If You Try - Complete Recordings 1956-1962 CD

Gene Allison
If You Try - Complete Recordings 1956-1962 CD

His time in the spotlight was brief, but Gene Allison was an integral part of Nashville’s thriving Rhythm & Blues scene in the 1950s.
His biggest hit, 1957’s You Can Make It If You Try, is a bona-fide classic of black American music and one that has been covered by many other artists.
You Can Make It wasn’t Gene’s first record, nor was it his only hit, but it set a standard for his subsequent work.
Gene struggled with personal demons for a significant portion of his career, but he always left them at home when it was time to record.
He always delivered a first class performance in the studio, on great songs written by such stellar R&B names as Brook Benton, Arthur Adams, Sonny Thompson, Sax Kari and Gene’s discoverer and long-time mentor Ted Jarrett.
Recorded in Nashville and Chicago, the songs on If You Try are the legacy of a great artist who deserves to be remembered for all of them, not just one outstanding hit and a couple of less successful follow-ups.