CONNIE FRANCIS - Sings Spanish & Latin American Favorites - (MGM) - 1960, comment, review, Geoff Love.

I have said this before:

Connie could do anything.

She put out albums in (or partially in) Italian, Jewish, Spanish and German.

She sang rock, pop, Broadway standards, film songs, country, vocal jazz, R&B, vocal jazz, children's music, spiritual music, schlager music, waltzes, traditionals from various ethnic groups … and that’s just in the 1960s! http://whatfrankislisteningto.negstar.com/popular-crooners/connie-francis-connie-clyde-hit-songs-of-the-30s-mgm-1968/

Apparently, counting singles and performances, her singing portfolio extended to fifteen languages, though with most she had to learn most of the vowel sounds of her tunes phonetically and mechanical repetition.

She clearly had an aptitude for languages.

She grew up in an Italian household in an Italian Jewish neighbourhood of New Jersey. She grew up at a time when Spanish speakers made up a substantial minority in the north-east (and Spanish is a Latin based romance language like Italian) so she could speak Italian, Yiddish and Spanish fluently (on the liner notes it says she studies Spanish for five years).

Colloquially or conversationally, perhaps, but fluently.

Non-English speaking migrants have always made up a substantial minority of America’s consumer population at any given time.

The origins and numbers of the migrant waves may change from time to time but there always is a large group of newly arrived, or recently arrived migrants or first generation Americans brought up on their parents language.

It is a no brainer that a popular singer could increase their audience even more if they could tap into those markets.

And, Connie tapped.

I have said this, “The 60s was a big time for foreign language albums, especially in the US. Sure, there are many migrants and their offspring in the US, which probably accounted for most of the target sales, but I suspect some people were buying just because of the vocalist or because of the sound.

Gene Pitney put out an album of songs in Italian and another in Spanish, Connie Francis went a couple better and put our albums in (or partially in) Italian, Jewish, Spanish and German. Hell, even Elvis released songs in the American market in Italian, German and Spanish (check his soundtracks).

http://whatfrankislisteningto.negstar.com/ethnic/trini-lopez-viva-capitol-1972/

And, all things Latin (specifically Latin American) were all the rage in the late 1950s (though the rage probably started in the mid-40s) through to the late 1960s. The “rage” was based around the exotica of the language, and the “otherness” of the sounds. A genuine individual dual Latin voice in American mainstream rock and pop music emerged in the 1970s but its musical roots were in exotica (Latin America, was one of the central musical exotica destinations along with the Polynesian pacific (Hawaii) and the Caribbean), despite the fact the language was all around and had in many parts of the US pre-dated English.

A third of the US was of Latin origins, the Spanish language was common place the streets throughout the south-west and west-coast, and becoming prolific with migrants (specifically Puerto Ricans) on the east coast. The troubles and travails of Mexican farmworkers and migrants was an issue throughout the 1950s, whilst the dominant genre film form, the Western, was laced with Spanish language words and dialogue.

It was not foreign to the ear of many Anglo and European Americans.

And, the beats, groove and history it brought to American sounds were inevitable.

Cuban and Latin bandleaders like Perez Prado, Desi Arnez, Tito Puente, Xavier Cugat were popular.

Vocal groups like Trio Los Panchos were popular.

So it wasn’t long before the music crossed over.

It was natural enough to those with Latin ancestry like Trini Lopez, Richie Valens (and later Jose Feliciano, Santana, Linda Ronstadt, Albert Hammond, Los Lobos, El Vez and others) to do Spanish language songs and albums but non-Latin performers had also done songs and albums for the Latin market, Eydie Gorme, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Helen Merrill, Mel Torme, The Four Freshmen, Rosemary Clooney, Julie London, Bing Crosby, Carmen Miranda all put out albums of Latin material.

Exotica band leaders Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter and Martin Denny all explored Latin sounds as did Esquivel (a Mexican) himself. So did Henry Mancini, Percy Faith and others.

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, the Baja Marimba Band reigned supreme in the easy listening (and even pop) charts.

The 60s heralded the rise of new (in the US) sounds by João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto and Antônio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfá Laurindo Almeida, Sergio Mendes, Los Indios Tabajaras, Gilberto Gil and others, which was adopted by jazz musicians like Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd, and vocalists like Frank Sinatra.

Yes, yes, I know they speak Portuguese not Spanish, and not all Latin music is the same, but I’m just making a point about the great influx of a myriad of Latin sounds into the US mainstream musical market.

It was a matter of time before non-Hispanic rock and pop artists would jump aboard.

Gene Pitney put out a Spanish language album, Bobby Darin recorded Spanish language songs and many like Johnny Cash and Pat Boone re-recorded their hit songs for a Spanish market. Hell, even Elvis put out a Latin flavoured album (a soundtrack) “Fun in Acapulco” (1963) with a number of Spanish language songs.

But when it came to pop rock Connie was well ahead of the curve musically.

And Connie nailed it.

Spanish music is ultra-romantic and heavy on the poetic imagery.

Something which suits the female (and some male) pop rock of the early 1960s.

Given her familiarity with the language and her musical tendency to clear, emotional pop this music is perfect for Connie.

She has really tapped into the soul and spirt of Latin songs.

These songs are written by Latin legends and though you may have not heard of them, the music, no doubt, would be familiar to anyone with any musical knowledge (or anyone who listens to old music, watches old movies or television shows, pays attention to the music in ads etc etc).

Whether you are a Spanish speaker or can't speak a word of you will immediately recognise the emotion in the songs and can guess the narrative.

There is plenty of brass, bongos and slick orchestrations here but there is also some rock 'n' pop beat (in vocal attitude).

The only problem is the recording.

The record was recorded in England.

Wait, wait, hear me out.

The backing vocals which are restrained are by The Rita Williams singers, a English vocal group. The music is by Geoff Love & His Orchestra. The orchestra never takes off though they are never less than competent (his series of movie themes album in the 70s are quite good) and they had backed Shirley Bassey before (and Judy Garland, Paul Robeson, Mel Torme, Marlene Dietrich) as well as Connie on her Yiddish album (which may have been done at the same time as this). I suspect Love was chosen because he had a lot of success as Manuel in a faux Latin band in London, 'Manuel and his Music of the Mountains'. That group had chart success in England and the US and was pop Latin which was required here.

Love wasn't about pushing boundaries. Much like (later) Percy Faith he was a populist who created melodic, hum-able and uncontroversial arrangements of tunes aimed at the broadest audience possible.

And that is not a problem, either.

I suspect the problem lies with the recording studio. English studios, circa 1960, just weren't up to the standards of the American ones.

This is a small issue but the sound should be fuller and more lush.

But the main reason for coming is Connie’s voice.

Check out my other comments for biographical detail on Connie

Tracks (best in italics)

Side One

Malagueña – (Ernesto Lecuona) – (Spanish) – A legendary song by the great Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona. This was a German language hit in the US for Caterina Valente in 1955 (#42 on the cashbox charts). Connie popularised the song in the US market. It is a familiar tune which is popular with marching band (and in figure skating circles)! I is sung well though drenched in echo.
Quiéreme mucho – (Gonzalo Roig, Albert Gamse, Jack Sherr) – (Spanish/English) – a trad pop standard without any substantial hits ….the time is ripe. This is a wonderful romantic version of a wonderfully romantic song.
Siboney – (Ernesto Lecuona) – (Spanish) – another standard done by everyone in Spanish or Englsih including Bing Crosby (1946). Another one with a lot of echo. Maybe they are aiming for a high, lonesome Andean feel? Still, Connie sings it well.
Solamente una vez – (Agustín Lara, Ray Gilbert) – (Spanish/English) – aka “You Belong to My heart”. Done by everyone. Bing Crosby had a English language #4 hit with it in 1946. Elvis Presley, as part of the Million Dollar Quartet, performed a shortened version of the song, mixing Augustín Lara's original Spanish lyrics and Ray Gilbert's English lyrics. I love this version.
Quién séra – (Pablo Beltrán Ruiz, Norman Gimbel) – (Spanish/English) – a well known bolero-mambo. Dean Martin had a hit with it as Sway (#1954 #15 US Pop, #6 UK). This swings!
Quizás, Quizás, Quizás – (Osvaldo Farrés) – (Spanish) – which became a hit for NYC based Puerto Rican Bobby Capó in 1947). The English lyrics "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" were written by Joe Davis and are not a translation of the Spanish lyrics. The English version was first recorded by Desi Arnaz in 1948 (RCA).
Beso de fuego – (Ángel Villoldo) – (Spanish) – "El Choclo" has been recorded (without vocals) by many dance orchestras, especially in Argentina. Vocal versions do well: Georgia Gibbs (#1 US Pop 1952, under the name "Kiss of Fire"), Tony Martin (1952 US Pop #6), Toni Arden (1952 US Pop #14), Billy Eckstine (1952 US Pop #16), Louis Armstrong (1952 US Pop #20), and Guy Lombardo (1952 US Pop #30, vocal by Kenny Gardner). There is also a Spanish versions of "Kiss of Fire" by Nat King Cole (1959). This English word variant was translated back into Spanish as "Beso de Fuego".

Side Two

Granada – (Agustín Lara) – (Spanish) – another standard done in English and Spanish by Mario Lanza (1949), Desi Arnaz (1951), Bing Crosby (1951), Frankie Laine (1954), Perez Prado (1956), Caterina Valente (1956), The Four freshmen (1958) and many others. Bring in the bulls!
Bésame Mucho – (Consuelo Velázquez, Sunny Skylar) – (Spanish/English) – a magnificent song, the most famous (and best) version is sung by Trio Los Panchos but this is pretty special also. Connie's voice is erotically sublime.
Nosotros – (Junco) – (Spanish/English) – a traditional sounding Latin pop tune written by Cuban Pedro Junco with a familiar, pleasant melody and wonderfully sung by Connie, though the arrangement is pure Hollywood (via London).
Vaya, con Dios – (Larry Russel, Inez James, Buddy Pepper) – (Spanish) – Les Paul and Mary Ford had a instrumental #1 US Pop (1953). There have been many versions including Bing Crosby (1953), Pat Boone (1959), Nat King Cole (1962, in Spanish), Suitably haunting, and the crackle on my vinyl just adds to it. Like something out of "The Wages of Fear" , you can see a group of lost men sitting around a jukebox listening to this tune.
Te quiero, dijiste – (María Grever, Charles Pasquale) – (Spanish) – first done by Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (1930) but also done by Nat King Cole (1958). More Romantic Latin.
Celos (Jealousy) – (Jacob Gade) – (Spanish) – "Jalousie", a tango written by Danish composer Jacob Gade in 1925 became a standard. As "Jalousie" the song was released on a single in 1951 by Frankie Laine. Nice.