Amazing Grace. I’ve never been a huge fan of this song. But Dan Vasc has changed that.

Before we get to Dan, though, what about John Newton, the English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist who, in December 1772, at the age of 47, felt a grace so intense that he began composing a sermon that would eventually become a hymn we still sing today.

Originally, it is believed that the congregation simply recited the words or chanted them as part of the church service. Later, Newton’s powerful words of divine love and forgiveness would be put to music, a variety of melodies were used until the one we all know today was composed in 1835 (some sources give 1844) by William Walker.

It would take a while to catch on.

It  was first “professionally” recorded in 1922. That recording was performed by the Sacred Harp Choir (who performed the song acapella) and their version was released over the OKeh label. Since then, the song has been recorded more than 7,000 times.

Elvis covered it. As did Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli, and Johnny Cash. Willie Nelson performed it live at Farm Aid.

The most famous version though is the one that has been listed by the US National Recording Registry [a collection of songs that have been recognized for their cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s aural legacy]: the one by Judy Collins.

It was early 1970. Collins, along with her then boyfriend, the actor Stacy Keach, had just been part of an encounter group where everyone’s emotions about the then-raging war in Vietnam had come to the fore. Immediately, afterward, to decompress, Collins led her companions in an impromptu rendition of “Amazing Grace,” the only song everyone seemed to know all the words to. Both the beauty of the song’s message and the beauty of the singers’s voices, inspired Collins and her record producer, Mark Abramson, who was in also attendance, to record the song. Later, Collins, Keach, Abramson, Collin’s brother John and his girlfriend, Abigale, and Abramson’s wife, Janet, as well as their mutual friend Harris Yulin, gathered inside St. Paul’s, a small church on the Columbia University campus, to sing the song one more time and record the results.

I’ve never liked the song. Even though I know the words I’ve heard it that often.

Neither am I a metal fan.

But Dan Vasc who has done loads of metal-style covers of everything from Adeste Fidelis to the Seal classic Kiss From A Rose has sold me. His cover gives the hymn what’s always been missing for me – welly. He gives it welly. It’s powerful stuff.

Am grateful that I took the time to click on a Facebook suggestion and made my peace with this song.

Enjoy.