I Believe ~ 1956 Compilation

RCA VICTOR LPM-1172 ( F2PP-7396 / 7397 )

LPE-1172 STEREO ( M2PY-4739 / 4740 )

PRODUCED BY CHARLES GREAN

MONAURAL

1955 / 1956 / 1961

Side One

I Believe

Words and Music by Ervin Drake,

Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman

Onward Christian Soldiers

Music by Arthur S. Sullivan and lyrics by Sabine Baring-Gould

Adaptation by Norman Layden

Goodnight Sweet Jesus

Words and Music by Reverend James Curry

Act of Contrition

Traditional ~ Musical setting by Joseph J. Leahy

Ave Maria ( Schubert )

Original Music by Franz Schubert

The Rosary

Words and Music by Robert Cameron Rogers

and Ethelbert Nevin

Side Two

Eli, Eli

Traditional Jewish hymn in Hebrew

Adapted by George Sandler ( unverified )

Kol Nidrei

Traditional Jewish hymn in Hebrew

Nearer My God To Thee

Words and Music by Sarah F. Adams

and Lowell Mason

Abide With Me

Music by William Henry Monk

with lyrics by Henry Francis Lyte, 1861

The Lord's Prayer

Text from the Bible,

set by Albert Hay Malotte ( 1895-1964 )

Bless This House

Words and Music by Helen Taylor

and May H. Morgan ( a.k.a. Brahe ), 1927

from the 1952 RCA Victor 45 RPM Extended Play album "Favorite Songs of Worship" EPA-293

from the 1953 RCA Victor 45 RPM Extended Play album "Songs of Faith" EPA-410

By 1956 the 10" LP was being replaced by the new 12" LP format having twelve tracks in place of eight. This album compilation is a direct expansion of Perry's 1953 LP "I Believe" with the addition of four hymns taken from earlier releases. Perry's first recordings of "Ave Maria" and "The Lord's Prayer" were recorded in the Church of Incarnation, New York City, on September 30, 1949, with Choir and Organ directed by Mitchell Ayres. These two hymns, also produced by Charles Grean, are among the first recordings involving Ray Charles who would become Perry's Choral Director for almost forty years following this time. Ray Charles first began working with Perry in December, 1948, with the RCA Victor recordings of "Blue Room" and "With a Song in My Heart".

The compact disc released by BMG Special Products in 1999 titled "I Believe" is erroneously thought to be the 1953 compilation. It contains only two hymns from this album plus an alternate take version of "I Believe" conducted by Mitchell Ayres. All tracks within these compilations were recorded and released only in monaural. Electronically reprocessed stereo versions are of dubious quality.