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Put Your Hand in the Hand
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Put Your Hand in the Hand
| cover = Ocean - Put Your Hand in the Hand single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Ocean
| album = Put Your Hand in the Hand
| B-side = Tear Down the Fences
| released = February 1971
| format =
| recorded = 1970
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop, gospel
| length = 2:52
3:53 Remix 2006
| label = Kama Sutra
| writer = Gene MacLellan
| producer = Greg Brown, Ocean
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Deep Enough for Me
| next_year = 1970
| misc =
}}
"'Put Your Hand in the Hand'" is a gospel pop song composed by Gene MacLellan and first recorded by Canadian singer Anne Murray from 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 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. The song also reached No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It went on to become 22nd best-seller of 1971.
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.
The song was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. 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.
Track listing
'7" single'
A1 "Put Your Hand in the Hand" 2:52
A2 "Tear Down the Fences" 2:53
Chart history
Weekly charts
;OceanYear-end charts
;Alan Garrity
Cover versions
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 Rene 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.
South African singer Ray Dylan recorded it on his 2009 album 'Goeie Ou Country - Op Aanvraag'.
Later uses
* In a 1991 episode of the sitcom 'Family Matters' titled "Choir Trouble", the cast was singing the song in their church as part of their Gospel Fest.
* In the 2013 film 'Prisoners'.
* In a 2017 episode of US television series 'Last Man Standing' titled Take Me to Church
References
Category:1970 songs
Category:1971 debut singles
Category:Anne Murray songs
Category:Canadian religious songs
Category:Christian songs
Category:Elvis Presley songs
Category:Gospel songs
Category:Joan Baez songs
Category:Ocean (band) songs
Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand
Category:Number-one singles in Norway
Category:Number-one singles in South Africa
Category:Songs written by Gene MacLellan
Category:Kama Sutra Records singles
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