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 Jewish Favorites
In July 1960, Francis was in Hollywood for the interior shots of her first motion picture "Where The Boys Are" which made it impossible for her to record the album during live sessions at EMI's famous Abbey Road Studios in London as she had done with "Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites". Hence, the playbacks to these songs were pre-recorded in London under the supervision of Francis' British producer Norman Newell and were conducted by Brian Fahey. The tapes containing these playbacks were shipped to Hollywood where Francis overdubbed her vocals.