Back in the early ’70s there were quite a few spiritually driven tunes on the pop charts. We’re talking so-called Jesus Rock songs like “Day By Day,” “Are You Ready?,” “Spirit in the Sky,” “My Sweet Lord,” and today’s classic song of the day, “Put Your Hand in the Hand” by a group called Ocean. Released as a single in February of 1971, “Put Your Hand in the Hand” reached #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and #4 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. It went all the way to #1 in Belgium, New Zealand, and Norway, but only hit #10 on the Canadian charts.
Ocean was a band from Canada and “Put Your Hand in the Hand” was written by a Canadian, singer-songwriter Gene MacLellan. Mr. MacLellan also wrote the tune “Snowbird” for another Canadian artist, singer Anne Murray. In fact, Ms. Murray was the first to record “Put Your Hand in the Hand,” for her 1970 album, Honey, Wheat and Laughter.
“Put Your Hand in the Hand” was the only U.S. hit for Ocean. They had a few more minor hits in their native Canada (including “One More Chance,” which hit #1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart), but were essentially a one-hit wonder here in the States. The group only released two albums and broke up in 1975.
