"So how does a rock n’ roll icon artist paint over one hundred pieces and not have an Elvis in the collection – especially when, I myself, am a huge fan? Truth is, I had done a few Elvis pieces for private collectors early in my career but nothing that was ever published. Since then I’ve been haunted by the thought of the black velvet paintings of Elvis in yard sales and thrift shops. Quite frankly, Elvis had become somewhat cliché in icon art, in my opinion.
That all changed on the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Comeback Special. I heard that a theatre in my hometown was showing a one-time engagement of the special on a big screen with big sound. It was there that I heard Elvis explain that his sound, the sound of rock n’ roll in its infancy, was heavily influenced by the blues (which is no surprise) and gospel. This was the first I heard of gospel being credited in this way, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It was at this point that the concept hit me. By focussing on this early influence of rock n’ roll I can portray Elvis in an adolescent, almost unrecognisable state, therefore bypassing the cliché images of The King.
You would be hard pressed to find someone who knows less about gospel than me, so the title lyric would have to come from a quick Google search about Elvis’ gospel recordings. One song instantly hit me. A recording of Elvis covering arguably the most famous gospel song of all time – Amazing Grace. The lyric “How Sweet the Sound” was perfect…after all, Elvis was one of the founding fathers of the genre of music that “saved a wretch like me.”"
-Stickman
