, dear Mother of God Please pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death And give thanks once again For the miracle of your Rosary. A powerful Catholic statement by a man who knew little about Catholicism, growing up in a region where the Church of Rome is in a tiny minority, and adhering to a denomination whose relationship with Catholicism is, well, complicated. And yet, here Elvis is singing about the Rosary — and not on some obscure gospel LP but on a gold-selling pop album. And it wasn’t the record company that had suggested the song: it was chosen by Presley himself — as a favour for an old friend who had written it many years earlier.
A Miracle of the Rosary The writer was Lee Denson, one of Elvis’ first friends after the Presley family moved from Tupelo, Mississippi to Memphis in 1948, when Elvis was 13. It was Lee, two years older, who taught Elvis his first guitar chords. Denson went on to have a career as a rockabilly singer, with some success but no hits. In 1957 he and Elvis played together on stage for the first and last time, at a charity concert. In 1961 Denson had a rare get-together with his old friend. During that encounter he played Elvis his song “Miracle Of The Rosary”, which he had recorded the previous year. They never met again.
