Connie Francis: The Italian Collections
1997 Polygram

Editors Note: The following is a pre-release draft of the CD liner notes. I want to thank Pat Niglio for his permission to reprint the essay on this web page.

No one knows that Connie Francis made her stage debut in Asbury Park singing a Neapolitan song "O Sole Mio". The event almost didn't happen, however, for three year old Concetta Rosemarie Franconero because the director of the show, assured he would have a mess on his hands, asked Connie's father, George, to bow out. A stubborn George would not relent and much to everyone's surprise, little Concetta in her starched party dress stepped up to the podium, sang the tune and received a standing ovation. The little trouper did not know she arrived at that special door which would lead the way to countless standing ovations and the achievement of world records enabling her to become one of the most popular international entertainers of this century.

There's no doubt that the drive behind all of Connie's success was her father, George, who admitted years later, caught offguard in an interview, that he cried when Concetta received the standing ovation. His determination and dream combined with a competitive drive and the Godgiven talent of his daughter assuredly were the reasons for her success. However, fame did not come easily. Connie went on countless auditions for Broadway shows, television and failed them being told that she did not have the all-American look, that she was too ethnic or that she should change her name. Concetta Franconero was later changed by Arthur Godfrey to a nice Irish Connie Francis. Equipped with her new moniker, Connie began her path to success.

M-G-M Records signed her when she was barely seventeen and she made 10 bomb records, one of which even included an Italian song "Credimi"("Believe in me"). Even after the success of a million seller record in a male-dominated singles market, Connie recorded three relatively insignificant LPs. She finally struck Gold and the top of the Billboard charts (#4) in 1960 with "Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites". The LP which featured Connie in a straw gondola hat draped against a postcard background of St. Mark's Square in Venice became a household item in the sixties. A single "Mama" culled from the LP was a sincere heartfelt message from a girl barely in her twenties to her mother. The rest is history.

"Mama" was the turning point in Connie's illustrious career, a career that would lead her to mingle with Queens, Presidents and diplomats. After her performance of the song which closed The Perry Como Show, and then her later performance on the January 3, 1960 Ed Sullivan Show, Connie was no longer merely a teenage artist for the prom crowd. She sold out Carnegie Hall and was the featured performer in the most prestigious venues throughout the world. The record was not only Top Ten in America but went on to become No. 1 in Italy, Brazil and throughout all of South America. Her performances of this tune till today never fail to rouse a nightclub audience.

Her very next single in Italian by popular request was "Tango Della Gelosia" ("Jealous Of You"), suggested by her father and recorded at the tail end of a mammoth session with Stan Applebaum in one take. It was originally the "A" side of the coupling with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and although the later gave Connie her first No. 1 Billboard and Cashbox hit, "Jealous Of You" in ethnic pockets such as New York, Boston and Chicago was the top seller. The record released later in Italy with a one shot TV appearance by Connie remained at No.1 on the charts for well over six months in the year 1961. In fact, there were times when Connie had three and four records in the Top Ten in Italy at the same time. For example in Dec. 1961, "Where The Boys Are" (Qualcuno mi aspetta),"Valentino", "Mama", "Jealous Of You".

Connie's first ventures in the Italian language were significant even though she is the first to admit that her pronunciation on these earlier recordings was rough. Nevertheless, the Italians adored her naming her "Italy's Most Beloved Italian American Singer" bestowing award after award and inviting her as a frequent visitor to television and to perform "live" in concerts.

Connie's affinity for the Italian and Italian-American public and the language were important steps for both her and her fellow Italian-Americans. She recorded a second LP: "More Italian Favorites" which also made the Top Ten LP charts of Billboard with another million seller single, a Neapolitan tragi-classic with English lyrics self penned "Senza Mamma E Nnammurata". The release of a Connie Francis Italian single could be considered a guaranteed hit.

In between films, nightclub appearances and television specials both here and abroad, Connie continued to record songs specifically for release in a foreign country. Often the top composers would arrange tracks and send them to the U.S. for her to record. In November of 1962, Connie chose to bring to New York, Luglio Libano, one of Italy's most gifted arrangers to record one of the most beautiful albums of her career "Modern Italian Hits". This time, Connie chose to concentrate her efforts on prize winners from the annual San Remo Song Festival, a prestigious musical event in Europe. From this LP, "Al Di La" was issued as a "B" side here in the U.S. and although the song only peaked at 87 in Cashbox, it would become one of Connie's most requested tunes in concert performances. "Al Di La" reached the top of the charts in Japan, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and remains a favorite performance of the artist as well as the lovely "Il Cielo in una stanza" from this same LP.

An interesting and daring recording venture for Connie was the Neapolitan classic, "Malafemmena", a man's song to a woman who has driven him crazy and then deceives him. Before Connie's recording in 1963, a woman had never recorded the song in Neapolitan because it would not make sense. Connie's friends, George Brown and Ray Allen, who were aware of Connie's desire to record the song came up with a new set of lyrics. The record caused a major sensation, especially in Italy's third largest city, Naples, the city of song! The jovial Neapolitans who had previously made Connie's other Neapolitan interpretations such as "Luna Caprese" a hit, were fascinated by Connie's idea and made "Malafemmena" a major hit there all over again. Here the record caused equal noise and M-G-M rushed out a collection "Malafemmena" and "Connie's Big Hits from Italy" comprising some of Connie's smash hits from the Italian charts as well as re-recorded versions of others in the Neapolitan dialect, a decision reached in conforming with the Neapolitan theme and also because most Italian-Americans are more familiar with this dialect rather than the formal language.

Connie was a special guest at the San Remo Festival twice. In 1965, she performed "Ho bisogno di vederti" with Gigliola Cinquetti, the year's previous winner and in 1967 again she teamed with the previous year's winner, Bobby Solo, on one of the most poignant Italian recordings of her career "Canta Ragazzina". The song contains the driving carpe diem message of taking every moment of youth and enjoying it. Recording companies of the time jumped at the opportunity to have their roster of artists perform at San Remo. In fact, artists such as Dusty Springfield recorded their San Remo entries in English (e.g. "You don't have to say you love me" ("Io che non vivo senza te"). An example of a San Remo winner which Connie brought back to the United States was the driving "Non Pensare a me" ("Time Alone will tell", which Connie, as well as many of her fans, consider among her all time best performances.

Connie sought material for recording from the vast Neapolitan songbook. Her grandparents on her mother Ida's side were from Avellino, a town in the Neapolitan region. For her fifth Italian LP "Love, Italian Style" she chose primarily Neapolitan classics framed against lush orchestrations featuring mandolins and strings. The LP recorded in Italy in a marathon session featuring 35 songs in two days is one of her most elaborate efforts. Some of these songs Connie performs in her cabaret one woman show even today and others have remained among her fans' favorites. Her sensitive reading of Neapolitan classics such as "Piscatore 'E Pusilleco", "Scalinatella", and "I' Te Vurria Vasa" "Munasterio 'E Santa Chiara" and "Statte Vicino A Mme" are examples of Connie at vocal peak performing these as if she were born in Naples, effective and authentic in this dialect spoken by more than ten million people!

This collection is both a labor of love and appreciation and one that has been heavily requested by the public. Connie, painstakingly, chose each of the titles weighing their importance and also entertaining some suggestions from colleagues. The selection was not an easy one since everything she performed in the Italian language, from an up tempo hit to a love ballad to a Neapolitan classic was executed with more than 100% effort and love. Connie reflects the pride of her great heritage. More important, however, is perhaps what she has accomplished to boost the image of Italian-Americans who are too often associated with negative stereotypes and untrue prejudices. She has resumed to us a lost identification, a great sense of appreciation and pride for our culture and conveying this message at the same time to others not of our heritage. Not only is Connie Italy's favorite daughter but everyone's as well. Her communication is one that is International and of great rarity that few artists are able to achieve in a lifetime. She has given her listeners a sense of cultural roots and appreciation sharing her enthusiasm and pride in everything that she endeavors.

Patrick J. Niglio