Tennessee Waltz/Connie Francis

Tennessee Waltz

( 1959 )

Tennessee Waltz 

Connie Francis (1959)

 

I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz
When an old friend I happened to see
I introduced her to my loved one
And while they were dancing
My friend stole my sweetheart from me

I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
Yes, I lost my little darling the night they were playing
The beautiful Tennessee Waltz

I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz
When an old friend I happened to see
I introduced her to my loved one
And while they were dancing
My friend stole my sweetheart from me

I remember the night and the Tennessee Waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
Yes, I lost my little darling the night they were playing
The beautiful Tennessee Waltz

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (December 12, 1937~ ),  better known as Connie Francis,

was a American top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and  early '60s and starred in a number of films aimed at the teen market.

Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw. Despite several severe interruptions in her career, she is still active as a recording and performing artist.

Francis was born to an Italian-American family in the Italian Down Neck, or Ironbound, neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey, the first child of George Franconero, Sr., and Ida Franconero (née Ferrari-di Vito), spending her first years in a Brooklyn neighborhood on Utica Avenue/St. Marks Avenue before the family moved to New Jersey.

Growing up in an Italian-Jewish neighborhood, Francis became fluent in Yiddish, which would lead her later to record songs in Yiddish and Hebrew.

Synopsis

Born on December 12, 1938, in Newark, New Jersey, Connie Francis won television's Startime Talent Scouts at age 12 and signed with MGM Records. She performed "Who's Sorry Now" on American Bandstand, and it became an immediate hit. In 1974, Francis was the victim of a brutal rape in her hotel room. Her lawsuit led to improved security measures throughout the hotel industry. For years after she was assaulted, Francis didn't perform. She returned to the stage in the early 1990s and released an autobiography Who's Sorry Now, in 1984.

Early Life

Singer and actress Connie Francis was born Concetta Franconero, on December 12, 1938, in Newark, New Jersey. The daughter of George and Ida Franconero, Connie won first prize on Arthur Godfrey's Startime Talent Scouts television show at age 12, and performed on the show for four years. Godfrey convinced her to change her real last name to Francis after he had difficulty pronouncing it.

Music Career

Francis signed with MGM Records in 1955 after she was rejected by nearly every major recording label. MGM released her first recording, "Freddy" because the president of MGM had a son named by the same name. During the next two years, she recorded a number of mediocre songs.

Francis was all set to quit music and study pre-med at NYU on scholarship when her father convinced her to record a decades-old tune, "Who's Sorry Now." Dick Clark introduced the song on his Bandstand TV show in 1958, and it became an immediate hit, selling a million copies less than six months after release. She started working with songwriters Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, and recorded a string of hits, including "Stupid Cupid," "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You."

Film Career

Francis is primarily known for her singing career, but she played the lead in a number of films created for teenagers in the early 1960s. She starred in four motion pictures, Where the Boys Are (1960), Follow The Boys (1963), Looking For Love (1964) and When The Boys Meet The Girls (1965).

Sexual Assault

In the late 1960s, Francis went to Vietnam to sing for the troops. Through the years, she has performed charity work for organizations such as UNICEF, the USO and CARE. Following a November 1974 performance at the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, New York, Francis was the victim of a brutal rape and robbery after an intruder broke into her hotel room and held her at knifepoint.

She won a lawsuit against the hotel for inadequate security, the result of which influenced the hotel and motel industry to install deadbolts, viewing ports and improved lighting. Francis was unable to sing for years after her attack, but slowly recovered until she was again able to tour in the early 1990s. Her autobiography, Who's Sorry Now, was released in 1984.

Personal Life

She was married to first husband Dick Kanellis for just three months (1964-65) and to Joseph Garzilli from 1973 to 1978. She and Garzilli adopted one son.