"Put Your Hand in the Hand" | ||||
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Single by Ocean | ||||
from the album Put Your Hand in the Hand | ||||
B-side | "Tear Down the Fences" | |||
Released | February 1971 [1] | |||
Genre | Pop, gospel | |||
Length | 2:52 3:53 – Remix 2006 | |||
Label | Kama Sutra | |||
Songwriter(s) | Gene MacLellan | |||
Producer(s) | Greg Brown, Ocean | |||
Ocean singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"Put Your Hand in the Hand" (single edit) on YouTube |
"Put Your Hand in the Hand" is a gospel pop song composed by Gene MacLellan and first recorded by Canadian singer Anne Murray in 1970 on her third studio album, Honey, Wheat and Laughter .
It became a hit single for the Canadian band Ocean, released as their debut single and title track to their 1971 debut album. The song peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, kept from No. 1 by "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. [2] It remained in the top 10 for seven weeks, [3] and was ranked as the No. 33 song for 1971 according to Billboard. The song also reached No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. [4] The band received fan mail for the song from religious figures such as Billy Graham and the Bishop of Toronto. [5]
After MacLellan's suicide in 1995, his friend and fellow Atlantic Canadian musician Ron Hynes wrote the song "Godspeed" as a tribute, the lyrics for which reference the title of this song. [6]
The song was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. [7] A remix from the same year adds an instrumental, which occurs between the second chorus and the second verse, as well as a repeat of the chorus and a final instrumentalist chorus, that ends without the fade. [8]
7" single
A1 "Put Your Hand in the Hand" – 2:52
A2 "Tear Down the Fences" – 2:53
| Year-end charts
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The song was covered in the 1970s by a number of other performers, including Elvis Presley (who also covered MacLellan's "Snowbird"), Randy Stonehill, Larry Norman, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Frankie Laine, Donny Hathaway, Joan Baez, Shirley Caesar, Dutch group Himalaya, the Les Humphries Singers, a German-language version ("Ich fand eine Hand") [I Found a Hand] by Cindy & Bert, a French-language version ("Prends ma main") by Canadian singer Renée Martel, and recorded by Bing Crosby for his 1972 album Bing 'n' Basie . It was also covered, and often sung in concert, by Anita Bryant.
Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong rendered his take on the song in a January 1976 episode of Hee Haw . Country acts Sandy Posey, Lynn Anderson, Loretta Lynn, and The Oak Ridge Boys also recorded the song.
Christopher Norton and Richard Lacy made minor wording changes in a release under Whole World Publishing's 1999 copyright. [29]
South African singer Ray Dylan recorded it on his 2009 album Goeie Ou Country - Op Aanvraag. [30]
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance on Me". Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
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Ocean was a Canadian gospel/soft rock band formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario. They are best known for their 1971 single "Put Your Hand in the Hand". The single peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
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"Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album Stand by Your Man. It proved to be the most successful record of Wynette's career, and is one of the most familiar songs in country music. The song was placed at number one on CMT's list of the Top 100 Country Music Songs.
Gene MacLellan was a Canadian singer-songwriter from Prince Edward Island. Among his compositions were "Snowbird", made famous by Anne Murray, "Put Your Hand in the Hand", "The Call", "Pages of Time" and "Thorn in My Shoe". Elvis Presley, Lynn Anderson, Loretta Lynn, Joan Baez, and Bing Crosby were among the many artists who recorded MacLellan's songs.
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