| Genres: |
Christian & Gospel
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| Descriptive "tags": |
soul • southern soul • soul-blues • rock and roll • deep soul • library • need to rate
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| Decades Active: |
1950s
•
2000s
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| Links online: |
Wikipedia
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Biography
Versle Eugene Allison, 29 August 1934, Pegram, Tennessee, USA, d. 28 February 2004, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Allison worked for several years in the famed Nashville gospel groups the Fairfield Four and Skylarks, before he hit the R&B and pop charts in 1957 with ‘You Can Make It If You Try’. In 1956 producer/songwriter Ted Jarrett plucked Allison out of the Skylarks and launched him on a solo secular career on Jarrett’s Calvert label. The following year, Chicago-based Vee Jay Records picked up his ‘You Can Make It If You Try’, penned by Jarrett, and made the record a number 3 R&B hit and a Top 40 record on the pop chart. The song was a slow ballad sung with smouldering gospel fervour, which made it a soul record before the word ‘soul’ was coined. Allison followed that record in 1958 with two more gospel-flavoured hits, ‘Have Faith’ (number 11 R&B) and ‘Everything Will Be All Right’ (number 19...
Read the Full Biography of Gene Allison
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