On the night of May 15, 1971, RCA's Studio B had been decorated for an early Christmas. A tree with beautifully wrapped empty boxes stood in the center of the room, but Elvis brought real gifts for the musicians and his associates---gold bracelets engraved "Elvis 71." All the players from the June 1970 sessions were back, and again there were no backup singers present. With no personal changes and as few distractions as possible, Felto Javis expected to be able to get all of Elvis's recordings done in a short order and save all the sweetening for later. As the group was getting started the old question of material came up, and there was some talk about the mysterious process new songs had to go through to make it to an Elvis session. But Elvis rendered the debate moot by choosing the first song himself: "Miracle Of The Rosary." Writer Lee Denson was an old Lauderdale Courts compatriot, and he'd brought the song directly to Elvis, who put it at the top of his agenda. As soon as they'd worked out an introduction on the organ the first take flowed beautifully, and Elvis led the musicians confidently through the four takes it took to complete the song. First released on Elvis Now 1972.
This was a request from Debbe who's Mom died a year and a half ago from Cancer. She was given 3-6 months to live and baffeled the Doctors by living almost 4 years. Her Mom was 71 when she died and very devoted to the catholic church and liked the song Elvis did titled "Miracle of the Rosary." Debbe says. "She would love to hear me sing in the church choir." She was born and raised in Calif.
Debbe's Dad was Rip Russell who died in 1976. HE was a former baseball player and he died on the golf course doing what he liked best. If you put his name into a search engine it will come up and you can see his baseball stats as well as his picture.
Mary Lou Russell Dec. 23, 1929 to Jan 23, 2001
Rip Russell Jan. 26, 1915 to Sept 26, 1976 |
