If It's Alright With You (2021 Remaster) Gene MacLellan

• 1 Put Your Hand In The Hand (2021 Remaster) 03:05
• 2 Ain't No Tellin' (How Time Flies) (2021 Remaster) 02:46
• 3 Canterbury Song  (2021 Remaster) 02:27
• 4 If It's Alright With You (2021 Remaster) 02:59
• 5 Shilo Song (2021 Remaster) 02:26
• 6 Natural Born Friend (2021 Remaster) 02:29
• 7 Won't Talk About Love Anymore (2021 Remaster) 04:40
• 8 When You're Not Around  (2021 Remaster) 02:42
• 9 Faces  (2021 Remaster) 03:50
• 10 One With You (2021 Remaster) 02:39
• Total Runtime 30:03

Info for If It's Alright With You (2021 Remaster)

Singer songwriter, JUNO Award winner, and Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Gene MacLellan, the self-effacing songwriter from Prince Edward Island, continues his reissue series with the release of his 1977 album If It’s Alright With You, out April 25 via Universal Music Canada. This new re-issue follows the recent re-issue of his debut album Gene MacLellan that included both the original 1970 self-titled debut Gene MacLellan and its U.S. counterpart Street Corner Preacher album.

With the success of the hit songs MacLellan penned including “Snowbird” (Anne Murray) and “Put Your Hand In The Hand” (Ocean), he quickly became a household name in Canada, and an in-demand songwriter in Nashville and Los Angeles. For many, the acclaim would be a dream come true, but MacLellan was cut from different cloth – he did not want the attention, did not need the adulation, and did not trust the money. In 1971, to try to escape the pressures and constant demands, MacLellan and his new wife Claudia moved to an isolated farmhouse on Prince Edward Island, without a phone or even running water at first, but even in isolation, the requests kept piling up.

In June 1972, MacLellan announced he was quitting the music business, and so the next part of the MacLellan legend was formed; he quit music, gave away his fortune, and disappeared. The reality was that the retirement lasted about a month. After a miserable few weeks traveling in Europe, the couple split up, and MacLellan moved to Toronto, and was back on stage at The Riverboat. MacLellan was still writing, and new, moody songs were mixed with numbers that hinted at his religious background. Anne Murray recorded “If It’s Alright With You” for her 1975 album Together, while MacLellan held on to “Faces,” about feeling alone in a sea of people.

In 1976, finally up to making another record, he was in the studio with producer John Capek (songwriter for Rod Stewart, Diana Ross) and a first-rate band featuring Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame member Prakash John (Parliament, Lou Reed), drummer Whitey Glan (Mandala, Alice Cooper) and studio ace Bob Mann on guitar (James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt). The sessions were more polished than MacLellan’s previous work, with keyboards, backing vocals, strings, and horns playing big roles. “Won’t Talk About Love Anymore” reflected his spiritual search, “Natural Born Friend” had a brightness and optimism, while “One With You,” spoke to his new marriage and renewed faith. Anne Murray also contributes vocals to two songs. Billed as ‘special friend,’ she appears on “Shilo Song”, one of MacLellan’s most beautiful compositions, and “Put Your Hand In The Hand” which he finally got to record for himself.

While “Snowbird” remains an integral part of Canadian culture, and “Put Your Hand In The Hand,” “The Call,” and “Bidin’ My Time” are still beloved, MacLellan’s own recordings have all but disappeared. This album has not been reissued since going out of print shortly after its release, nor has his debut, Gene MacLellan/Street Corner Preacher. Finally, it is a joy to be able to bring these recordings back for the many fans who have wondered about him over the years, and to introduce these exceptional compositions to a new generation.

Finally, it is a joy to be able to bring these recordings back for the many fans who have wondered about him over the years, and to introduce these exceptional compositions to a new generation. This long sought-after reissue of his now 1977 Canadian classic has been remastered and restored from the original master tapes.

Gene MacLellan, Anne Murray,
Digitally remastered

Gene Philip MacLellan
songwriter, singer, guitarist (born 2 February 1938 in Val-d'Or, QC; died 19 January 1995 in Summerside, PEI). Gene MacLellan was a country, pop and gospel singer-songwriter. His songs “Snowbird” and “Put Your Hand in the Hand” won Grammy Awards in 1971; they were also declared Canadian classics by SOCAN and were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Winner of the 1971 Juno Award for Canadian composer of the year, MacLellan was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Association’s Hall of Fame and Nova Scotia’s Music Hall of Fame. He also received the East Coast Music Association’s Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award, and was honoured at the ECMA awards in both 1995 and 1996.

Gene MacLellan once said, “I try to make some sort of statement in (my) songs. I like to write songs with positive messages, songs about love. I feel that I have been given a gift, and that I should use it.”

Born in Val d’Or, Quebec, raised in Toronto, and eventually moving on to the Maritimes to pursue his music, MacLellan first appeared on television on “The Don Messer Show” and was briefly a regular on CBC Halifax’s “Singalong Jubilee”, where he met Anne Murray and producer Brian Ahern.

MacLellan wrote two of the best known songs in Canadian country music, ‘Snowbird’ and ‘Put Your Hand in the Hand’, both of which touched on MacLellan’s love of nature and love of God and contributed to some of the world’s most unforgettable melodies and messages.

MacLellan won a Juno Award in 1970 for ‘Composer of the Year’, and received PRO Canada’s ‘William Harold Moon Award’ in 1987 for International Achievement.

Known as a quiet, modest and shy man, MacLellan wrote songs recorded by Anne Murray, Elvis Presley, The Oakridge Boys and Bing Crosby. He avoided the spotlight for more intimate settings, performing instead at churches, penitentiaries and retirement homes. He has performed on gospel broadcasts, as well as provided counseling to prison inmates.

Four singles from his 1970 debut album for Capitol Records became Top 20 hits in Canada for MacLellan.

Gene MacLellan passed away on January 19, 1995 at the age of 56.

This album contains no booklet.