Kapp Records: Our Day Will Come

On occasion the Akron, Ohio based male vocal quartet, The Feilos, would ask female vocalist Ruby Nash to sing with them. When the five were signed to Kapp Records in 1962, A&R chief Allen Stanton rebranded the quintet as Ruby and the Romantics. The name stuck and proved to be a good move by Stanton.

In 1962, songwriters Bob Hilliard and Mort Garson pitched their new tune, “Our Day Will Come,” to Stanton with the hopes that Kapp artist Jack Jones would record the song. Stanton loved the tune, but had a better venue for it – an unknown act he had just signed, “Ruby and the Romantics.” Hilliard and Garson were not pleased, but relented on the condition if the Romantics version of the song was not a hit, then Jones would record it next.

Working with arranger Leroy Kirkland, Stanton had the group record two versions of the song: one as a straight 4/4 arrangement and the other with a bossa nova beat. With the recent popularity of bossa nova, this version seemed the better choice and it was released in December 1962.

This was a gutsy move, as December releases by new artists often got lost in the holiday shuffle and the sea of Christmas music on radio. Stanton’s gamble paid off, however, and “Our Day Will Come” was a #1 record in 1963.

I particularly like the tasteful usage of the Hammond organ as an accompaniment instrument and the vehicle for the song’s lead break along with the group humming the melody. Listen carefully and you will also hear a celeste also being used – sometimes playing notes on the off beat.