I have a curious relationship with gospel music. As a committed atheist, the 'message' of the medium shouldn't touch me and yet I can't deny I get a great deal of joy from listening to others celebrate their own faith in song. When it's done well, their own happiness and contentedness rubs off on me and that in itself is a force for the good though ironically, it's through listening to the likes of Clara Ward or Mahalia Jackson that my non-belief is confirmed - if Jackson's version of "In The Upper Room" can't convert me then, frankly, nothing is going to.*So after all that, why don't I like 'Crying In The Chapel'? Or rather, why don't I like Elvis Presley's version of 'Crying In The Chapel'? I like The Oriole's version well enough (largely for the reasons rehearsed above) so why not a version by a life long God fearing man who's sincerity can't be doubted? Because to elaborate further, it's not that I don't care for this version in particular - I don't have a lot of time for ANY of Elvis's gospel output (and there is a fair bit of it). Whereas in tackling a secular ballad like 'I Just Can't Help Believing' he can reach in and touch my heart, the locks are quickly changed as soon as he starts to get the spirit.
I thought initially that my turn off might be because I grew up on Elvis the rocker mixed with Elvis the balladeer and so a religious Elvis was one face too many. But it's not as simple as that either - after all, I don't have the same problems with, say, Sam Cooke or Aretha Franklin whose secular and devotional recordings manage to inspire me with the same level of delight (often more in Cooke's case). I think at bottom, Elvis's versatility is his downfall. I know he can 'do' sexy and I know he can 'do' rocking, but his success with these genres always short circuits (for me anyway) his attempts at gospel. One of my favourite Mahalia Jackson recordings is her version of 'I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song'; "Because I want to do aright
I can't go to church and shout all day Sunday. Go out and get drunk and raise sand all day Monday" It's all or nothing with Mahalia; she loves her Lord and there's no way you'll catch her going all Bessie Smith to holler some innuendo soaked blues belter ("I can't sing one thing and then live another, be saint by day and a devil undercover"), even though she could. Easily.
Similarly, after hearing (and loving) Elvis's Sun and early RCA recordings, I find their raw sexual energy negates the sincerity of his gospel output - if it were otherwise then, following Mahalia's template, for me to give his gospel credence would render him little more than an impersonator on those other recordings in my eyes, and I'm not prepared to give up that much. Which is why it's probably wilful blindness more than anything else that pulls down the shutters whenever Elvis goes to church.
Well that's Elvis and gospel anyway, and by now I seem to have lost sight of the task in hand. Yet after all that, it seems pointless to consider the present number one because you already know I'm not going to have many good words to say about it; written by Artie Glenn for his son Darell to sing (and originally recorded by Elvis in 1960), 'Crying In The Chapel' is an intensely personal, first person song that lays out it's vulnerability in its opening line: "You saw me crying in the chapel".
It's us the listener who 'saw' Elvis in that chapel and the tone of the song suggests 'we' are very much outside looking in, lost souls who'd do well to follow his example so that we'll "know the meaning of contentment" and "be happy with the Lord". This is gospel as evangelism, not celebration and Presley emphasises it to the max. The Oriole's version I namechecked earlier is a more upbeat take where Sonny Til sounds pleasantly self satisfied in his devotion while Elvis simply simpers and sounds far guiltier, almost like he's trying to justify what we've caught him doing - "Now I'm happy in the chapel" if that's true then he doesn't sound it and his case for the defence is somewhat weakened because of it. I've no doubt he's sincere, but 'Crying In The Chapel' is a single that neatly erects a barbed wire fence between myself and any meaningful enjoyment, with my prerequisite lack of faith being the climb proof paint that prevents me clambering over to join Elvis on his side.
* My reasoning here of divorcing a 'secondary' message from the main doesn't apply across the board though. For example, I couldn't listen to a pro-Nazi song without blanching, no matter how pretty or energetic or catchy the wrapping paper might be. I have immense difficulties with 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me', a song I regarded as an inspirational, carpe diem call to arms when I knew it as a Sensational Alex Harvey Band track but which hit me like a slap in the face when I first saw it in context (via Bob Fosse's film version of 'Cabaret') being sung by blonde haired Hitler youth. Even though it's meant to be ironic, it allowed evil to seep in where none previously existed.
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