Connie Francis – 26 Greatest Hits (1958 – 1960/Intermusic SA-CD/Super Audio Compact Disc Hybrid/Top Music International)

 

Sound/DSD 2.0 Stereo: B     PCM 2.0 Stereo: B-     Music: B

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: This Super Audio Compact Disc is only available from our friends at Top Music International, has a Compact Disc layer that will play on virtually all CD players and can be ordered at the link below.

 

 

From 1958 to 1964, the Pop chart run of Connie Francis was one of the most amazing ever achieved by any singer, but was especially landmark for a female vocalist.  The top artist then of the now-defunct MGM Records, it would be years before other female vocalists caught up with her chart success, yet MGM and Francis also broke ground by recording songs in many languages and other genres.  She is usually remembered when one of her songs is referenced in a film or TV show, but her music has not been totally rediscovered.

 

So it was a very pleasant surprise that the Top Music International label (whose recent releases include an exceptional set of Nat King Cole’s Spanish language songs and Petula Clark’s 1960s hits, both on SA-CD and reviewed elsewhere on this site) had decided to issue Connie Francis – 26 Greatest Hits, a remarkable compilation of her early hits up to much of 1960.  Obviously, you would need more than one disc to contain her running streak, but this is a great start and one that will impress fans and novices alike.

 

 

For technophiles, here are the specs for how the disc was made:

 

The Project re-mastered by Povee Chan

32Bits/192kHz High Resolution Mastering

SADiE DSD Digital Precision

Mastering Monitor: Almarro M1A

Monitor Amplifier: Octave Jubliee Preamp

Power System: Isoclean Power Conditioning System

Mastered with Black Rhodium Cable

Hybrid Stereo, Plays on all SACD and CD Players

Made in Germany by ADIS

 

 

The twist in this set is that the disc is split into four sections, beginning with her Pop Hits, then a set of her Country & Western recordings, covers off of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Million Sellers LP and underrated Italian hits.  The songs include:

 

1)     Who’s Sorry Now (Kalmar/Ruby/Snyder) *No.4 – 1958

2)     Fallin’ (Greenfield/Sedaka) *No.30 – 1958

3)     Stupid Cupid (Greenfield/Sedaka) *No.14 – 1958

4)     If I Didn’t Care (Lawrence) *No.22 – 1959

5)     I’m Sorry I Made You Cry (Clesi) *No.36 – 1958

6)     Frankie (Greenfield/Sedaka) *No.9 – 1959

7)     Lipstick On Your Collar (Goehring/Lewis) *No.5 – 1959

8)     My Happiness (Bergaintine/Peterson) *No.2 – 1959

9)     God Bless America (Berlin) *No.36 – 1959

 

Country and Western Golden Hits:

 

10)  Singing The Blues (Endsley)

11)  Tennessee Waltz (King/Stewart)

12)  Young Love (Carter/Joyner)

13)  Your Cheatin’ Heart (Williams)

14)  Bye Bye Love (B./F. Bryant)

15)  Peace In The Valley (Dorsey)

16)  Cold, Cold Heart (Williams)

17)  Let Me Go Lover (Carson/Hill)

 

From the 1959 LP Rock ‘n’ Roll Million Sellers:

 

18)  I Hear You Knockin’ (Bartholomew/King)

19)  Just A Dream (Clanton/Matassa)

20)  Don’t Be Cruel (Blackwell/Presley)

 

Italian Favorites:

 

21)  Arriverderci Roma (Giovannini/Rascel/Sigman/Garinei)

22)  Mama (Barlow/Bixio/Brito/Cherubini) *No.8 – 1960

23)  I Have But One Heart (O’Marenariello)(Farrow/Symes)

24)  O Sole Mio (DiCapua/Capurro/Hoffman/Corday/Carr)

25)  Santa Lucia (trad./adapt. Shaw)

26)  Come Back To Sorrento (trad./adapt. Shaw)

 

 

Her run brought on classics from other female singers like Little Eva (The Locomotion) and the huge success of Leslie Gore, but it would not be until Madonna was deep into her original singles run that Francis’ chart run was finally challenged and that follows big names like Barbra Streisand, Petula Clark, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, Helen Reddy, Donna Summer and so many other big singers in between that you start to get the impression of how massive Francis was in her time.

 

Having heard these songs overt the years in so many formats (including licensed in movies, TV shows, commercials and so many remakes), this is a stunning disc sonically that it gives you a new appreciation for Francis as a talent, singer and legend.  I have never heard her work sound so good under any circumstance in any of her recordings in any era, but this is total proof that she was a far more accomplished vocalist than she ever got credit for.  I admit I may have even underestimated her, though I thought she could definitely sing.

 

As for the sections on the disc, she is a little out of her element covering the Rock classics here, yet it was bold at the time for any female vocalist to take them on, so they were at least a personal victory.  The Country songs are better than most of the songs being made in the genre today, but tracks 10, 13 and even 14 (which is an Everly Brothers masterpiece belonging more in the Rock category) are not as effective as her best work.

 

That leaves the early classic Pop records (track 1 is an all-time classic, 3 one of her better records, 7 is Francis at her best and 8 an enduring ballad) reminding us of how she became a legendary singer to begin with and the Italian section (tracks 21 – 26) has her most challenging work, showing her range and in more than one language.

 

 

The DSD 2.0 Mono is a true revelation, especially considering the age of the recordings.  They never sound brittle, flat or compressed, with very few sonic flaws or limits.  These are exceptionally recorded, engineered and performed songs for their time and this SA-CD brings out nuances and details I would bet even the best Francis vinyl recordings would be hard pressed to deliver.  The PCM 2.0 CD tracks are not bad, but they cannot compete against the higher resolution of the DSD (Direct Stream Digital) signal which has a warmth and presence so many recordings form that era do not.  I suspect MGM was using tube-based recording equipment to make these records and this is a serious demo disc for serious audiophiles coming from amazing materials that anyone serious about music or music playback needs to hear once.  So many Francis hit sets have been issued on vinyl, CD and other formats that a complete list is very hard to calculate.  This one is one of the best we will ever see or hear.

 

A paper foldout with brief notes is also included.

 

 

To find out more about ordering, start with this link, then go to the HOW TO ORDER tab on the left-hand side column:

 

http://www.topmusic.com/ud-sacd8938.2--1-.htm

 

The direct order link is:

 

http://www.topmusic.com/to-order.htm

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo