Cliff Richard Neil Sedaka Adam Faith Connie Francis Following another idea from her father, Francis traveled to London in August 1959[11] to record an Italian album at EMI's famous Abbey Road Studios.[10] Titled Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites, the album was released in November 1959. It soon entered the album charts where it remained for 81 weeks, peaking at number 4 and becoming Francis's most successful album. "Mama," the single taken from the album, reached number 8 in the United States and number 2 in the United Kingdom.[17]
Following this success, Francis recorded seven more albums of "favorites" between 1960 and 1964, including Jewish, German, and Irish, among others. These albums marked Francis's transition from the youth-oriented rock 'n' roll music to adult contemporary music, which George Franconero, Sr. had realized would be necessary if his daughter was to have a successful longterm music career. Russ Conway
