The theme enjoyed much popularity in orchestral recordings by
Les Baxter, with harmonica solo by
Danny Welton.,[2]Victor Young And His Singing Strings with George Fields on harmonica (Columbia DO-70040, Australia),
Richard Hayman And His Orchestra with Richard Hayman on harmonica, and Jerry Murad and the
Harmonicats.
Notable recordings
It has subsequently become a jazz and
pop standard, both as an instrumental and with lyrics by
Mitchell Parish:
Richard Hayman and His Orchestra. This reached No. 3 in the Billboard charts in 1953.[3]
Les Baxter and His Orchestra (harmonica solo by Danny Welton) had a hit with the song in 1953, peaking in the No. 7 position.[4]
Victor Young and His Singing Strings. Reached number 20 in the charts in 1953.[6]
Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra, reaching number 27 in the charts in 1953.[7]
Les Brown and His Band of Renown - briefly charted in 1953 at number 29.[8]
Ray Charles - reached No. 28 in the Billboard charts in 1960.[9]
Adam Wade accompanied by
George Paxton & His Orchestra with The Bel-Aire Singers. This directly competed against the Ray Charles version and reached No. 58 in the charts in 1960.[10][11] Wade's B-side was "Too Far" written by Pat Lambert and
Bob Haymes.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 117.
ISBN0-8230-7499-4.
^Wednesday's Child "New York's own Adam Wade was singing his million seller hit “Ruby”"
^Potter, Joan (2013). African American Firsts (4th ed.). New York: Kensington Books. p. 73.
ISBN978-0-7582-9242-1. His first ADAM WADE record, "Ruby, was a hit, and a year