artemisboy
06-03-2005, 02:50 PM
Q - Were you encouraged by a producer to write your own material?
A - No. I was never encouraged to do it and I played the accordion,
which I hated. I wish I had taken piano because I definitely would have written more songs of my own, but I didn't. In those days, they didn't have producers. I was my own producer. They had A&R men (artists and repertoire) who would bring you material, but I never liked any of the material they brought me. So, when it was time for a session, I would sit for hours in my office and listen to every publisher, every songwriter, every old songwriter until I would find something that I liked or a standard that maybe I would do. A producer, if you think about it, is a person who finds the right marriage between an artist and a song, chooses the right manager and I did all of those things. I had complete carte blanche contractually to do all of those things and never release any of 'em that I didn't want to release. It was an incredible contract.
Q - Was it difficult to work both sides of the control booth?
A - No, it wasn't. I would lay my voice down with the whole orchestra.
Don't forget in '58 when "Who's Sorry Now?" was a hit, there wasn't even stereo until the end of the year. So, when you left that studio, you had to have a perfect mix. You had to have a perfect orchestra, and a perfect vocal take. You couldn't go back in and put your voice over something or put instruments over something. That was it. And that was a great way to record. I still like recording with the orchestra there. I don't like recording into a track.
Q - Did you always want to be a singer?
A - Always.
Q - Did you tour with those Dick Clark Caravan of Star Tours?
A - Oh, sure did. We went all over the place.
Q - All over the United States?
A - Yes. And then my father didn't want me traveling with rock 'n rollers. (laughs) Like I wasn't one myself, you know.
Q - Even though you sang those slow ballads, you were.
A - Right. I was a rock 'n roller. But he didn't want me traveling with these rock 'n rollers, so that was the end of that.
Q - Do you remember who you appeared with?
A - With everybody. Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly.
Q - Did you get a chance to sit down and talk with these people?
A - Oh, sure. But we didn't have that much time. But, in the course of
doing a show, you talked with them, and exchanged ideas. They would tell you what record they liked.
Q - Did you get to meet Elvis, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra?
A - Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Not The Beatles. I never met The Beatles.
Q - What can you tell us about Elvis?
A - Well, I thought he was a gentleman. I thought he was a sweetheart.
I thought he was surrounded by the wrong people who would be detrimental to him, and I told him that one day. The first time I met him was shortly after his mother died. He came to see me at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. When I started to sing "Mama", he just started to cry and got up and left the theater. The next day he sent me two dozen yellow roses with an apology.
Q - How about Frank Sinatra?
A - Frank, I've been a part of his family and his life for as long as I
can remember. I was very close to his parents. Close to Nancy...Nancy Sr. and Nancy Jr. Close to Frank Jr. He's been a part of my life throughout my career.
Q - I want to go back to something you said about Elvis. Why did you
think he was surrounded by the wrong people?
A - Well, they were yes men. They overlooked his excesses and the chemicals he was taking. For a Cadillac, they would say the right thing. I said, "God forbid that day comes that you die Elvis. Red West is gonna write a bad book about you," and I was absolutely right.
Q - When you were starting out, most of the record companies rejected
your demos. Is that correct?
A - All of them except the last one, which was MGM. They all said, save
your money, this kid is going nowhere. Mitch Miller said "Save your money. This girl sounds like 50 thousand other girl singers." It was very discouraging. (laughs)
Q - According to Irwin Stambler's book, The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock
and Soul, "Connie Francis might be considered another example of the show biz hex of too much, too soon. In her late teens and early 20s, she ranked as one of the top favorites of teenage fans, able to turn almost every record into gold sales material. Later on, when her star began to wane, she wasn't able to put the entertainment business behind her and go on to other pursuits." You weren't looking for other pursuits were you?
A - No, I certainly wasn't. First of all, it's something that occurred
to every American artist including Elvis simultaneously with the surge of British material that came in. I mean, there was nothing American artists could do right. The public wanted the stuff from Britain, and that's what they got. By that time, I was working Vegas 12 weeks a year and working the Copa twice a year and working Reno and touring the world and recording in foreign countries. So, even though I wasn't doing very much here, my career was going full blast all over the rest of the world.
Q - What keeps you busy these days?
A - I was just in San Francisco at Louise Davis Symphony Hall. I'm
appearing in Rochester at Kodak on the Ridge. They have a new series called "Legends of Las Vegas" and I'm the first person in that line-up. Wayne Newton will be next . Then, Paul Anka. They have a whole line-up of people. I'm going to be touring Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong the end of May. In October, I will be touring New Zealand and Australia.
Q - I was trying to think what the best thing about being Connie
Francis would be. I don't necessarily think it's the fame or even the money. But, I think as long as there are radios, albums, CDs, or cassettes, your music will be played. In other words, you're going to be remembered. Am I on the right track?
A - Yeah. You're on the right track. I think it's great. I often say,
I'd like to be remembered not for the heights I've reached, but for the
depth from which I've risen. There are a lot of people who have had my success in this business. There were exhilarating highs and abysmal lows. But, it was fighting to get out of those lows that I feel most proud of. It was struggling to reconcile all of the tragedies that had occurred in my life and I'd like to be known for my music and I'm always honored and privileged when people remember and it brings back happy memories for a lot of people and that makes me happy.
A - No. I was never encouraged to do it and I played the accordion,
which I hated. I wish I had taken piano because I definitely would have written more songs of my own, but I didn't. In those days, they didn't have producers. I was my own producer. They had A&R men (artists and repertoire) who would bring you material, but I never liked any of the material they brought me. So, when it was time for a session, I would sit for hours in my office and listen to every publisher, every songwriter, every old songwriter until I would find something that I liked or a standard that maybe I would do. A producer, if you think about it, is a person who finds the right marriage between an artist and a song, chooses the right manager and I did all of those things. I had complete carte blanche contractually to do all of those things and never release any of 'em that I didn't want to release. It was an incredible contract.
Q - Was it difficult to work both sides of the control booth?
A - No, it wasn't. I would lay my voice down with the whole orchestra.
Don't forget in '58 when "Who's Sorry Now?" was a hit, there wasn't even stereo until the end of the year. So, when you left that studio, you had to have a perfect mix. You had to have a perfect orchestra, and a perfect vocal take. You couldn't go back in and put your voice over something or put instruments over something. That was it. And that was a great way to record. I still like recording with the orchestra there. I don't like recording into a track.
Q - Did you always want to be a singer?
A - Always.
Q - Did you tour with those Dick Clark Caravan of Star Tours?
A - Oh, sure did. We went all over the place.
Q - All over the United States?
A - Yes. And then my father didn't want me traveling with rock 'n rollers. (laughs) Like I wasn't one myself, you know.
Q - Even though you sang those slow ballads, you were.
A - Right. I was a rock 'n roller. But he didn't want me traveling with these rock 'n rollers, so that was the end of that.
Q - Do you remember who you appeared with?
A - With everybody. Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly.
Q - Did you get a chance to sit down and talk with these people?
A - Oh, sure. But we didn't have that much time. But, in the course of
doing a show, you talked with them, and exchanged ideas. They would tell you what record they liked.
Q - Did you get to meet Elvis, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra?
A - Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Not The Beatles. I never met The Beatles.
Q - What can you tell us about Elvis?
A - Well, I thought he was a gentleman. I thought he was a sweetheart.
I thought he was surrounded by the wrong people who would be detrimental to him, and I told him that one day. The first time I met him was shortly after his mother died. He came to see me at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. When I started to sing "Mama", he just started to cry and got up and left the theater. The next day he sent me two dozen yellow roses with an apology.
Q - How about Frank Sinatra?
A - Frank, I've been a part of his family and his life for as long as I
can remember. I was very close to his parents. Close to Nancy...Nancy Sr. and Nancy Jr. Close to Frank Jr. He's been a part of my life throughout my career.
Q - I want to go back to something you said about Elvis. Why did you
think he was surrounded by the wrong people?
A - Well, they were yes men. They overlooked his excesses and the chemicals he was taking. For a Cadillac, they would say the right thing. I said, "God forbid that day comes that you die Elvis. Red West is gonna write a bad book about you," and I was absolutely right.
Q - When you were starting out, most of the record companies rejected
your demos. Is that correct?
A - All of them except the last one, which was MGM. They all said, save
your money, this kid is going nowhere. Mitch Miller said "Save your money. This girl sounds like 50 thousand other girl singers." It was very discouraging. (laughs)
Q - According to Irwin Stambler's book, The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock
and Soul, "Connie Francis might be considered another example of the show biz hex of too much, too soon. In her late teens and early 20s, she ranked as one of the top favorites of teenage fans, able to turn almost every record into gold sales material. Later on, when her star began to wane, she wasn't able to put the entertainment business behind her and go on to other pursuits." You weren't looking for other pursuits were you?
A - No, I certainly wasn't. First of all, it's something that occurred
to every American artist including Elvis simultaneously with the surge of British material that came in. I mean, there was nothing American artists could do right. The public wanted the stuff from Britain, and that's what they got. By that time, I was working Vegas 12 weeks a year and working the Copa twice a year and working Reno and touring the world and recording in foreign countries. So, even though I wasn't doing very much here, my career was going full blast all over the rest of the world.
Q - What keeps you busy these days?
A - I was just in San Francisco at Louise Davis Symphony Hall. I'm
appearing in Rochester at Kodak on the Ridge. They have a new series called "Legends of Las Vegas" and I'm the first person in that line-up. Wayne Newton will be next . Then, Paul Anka. They have a whole line-up of people. I'm going to be touring Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong the end of May. In October, I will be touring New Zealand and Australia.
Q - I was trying to think what the best thing about being Connie
Francis would be. I don't necessarily think it's the fame or even the money. But, I think as long as there are radios, albums, CDs, or cassettes, your music will be played. In other words, you're going to be remembered. Am I on the right track?
A - Yeah. You're on the right track. I think it's great. I often say,
I'd like to be remembered not for the heights I've reached, but for the
depth from which I've risen. There are a lot of people who have had my success in this business. There were exhilarating highs and abysmal lows. But, it was fighting to get out of those lows that I feel most proud of. It was struggling to reconcile all of the tragedies that had occurred in my life and I'd like to be known for my music and I'm always honored and privileged when people remember and it brings back happy memories for a lot of people and that makes me happy.