NASHVILLE, March 1 (UPI) -- Rhythm and Blues singer Gene Allison, whose "You Can Make It If You Try" hit No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 1957, has died in Nashville at age 69.
Allison died Saturday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center of liver and kidney failure, his brother Leevert Allison said in Monday's Tennessean.
"You Can Make It If You Try," Allison's biggest hit, crossed over to Billboard's top 40 pop songs after reaching No. 5 on the R&B chart.
Allison scored with two other singles: "Have Faith" and "Everything Will Be All Right," with each charting in the R&B Top 20.
"Not only was he one of the most revered vocalists to come out of Nashville," said Michael Gray, an associate editor at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, "but many hard-core R&B and soul enthusiasts rate him as one of the finest singers in the whole R&B field."
