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His time in the national spotlight was brief, but Gene Allison was an integral part of Nashville's thriving R&B scene in the 1950s and 60s, and contributed greatly to the transition from R&B to soul in Music City. His biggest hit, 1957's 'You Can Make It If You Try', is a bona-fide classic of black American music and one that has been recorded by many other artists subsequently - including the Rolling Stones, who revived it on their debut LP in 1963. 'You Can Make It' forged a template for soul, long before it was called soul. It wasn't Gene's first record, nor was it his only hit, but it set a standard for all his subsequent work until the arrival of the actual soul era in early 1963, as brought together for the first time on this Jasmine collection. Gene struggled with personal demons for a significant portion of his career, but he always left them at home when it was time to record, and always delivered a first class performance on great songs written by such stellar R&B names as Brook Benton, Arthur Adams, Sonny Thompson, Sax Kari and Gene's discoverer and long-time mentor Ted Jarrett. Recorded in Nashville and Chicago, the songs on "If You Try" are the legacy of a great artist who deserves to be remembered for all of them, not just one outstanding hit and a couple of less successful follow-ups. Hopefully this CD will help to remind the world of the importance of Gene Allison's superb discography.