Today’s classic song of the day is “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” This song was a hit for the Royalettes in 1965 and Deniece Williams in 1982; it was also featured on Laura Nyro’s 1971 album of covers with Labelle, Gonna Take a Miracle.
First things first. “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle” was written by Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, and Lou Stallman. Teddy and Bobby were successful composers and producers, having written hits like “Goin’ Out of My Head” and “Hurt So Bad” for Little Anthony and the Imperials and “Pretty Blue Eyes” for Steve Lawrence. Lou also was a professional songwriter, with songs for Clyde McPhatter and Perry Como under his belt; he also wrote the New York Yankees’ unofficial theme song, “Here Come the Yankees.”
The trio got together to write “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” which was originally intended for Little Anthony and the Imperials. (It sounds a lot like the other tunes that Randazzo and Weinstein wrote for that group.) Little Anthony passed on the tune, however, due to an ongoing royalty dispute with the songwriters and their record label, so Teddy and Bobby handed it to the Royalettes instead.
Imperials member Sammy Strain recalls how it went down:
“We had a lot of hit records (with Don Costa Productions, the Imperials’ record label) but we hadn’t received any royalties. We protested and said we’re not going into the studio anymore until we get an accounting. We didn’t record for about eight or nine months. In the interim, Teddy Randazzo produced a girl group out of Baltimore called the Royalettes. He gave them a song called ‘It’s Gonna Take a Miracle’ which was written for Little Anthony and the Imperials. When it first came out, everybody thought it was us…. But we missed a million seller with ‘Gonna Take a Miracle’ when we went on strike with the record company.”
The Royalettes were a four-person Girl Group from Baltimore comprised of sisters Sheila and Anita Ross, along with high school friends Veronica Brown and Terry Jones. Their version of “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” released in July of 1965, peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #28 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It was their only big hit.
A decade and a half later, in 1982, singer Deniece Williams recorded a cover of “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle” that did even better than the original. Ms. Williams’ version of the song went all the way to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It’s probably the version that most readers of this blog remember.
My favorite version of “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” however, was done in 1971 by Laura Nyro and the soul group Labelle. Ms. Nyro was better known as a songwriter of hits for artists such as the 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand, and Blood, Sweat & Tears but decided to do an album of soul and doo-wop covers that had influenced her younger self. That album, Gonna Take a Miracle, included faithful renditions of songs such as “I Met Him on a Sunday,” “Spanish Harlem,” “Jimmy Mack,” “Nowhere to Run,” and “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” It’s a terrific album and if you haven’t heard it, you should.
