It's Gonna Take a Miracle: Complete MGM Sessions

I also have managed to hang on to the MGM vinyl LP from 1965 and still love it. A few years ago I did transfer it to CD along with four Royalettes 45s and still listen to this CD often. It is that good and well worth adding to your collection - I just don't know why the price is so high. I've heard all but two of the tracks and all are excellent. The other review was right on the money except I believe the album deserves a full 5 star rating. If you love the old girl groups and beautiful music and can justify the price, you're going to love this CD! I can't imagine a more desirable addition to your music collection. Update: 9/28/2005 I finally bought both Import CDs of the Royalettes MGM LPs from 1965-66 - "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and "The Elegant Sound of the Royalettes". Expensive, but I'm very glad I did! Both CDs were made in Japan so the booklets are in Japanese but fortunately the lyrics are included in English. More importantly, the CD transfer is excellent - I doubt anyone has heard these gems sounding better! Both CDs easily deserve 5 stars. They just are incredible with few weak tracks. Sheila Ross has a powerful and distinctive voice while the backing vocals are perfect. Teddy Randazzo's arrangements are as good as it gets and almost every song is topnotch. I have no idea why The Royalettes didn't have commercial success that rivaled The Supremes and Dionne Warwick. In his review, Larry Jones nailed it with his quote "Historic and criminally underrated music." I wish more people had been like me - I bought all of their singles and the first LP. (Went into the Army in 1966 and unfortunately missed the second LP.) I've copied all 30 tracks to an 80 minute CD-R (they fit with 29 seconds to spare!) and now I can listen to my treasured "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and new friend "The Elegant Sound of the Royalettes" any time I want. Of course they're on my MP3 player, too. Life is good... Now on to "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" - in my opinion the only weak track is "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" which is incredible considering that there are 14 tracks! (The original LP has the first 12 tracks while this CD adds the bonus tracks "(He Is) My Man" and "Take My Love (And Hide It From My Heart)" taken from a 1966 single. (Interestingly both bonus songs were written by Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers.) It's hard to think of many albums of any era that have so many great tracks! Eight of the tracks are in mono, the rest are stereo. This has nothing to do with the CD transfer as my 1966 LP is in stereo yet the same tracks play mono no matter what it says on the record jacket. And most singles from the 60s were mono so it's no surprise the bonus tracks are mono. But what a pleasure to hear this terrific music with such fidelity and no pops and clicks! Highly recommended. And if you like the girl groups, this CD is a must-have for your collection.

Purchased for the title cut alone because I had not heard any other recordings by the Royalettes, so I took a chance. I am not disappointed. I enjoy each of the other tracks as much as the title cut, and some even more. Where was I and what was I listening to that caused me to miss this? I was being overwhelmed by the Motown Sound which I continue to enjoy to this day. Being consumed by Motown, I overlooked other great girl groups like The Royalettes. The producing/arranging by Teddy Randazzo and sweet sounding vocals of The Royalettes resulted in a royal sound fit for a king. Even the songs that have a hint of a Burt Bacharach sound to them were pleasing to my ear. I liked the entire set of recordings on the first listening which is rare, and each time I listen they sound better.

The group can sing but they need better material and arrangements. There are some really good songs on here but not enough. You really have to love this group to make the purchase and sound quality could be a lot better.

Teddy Randazzo's grand production style is occasionally reminiscent of Burt Bacharach's early work with Dionne Warwick. Lead singer Sheila Ross' high tenor sounds a bit like the Stylistics' Russell Thompkins (Yes, I know he's a man). Poor Boy is the female thematic equivalent to the Four Seasons' Rag Doll. These recordings are marked by a lot of bass and occasional distortion, but this remarkable music is of such consistent high quality it's surprising the Royalettes aren't better well known. 78:47 of miraculous music.

It's a pity the price tag's so steep on this gem. I've had the vinyl LP since its release (in 1965, I believe) and play it often. Most people are more familiar with Laura Nyro & Labelle's cover version of the title song, which is a grittier and more spare arrangement. The original, however, is smoother and more lushly produced. The group was groomed and marketed as a female counterpart to Little Anthony and the Imperials, and the similarities in sound abound. (I believe the same writing and production team was involved, but my memory isn't what it used to be!) All the tracks are polished and very listenable.

The Royaletts unique sound and flavor on these cuts such as "Yes. Im ready" and "He's gone" and there version of "only when you're lonely" was great. "it's gonna take a miracle" was also very good if you are thinking of buying this c.d. you wont be disappointed.

I absolutely love the CD, as i remember the group from junior high. They were great, just didn't get good push and publicity from their record company..

if you are a music/oldies lover , this cd is just fabulous across the board in all ways possible. the listeners will truly love this one/

great

This is quite simply a superb compilation that brings together almost every recording by the Royalettes. Every track is great. The sophisticated Manhattan NYC sound just oozes class. The full orchestration and arrangements provide that polish evocative of the early recordings by Dionne Warwick and Little Anthony and the Imperials. Of course the man behind the Royalettes- Terry Randazzo was also responsible for Little Anthony's biggest hits. The Royalettes never scored on the UK charts and are virtually unknown outside the circel of girl group/60s soul aficionados. I was introduced to the group as a result of Deniece Williams 1980s top 10 US hit cover of their biggest hit "It's Gonna Take A Miracle" (which also failed to chart in the UK) and Syreeta's cover of "He's Gone". It took me ages to finally decide on my purchase of this album due to my lack of knowledge of the Royalettes beyond the two aforementioned tracks. How dumb was I- this is one of the best girl group "hits" compilations in my vast music library. I'm amazed that more of these superbly crafted recordings did not register on the charts. In my opinion the Royalettes deserve to be up there with the greatest of the 60s girl groups. Yes they are that good! If you like early 60s girls groups/Dionne Warwick/ Bacharach & David/Little Anthony/Terry Randazzo productions then this cd has your name on it!

Although never as well known as many other sixties girl groups, the Royalettes managed to produce some beautifully arranged, lush soul/pop ballads whilst at MGM, largely thanks to the great Teddy Randazzo. This CD brings all their MGM recordings together, and whilst there is a degree of sameness about some of the tracks, the overall effect makes for easy listening. The best known song is the classic "It's Gonna Take A Miracle", which perfectly sums up the group, and got me completely hooked - I couldn't get the song out of my head. Lead singer Sheila Ross (no relation to Diana), doesn't have an outstandingly unique voice, but sells the song and in my opinion this is the best version, as the original so often is. A perfect album for a romantic evening.

Passable. Certainly not one of the better girl groups. Nowhere near as good as the Shirelles, Ruby and the Romantics, Essex, Exciters, etc.

I bought this along with Ruby & The Romantics in a spate of nostalgia. As with Ruby's album I do not think this is a must buy but I had bought the 45 "I want to meet him" in the 60's and had looked for other tracks which this album has a-plenty. The album is well produced but it is obvious why the Group never made it big-time as the songs blend after awhile and in my opinion there are only a few outstanding tracks even though all songs are well performed. In the competitive changing world of the 60's US charts they just did not have an edge. Would I buy it again? Probably not - I would just download the best tracks if I could remember which they were!!