| "Put Your Hand in the Hand" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ocean | ||||
| from the album Put Your Hand in the Hand | ||||
| B-side | "Tear Down the Fences" | |||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 1970 | |||
| Genre | Pop, Gospel music | |||
| Length | 2:52 | |||
| Label | Kama Sutra Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Gene MacLellan | |||
| Producer | Greg Brown, Ocean | |||
| Ocean singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"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.
The song was later covered by Canadian band Ocean and released as the title track to their debut album. Their version of the track is arguably the most popular version of the track, peaking at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and went on to become 22nd best-seller of 1971.
Contents |
7" single
A1 "Put Your Hand in the Hand" - 2:52
A2 "Tear Down the Fences" - 2:53
The song was also covered in the 1970s by a number of other performers, including the original version Anne Murray (who previously had a hit with another MacLellan song, "Snowbird"), Elvis Presley (who also covered MacLellan's "Snowbird"), Randy Stonehill, Frankie Laine, Donny Hathaway, Joan Baez and a German language version ("Ich fand eine Hand") by Cindy and Bert. Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong covered the song in a January 1976 episode of Hee Haw. Country singers Lynn Anderson and Loretta Lynn also recorded the song.
The song's main title was used for the dance group Divine Inspiration's 2003 hit, "The Way (Put Your Hand in My Hand)", which peaked at #5 on the UK singles chart.
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.[1]
Today, the song is sought out for its opening breakbeat of open drums, which has been used by many DJs for hip hop songs, including the Beastie Boys.[2]