Connie Francis (Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero)

Francis released the 1958 hit "Who’s Sorry Now?" and who appeared in
many movies, including the 1964 romantic musical-comedy “Looking for
Love”.

Francis recorded the song April 15 1959 in a session at Metropolitan Studio (NYC). It was produced and conducted by Ray Ellis with Veteran guitarist George Barnes (below) contributing a solo to the track.

George Barnes claimed he played the first electric
guitar in 1931. He also made the first recording of
an electric guitar in 1938 in sessions with blues
singer Big Bill Broonzy. 

Lorne Green become the second Canadian solo artist (after Paul Anka)
to have a number one hit on the Billboard singles chart when his spoken
word recording about a Western gun fighter named Ringo reached the
top. The star of NBC-TV’s hit show Bonanza recorded seven albums
for RCA.

"Ringo” also peaked at #1 on the "Easy Listening" chart and stayed at
the top for six weeks. The single also went to number twenty-one on
Hot Country Singles chart.

 

     Roy Rogers (Leonard Franklin Slye) (November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998)

Roy Rogers and Trigger

                          Dottie West (Dorothy Marie Marsh)

                      (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991)

Dottie West is considered one of the genre’s most influential and
groundbreaking female artists. Her career started in the early 1960s,
with her Top 10 hit, "Here Comes My Baby Back Again," which won her 
the first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in
1965. In the 1960s, West was one of the few female country singers
working in what was then a male-dominated industry, influencing other
female country singers like Lynn Anderson, Crystal Gayle, Barbara
Mandrell, Dolly Parton, and Tammy Wynette. Throughout the 1960s,
West had country hits within the Top 10 and 20.

 
West died as the result of severe internal injuries received in an auto
accident while on her way to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry on
August 30, 1991.

In the early 1970s, West wrote a popular commercial for the Coca-Cola
company, titled "Country Sunshine", which she nearly brought to the
top of the charts in 1973.

“The Killer”, Jerry Lee Lewis               

“Great Balls of Fire” was recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis at Sun Records
in Memphis, Tennessee. It reached #2 on the Billboard pop charts, #3
on the R&B charts, and #1 on the country charts. It was ranked as the
96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone and sold one million copies
in its first 10 days of release in the United States and would go on to
sell over 5 million copies, making it both one of the best-selling singles
in the United States as well as one of the world’s best-selling singles
of all time.

                  (photo: Larry Philpot) <larry@behindthemusic.net>

Jerry Lee Lewis turned  78 on September 29.