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Gene Allison (born Versie Eugene Allison, Pegram, Tennessee, August 29, 1934 – d. Nashville, Tennessee, February 28, 2004) was an American R&B singer.

Allison grew up in Nashville, singing in the church choir with his brother Leevert. As a teen, Allison was offered a chance to sing with The Fairfield Four and, later, The Skylarks. Producer Ted Jarrett signed Allison to Calvert Records to record secular music; soon after Jarrett got him a deal with Vee-Jay Records along with Larry Birdsong. His debut single was "You Can Make it If You Try", released in 1957; it became a hit in the U.S., even cracking the pop charts in early 1959.

Allison would go on to score two more hit singles at the end of the 1950s, and the success of "You Can Make it If You Try" allowed him to open a 24-hour soul food restaurant called Gene's Drive-In in Nashville. Allison continued to perform well beyond his brief period of fame. He died of kidney failure at age 69 on February 28, 2004.

While not immune to the filler epidemic throughout LPs in the pre-Beatles era, Gene Allison's lone Vee-Jay release nevertheless remains a compelling portrait of a singer at the tipping point of R&B's evolution into soul, balancing Allison's raw, passionate vocals against atmospheric arrangements that nod to the changes to come. Kicking off with his biggest hit, "You Can Make It If You Try," the album draws heavily on Allison's Southern heritage, with a grittiness that anticipates the emergence of Memphis deep soul. While Allison is by no means a singer on par with an Otis Redding or a Wilson Pickett, his muscular yet sensitive approach is nevertheless supremely effective, evoking loss and lust with real power.

Best remembered for the R&B classic "You Can Make It if You Try," singer Gene Allison was born Versle Eugene Allison in Pegram, TN, on August 29, 1934. Seven years later, his family relocated to Nashville, where he and brother Leevert (later a professional gospel singer) honed their vocal talents singing in their church choir. While still in high school, Allison was asked to fill in with the famed gospel quartet the Fairfield Four. A stint with the Skylarks followed, and brought him to the attention of songwriter and producer Ted Jarrett, who convinced him to sign to his Calvert label and pursue a career in secular music. When Vee-Jay Records began courting another Jarrett protégé, singer Larry Birdsong, the producer insisted the label could only sign Birdsong if they took on Allison as well — the latter's first single, the Jarrett-penned, gospel-inspired ballad "You Can Make It if You Try" was recorded at Owen Bradley's Nashville studio and released on Vee-Jay in 1957, cracking the top five on Billboard's R&B chart and crossing over into the pop Top 40.

The record was such a success that Allison was able to open his own Nashville restaurant, a 24-hour soul food joint called Gene's Drive-In — his mother was even installed as manager. He returned to the R&B charts with two more Top 20 hits, "Have Faith" and "Everything Will Be Alright," but although the raw, soulful power of his voice remained undiminished in the years to follow, he never again matched his initial success. Allison died from liver and kidney failure on February 28, 2004, at the age of 69.

"You Can Make It If You Try" was covered by The Rolling Stones' in 1964.

01. You Can Make It If You Try
02. I'll Be Waiting for You
03. Hey, Hey, I Love You
04. I Don't Know Why
05. Everything's Alright
06. I Believe in Myself
07. Have Faith
08. Let There Be Women
09. Everybody But Me
10. Reap What You Sow
11. Tell Me the Truth
12. Let's Sit and Walk
+ 4 Bonus Tracks