Christian Calm From Canada: “Put Your Hand In The Hand” by Ocean

Following the hushed turbulence of What’s Going On?, it’s perhaps a relief to turn to a straightforward, uplifting religious song, one which you probably sang at school (I certainly did), even though it was never a hit in the UK. Written by Gene MacLellan, who was born in Quebec, grew up in Toronto and eventually moved to Prince Edward Island, “Put Your Hand” was first recorded by the former gym teacher from Nova Scotia, Anne Murray, on her debut album (Murray’s first international hit “Snowbird” was also a MacLellan song).

But it was the Toronto-based group Ocean who made the song a hit single. Possibly their most significant member was bassist/singer Jeff Jones, who was a founder member of Rush before making way for Geddy Lee, and who later went on to work with Tom Cochrane in Red Rider. Janice Morgan (later Janice Penfield) sang lead, however, and the band give the song a finely noble reading; there is something about the wearied patience of their performance that puts me in mind of The Band – which is hardly surprising, since back in the fifties MacLellan had worked with a very young Robbie Robertson in The Consuls and The Suedes; on their similarly titled debut album, Ocean do a very decent cover of Robertson’s “The Stones That I Throw,” a song dating back to the days of Levon and The Hawks. Alas, MacLellan’s fate was not so different from that of Richard Manuel; he lost his father in a car crash in 1963 in which he himself sustained lifelong scarring of the left side of his face. Prone to periods of severe depression, he took his own life in January 1995; it is a shame that the faith expressed in his best-known song didn’t work out for him in the end.

Date Record Made Number Two: 1 May 1971

Number Of Weeks At Number Two: 1

Record At Number One: “Joy To The World” by Three Dog Night

UK Chart Position: None

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