艾維斯普萊斯里(Elvis Presley)，20世紀50年代起風靡全球，甚至影響美國文化的流行音樂歌手。即使在台灣，西洋流行音樂愛好者的心目中，也有不可搖動的地位。他是第一位以白人身分將帶有種族色彩的黑人節奏藍調，融合鄉村歌曲、福音歌曲帶進白人社會。因為他的魅力，搖滾樂成為對美國社會影響最深遠的文化之一。
據1971年統計，他的單曲唱片銷量達到1.55億張，專輯2500萬張，這一紀錄只有披頭四(The Beatles)以及平克勞斯貝(Bing Crosby)可以比擬。他一生獲得三次葛萊美獎(Grammy Awards)，令人驚訝的是，這三次完全是福音歌曲表演獎： “How Great Thou Art”(1967年)、”He Touched Me”(1972年)，以及 “How Great Thou Art” (1974年現場錄音).
但是，令人遺憾的，1977年8月16日被發現在浴室昏倒，經送往醫院急救後過世，田納西化驗所報告稱：年42歲，因心律失常導致心臟病突發死亡，體重159公斤，可能肇因於藥物過量、酗酒……
艾維斯1935年1月8日生於美國密西西比州，父親是卡車司機，母親是裁縫。他的巒生兄弟胎死母腹，因此母親格外溺愛，從小不讓生人接觸他。他深愛而且依賴他的母親，十、一二歲時還常爬上母親的床撒嬌。事實上，艾維斯非常害羞、內向，在學的時候，因受同學欺侮和排擠，常到當地Memphis非洲裔美國人區的Beale Street(這條街是藍調的發源地)，觀看、模仿黑人歌唱跳舞，這段時期對他的音樂風格有極大影響。
艾維斯的音域寬廣涵蓋兩個八度，甚至可飆到高音A，音色非常特殊，高音嘹亮，低音令人不可預測。哥倫比亞大學音樂教授山多說：艾維斯是男中音，但又是男低音和男高音，不論古典或流行歌者中，都極不尋常。
《Crying in the Chapel》這首歌原作者是Artie Glenn於1952年所寫，後由黑人合唱團The Orioles演唱，艾維斯聽到首歌極為喜愛，1960年由Jordanaires樂團合聲錄音，1965年發行，成為當年美國流行歌曲排行榜第三名，也是艾維斯第一首在英國排名第一的暢銷冠軍曲。
艾維斯從小參加教會詩班，一生都鍾愛福音歌曲，他的演唱會幾乎都會以How Great Thou Art《你真偉大》這首詩歌結束。過世那天，臥室內唱機上放置的是福音樂團Stamps Quartet的福音歌曲唱片。他從不願人們稱他是“王”，他說；「王，只有一位，那就是主耶穌」。根據富比士，他過世後的唱片銷售，每年依然有四千萬美元收入。不論他因任何原因猝死，願神祝福他，在天上所積存的財富比在地上更豐富。
“Crying in the Chapel” is a song written by Artie Glenn for his son Darrell to sing. Darrell recorded it while still in high school in 1953, along with Artie’s band the Rhythm Riders. It became a local hit and publishers got a hold of it and it went nationwide. He released the original version as a single as Valley 105 in 1953. His original recording reached number one on the Cash Box charts where all the different versions were amalgamated and number six on Billboard. Darrell Glenn’s original version also hit number six on the Billboard pop singles chart and number four on the Billboard country and western chart, Rex Allen’s number eight, Ella Fitzgerald number 15, and Art Lund reached number 23.
A recording by June Valli with orchestra directed by Joe Reisman was made in New York City on June 11, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog umber 20-5368 (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master’s Voice label as catalog numbers HR 10007, N 14105 and CS 14. This was the most successful pop version on the Billboard charts, reaching number four after charting for 17 weeks beginning August 1, 1953.
On October 30, 1960, Elvis Presley recorded a version of the song during the sessions for his RCA Record gospel album, His Hand in Mine. It was not included on that album, but rather was held back by RCA and finally released as an “Easter Special” single (447-0643) in April 1965, hitting number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and topping the Easy Listening chart for seven weeks, the greatest chart success for Presley over a six-year span. The single reached number one on the British charts in 1965 where it stayed for two weeks. It was later included as a bonus track on Presley’s 1967 gospel album, How Great Thou Art. The single was eventually certified “Platinum” by the RIAA for sales in excess of one million units in the US.
By Elvis Presley
Lyrics