Take My Hand, Precious Lord

Elvis recorded the song in 1957 for his upcoming Christmas album and it had been written by Thomas A. Dorsey, writer of another great gospel song; ‘Peace In The Valley.’

Dorsey, known as ‘Georgia Tom’ in his early years, took the took of the song from a hymn called ‘Maitland,' which was originally credited to George Allen, who wrote the song in the late 1840’s/early 1850’s - however, the ‘Plymouth Collection’ showed Allen to have adapted the song from a 1693 hymn by Thomas Shepherd called ‘Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone.’ That hymn was based partly upon the chapters of Matthew and Luke and was later translated into German and Russian lyrics.

‘Precious Lord, Take My Hand,’ as the song is also known, has also been recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, BB King, Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves, Little Richard, Tina Turner, Englebert Humperdink and even Beyonce, to name just a few - it has also been translated into roughly 50 different languages. Unfortunately, the lyrics stem from the very sad of Dorsey’s wife and son during childbirth in 1932. 

It has often been said since that the song was Martin Luther King’s favourite and it is well known that he would get Mahalia Jackson to sing the song at civil rights rallies and it has also been said that his last words were to have the song played at an event he was attending that very night. Jackson sung it at King’s funeral, which Elvis watched on TV while filming ‘Live A Little, Love A Little.’ Jackson’s version won her a Grammy and it was performed at her funeral by the late Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, in 1972.

Of course it was King’s death that inspired ‘If I Can Dream.’