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.
Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites
The album was recorded between August 22 and 27, 1959, at EMI's famous Abbey Road Studios in London under the musical direction of Tony Osborne and was released in November 1959. Soon afterwards it entered the album charts where it remained for 81 weeks, peaking at # 4. It remains to this day as Francis' most successful album release.