My Thanks To You is a studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 recorded by US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Entertainer Connie Francis

Connie Francis

Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...

. The album features songs which had been popular on both sides of the Atlantic between the 1920s and the 1940s. It was recorded March 4–6, 1959 at E.M.I.'s famous Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

 in London.

During the sessions, Francis recorded two versions of the song I'll Close My Eyes, written by Billy Reid

Billy Reid

Billy Reid was a United Kingdom orchestra leader, songwriter and accordionist.When the vocalist Dorothy Squires joined his band, he took it as an opportunity to write songs especially for her, many of them, such as "The Gypsy," "A Tree in the Meadow," and "I'm Walking Behind You," became hits in...

 and Buddy Kaye

Buddy Kaye

Jules Leonard "Buddy" Kaye was an American award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, author and publisher. His songs were recorded by top performers, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Elvis Presley and Dusty Springfield...

. Both recordings share the same orchestral arrangement but different sets of lyrics, which are referred to as "American version" and "British version" for distinction. The British version was included on the album while the American Version remained unreleased until 1993.

Geoff Love

Geoff Love

Geoff Love was a British easy-listening, and disco orchestra leader. He was born in the industrial town of Todmorden in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His father was a mixed race American-born guitarist and dancer, and his mother an actress. As a child, Love began to learn to play the violin but...

 and Tony Osborne, who both also appeared as conductors, provided arrangements in the style of British Light Music

Light music

Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....

 to make the album more appealing especially to British audiences who had rewarded Francis with # 1 chart notations for Who's Sorry Now? and Stupid Cupid

Stupid Cupid

"Stupid Cupid" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka which became a hit for Connie Francis in 1958.In the spring of 1958 Francis had hit #4 with her breakout hit, a rock ballad version of the standard "Who's Sorry Now?"...

in 1958, making her even more successful of the Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an side of the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 than on the American where both songs had peaked on # 4 and # 16 respectively.

But even with sophisticated singles such as My Happiness (a US # 2 and a UK # 4 for her in early 1959), Connie Francis was still considered too much of a rock 'n' roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 singer to be also accepted as a performer of adult contemporary material, hence the albums failed to make an impression on the charts.

The album was re-packaged with a new cover design and re-released in March 1962.

Side A

#	Title	Songwriter	Length
1.	"My Thanks To You"	Noel Gray, Norman Newell Norman Newell Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...	3.32
2.	"The Bells of St. Mary's" The Bells of St. Mary's (song) "The Bells of St. Mary's" is a popular song.The music was written by A. Emmett Adams, the lyrics by Douglas Furber, following a visit to St. Mary's Church, Southampton, England. The song was published in 1917....	A. Emmett Adams, Douglas Furber Douglas Furber Douglas Furber was a British lyricist and playwright.Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song The Lambeth Walk and the libretto to the musical Me and My Girl, composed by Noel Gay, from which it came. This show made broadcasting history when in 1939 it became the first full length...	2.30
3.	"A Garden in the Rain A Garden in the Rain "A Garden in the Rain" is a popular song.The music was written by Carroll Gibbons, the lyrics by James Dyrenforth. The song was published in 1928.The song had two periods of great popularity: in 1929 and in 1952.... "	Carroll Gibbons Carroll Gibbons Carroll Gibbons was an American-born musician, bandleader and composer who made his career primarily in Britain. He was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts. In his late teens he travelled to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music... , James Dyrenforth	3.08
4.	"Try a Little Tenderness Try a Little Tenderness "Try a Little Tenderness" is a love song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods, and recorded initially on December 8, 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra followed by both Ruth Etting and Bing Crosby in 1933... "	Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Harry M. Woods Harry M. Woods Henry MacGregor Woods was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and pianist. Woods is sometimes credited as Harry Woods.-Early life:...	3.50
5.	"A Tree in the Meadow A Tree in the Meadow "A Tree in the Meadow" is a popular song. It was written by Billy Reid, and the song was published in 1948.The songwriter, orchestra leader Billy Reid, recorded the first version in the United Kingdom, with Dorothy Squires as vocalist. It was recorded on 9 January 1948, and released by Parlophone... "	Billy Reid Billy Reid Billy Reid was a United Kingdom orchestra leader, songwriter and accordionist.When the vocalist Dorothy Squires joined his band, he took it as an opportunity to write songs especially for her, many of them, such as "The Gypsy," "A Tree in the Meadow," and "I'm Walking Behind You," became hits in...	3.27
6.	"Now Is the Hour Now Is the Hour "Now Is the Hour" is a popular song, though often described as a traditional Māori song. It is usually credited to Clement Scott, Maewa Kaihau & Dorothy Stewart.... "	Maewa Kaihau, Clement Scott, Dorothy Stewart	2.35

Side B

#	Title	Songwriter	Length
1.	"I'll Close My Eyes" (British Version)	Billy Reid Billy Reid Billy Reid was a United Kingdom orchestra leader, songwriter and accordionist.When the vocalist Dorothy Squires joined his band, he took it as an opportunity to write songs especially for her, many of them, such as "The Gypsy," "A Tree in the Meadow," and "I'm Walking Behind You," became hits in... , Buddy Kaye Buddy Kaye Jules Leonard "Buddy" Kaye was an American award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, author and publisher. His songs were recorded by top performers, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Elvis Presley and Dusty Springfield...	3.36
2.	"The Very Thought of You The Very Thought of You "The Very Thought of You" is a pop standard published in 1934, with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. In addition to Noble's own hit recording of the song with his orchestra, featuring the vocals of Al Bowlly, there was also a popular version recorded that same year by Bing Crosby. A decade later, the... "	Ray Noble Ray Noble (musician) Ray Noble was an English bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day...	3.47
3.	"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) "These Foolish Things " is a standard with words by Eric Maschwitz and music by Jack Strachey. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer, but his input was probably limited to changes to suit the U.S. market. It is one of a group of 'Mayfair Songs', like "A Nightingale Sang in... "	Eric Maschwitz Eric Maschwitz Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE , known as Eric Maschwitz and sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.-Life and work:... , Jack Strahey	4.20
4.	"Cruising Down the River Cruising Down the River Cruising Down the River is a 1946 popular recording song.Words and music were by Eily Beadell and Nell Tollerton, two middle-aged women who wrote the song in 1945. It became the winner of a public songwriting competition held in the UK... "	Neil Tollerton, Eily Bendell	2.24
5.	"The Gypsy"	Billy Reid	3.00
6.	"Goodnight, Sweetheart" Goodnight, Sweetheart (1931 song) "Goodnight, Sweetheart" is a popular song of the 1930s and 1940s, and was written by the British song-writing team of Ray Noble, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, and performed by Rudy Vallée, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin, among others....	Ray Nobel, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Rudy Vallée Rudy Vallée Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...	3.16

Not included songs from the sessions

#	Title	Songwriter	Length	Remark
1.	"I'll Close My Eyes" (American Version)	Billy Reid, Buddy Kaye	3.38	unreleased until 1993

External links

• Official Connie Francis Fan Club Site