Connie Francis – On The Dancefloor with…
Bear Family Records – BCD17663 [2024]
If My Pillow Could Talk – Stupid Cupid – Baby Roo – The Tiger And The Mouse – Ol’ Man Mose – Torero – Looking For Love – Send For My Baby – Lipstick On Your Collar – Eighteen – Some Else’s Boy – Swanee – Vacation – My Real Happiness – Plenty Good Lovin’ – Fallin’ – Ain’t That Better Baby? – Hollywood – Gonna Git That Man – Many Tears Ago – Malaguena – Tweedle Dee – Telephone Lover – Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool – Robot Man – Come On, Jerry (Timber) – Mr. Twister – Johnny Darlin’ – He’s Just A Scientist – I Won’t Be Home To You – The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On) – Goody Goodbye
More than Stupid Cupid, here’s how Bear Family could have subtitled this excellent compilation.
To my great shame, I confess that my knowledge of Connie Francis barely went beyond Stupid Cupid and Fallin’. That’s the reason why I approached this compilation with a mixture of perplexity, apprehension, and curiosity. But with one or two exceptions (the very kitsch Torero, for example), I must admit I was wrong to be suspicious. Connie Francis is an excellent singer capable of covering different genres with disarming ease and communicative energy.
Because behind what seems at first glance to be the ideal soundtrack for a Rockwelian America, the attentive listener will find a musical world much richer and varied than it seems.
Francis is served by a voice that is at the same time flexible, powerful, controlled, and, pitch-perfect, and aided by leading musicians (Hank Garland, Grady Martin, or George Barnes, to name only the guitarists), passes with ease between genres to the other.
Amidst very good teen-pop and smooth rock pieces with which her name is more easily associated, we find real Rock’n’Roll gems like the very Presley-esque Send For My Baby or the excellent The Tiger and the Mouse (written by Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman). What’s more, the repertoire has its share of surprises, such as the very Exotica Swanee. Gonna Git That Man, which could be just another twist, is transformed into a superb Rhythm’n’Blue thanks to Connie’s voice. The Song Is Ended (But The Memory Lingers On) finds her hunting on Frank Sinatra’s land with disconcerting class and Ol’ Man Mouse is more in the Big Band Swing style. These are a few examples. This compilation and Francis’ repertoire are filled with this kind of tunes.
Even in the case of tunes that are certainly a little over-orchestrated (My Real Happiness or Malaguena), we are won over by the singer’s vocal performance. And since we’re talking about vocal performance, what can we say about the sultry and Fever-tinged Come On Jerry (Timber), single-handedly responsible for part of global warming.
In the end, an excellent disc of 32 songs, accompanied by a booklet rich in information (discography and song-by-song analysis) and images.
On the Dancefloor with Connie Francis is available here.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
