"You Can Make It If You Try" is a song written by

Ted Jarrett Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Jarrett Jr. (October 17, 1925 – March 21, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter and producer of country, gospel, and soul music. Early life Jarrett was born into a prosperous African-American family in Nashville, Tenne ...

and recorded by

Gene Allison Gene Allison (born Versie Eugene Allison; August 29, 1934 – February 28, 2004) was an American R&B singer. Allison was born in Pegram, Tennessee, and he grew up in Nashville, Tennessee singing in the church choir with his brother Leevert. ...

in 1957. In 1958, Allison's recording peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. R&B singles chart, and at No. 36 or at No. 37 (sources differ) on the U.S. pop singles chart in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine. The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by other artists, including

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

(on their 1964 self-titled debut album),

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...

(on his 1971 album ''The Day the World Turned Blue'') and

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

(on his 1980 album ''

Breaking Out ''Breaking Out'' is the fifth studio album by Buddy Guy. It was released in 1980 on JSP Records. Recordings The original album tracks were recorded at Sound Station, Chicago, IL, in September 1980 with session musicians. They recorded two more ...

''). In 1969,

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

included a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

version of the song with different lyrics on the album ''

Stand! ''Stand!'' is the fourth album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released on May 3, 1969. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, ''Stand!'' is considered an artistic high-point of the band's career. Re ...

''. That version (which is credited to Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart) has been both covered and

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

by other artists.

References

1957 songs Songs written by Ted Jarrett Gene Allison songs The Rolling Stones songs Sly and the Family Stone songs {{1950s-R&B-song-stub