The Wedding Cake (album)

As her career began to wane in the late 1960s, Connie Francis started experimenting with different record producers but found little success with new styles. In 1969 Francis recorded "The Wedding Cake", a single that saw her work for the first time with American record producer and record label owner Shelby Singleton.^[6] It made brief US, Canadian, and Australian chart appearances.^[7] For the album Francis would reunite with the same producer, the country songwriting duo Margaret Lewis and Mira Ann Smith, and with Val Valentin, the producer of her 1967 Love, Italian Style album, this time being the director of engineering, like on Connie Francis Sings "For Mama" (1965).^[8]

The Wedding Cake was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville in April 1969, with the exception of the hit single,^[1] with most of the tracks written by Margaret Lewis and Mira Ann Smith at Shelby Singleton's studio, Singleton Sound Studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee.^[8] The album contained a total of 11 tracks, with six songs on side one and five on side two.^[9] Unlike most of her previous album, The Wedding Cake had no cover songs. "You Know You're Not Forsaken" was cut on December 20, 1966. Other songs from the main 1969 session like "Milk and Honey" and "Lincoln Street Chapel" were not included in the album, although they appeared 12 years later in her I'm Me Again – Silver Anniversary Album album. Billboard stated that the song "The Wedding Cake" is a "Country flavored rhythm item with good lyric line performed to perfection by Miss Francis."^[10] The magazine also said that "Gone Like the Wind" is a "folk flavored ballad with a top performance".^[7]

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Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[11]
Billboard	Positive (Pick LP)[4]
Cashbox	Positive (Pop Best Bets)[2]
Record World	Positive (Pick Hits)[12]

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The Wedding Cake was given a positive critical response following its release. Billboard magazine named the album among its "Pick LP's" in late May 1969, highlighting its commercial and pop aspects. "'The Wedding Cake' has brought Connie Francis back to the singles forefront and it should do the same for her album sales. Working under the aegis of Shelby Singleton, Miss Francis has found new pop strength. The songs are in the country pop groove and are delivered with an overall market appeal.".^[4] Cashbox magazine stated that the album was a "fitting addition to Connie Francis' long string of albums", continuing that "The Wedding Cake showcases the lark in a performance of her last single, after which the set is titled, and 10 other tunes. The songstress is at the top of her form all the way through the set and could grab a nice amount of sales and airplay. Her fans will want to latch on to the LP as soon as possible."^[2] Record World magazine believed that the album had a head start; "Shelby Singleton has taken Connie under his wing for a while and put her together with some of his songwriters. Connie's already clicked with 'The Wedding Cake' and has 'Gone Like the Wind' headed for charts; so album has a head start."^[12] It was given a three-star rating by Encyclopedia of Popular Music as well.^[11]

The Wedding Cake was released by MGM Records in May 1969 and was the forty-first studio album of her career. It was also her second-to-last album issued by the original MGM. The album was offered as a vinyl LP. Three singles were included on the project, although none of their B-sides appeared on the album. The first was the two year old at that point "Another Page", issued in January 1967.^[13] The song only rose to the number 121 position on the US Hot 100 chart in 1967,^[14] but was ranked higher in Cashbox, reaching number 98 on their Top 100 Singles chart.^[15] Its most successful single was the namesake, "The Wedding Cake", which was issued in January 1969.^[16] The song became her final Hot 100 entry.^[17] It also made the US Top Country Singles chart, peaking at number 33 and became her second single to chart on the Country charts, with her previous country chart entry being nine years ago.^[18] It also went to the number eighty-third position on Canada's RPM Top 100 singles chart around the same period,^[19] and peaked at number 16 on their Adult Contemporary chart.^[20] "Gone Like the Wind" was also released as a single soon after, and although seeing heavy advertising, didn't chart. The album itself didn't chart on the Billboard Top LPs or on the Top Country LPs.^[21]