The Exciting Connie Francis
After her breakthrough in early 1958 with her single "Who's Sorry Now?", a rock 'n' roll oriented version of the 1923 standard, and a subsequent album of the same title, Francis chose to take a more adult approach to her second album. For "The Exciting Connie Francis", she chose twelve American standards. Francis clearly marked the album as a concept album by dividing it into two sections with different moods: Side A is filled with songs differing between mid-tempo and up-tempo, while Side B consists solely of ballads.
Winston Francis
Born in Kingston in 1948, Francis served an apprentice as a printer before relocating to Miami at the age of 16. He attended music school, and his teacher Chuck Bird arranged for him to perform with the Jackie Gleason Orchestra in front of Spiro Agnew in 1965. He then joined Carlos Malcolm's Afro Jamaicans band, with whom he toured the USA and the Caribbean. He was also a member of The Sheridans (with Pat Kelly) In the late 1960s he recorded as a solo artist for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label, with his debut album "Mr. Fix-It" released in 1969. This was followed by a second album, "California Dreaming" in 1971, with the title track released as a single and chosen as 'Hit Pick of the Week' for two weeks running by Tony Blackburn on his BBC Radio 1 show. The single's B-side, "Too Experienced", featured backing vocals from Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. He relocated to the UK that year. He toured the UK club circuit and recorded for EMI in the 1970s.