1960 Ballad, MGM’s Arnold Maxim Called a Career Killer, Took a 22-Year-Old Singer to No. 1

In August 1960, Connie Francis’ “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” was still nesting comfortably in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 after spending two weeks at No. 1 in June. The song, a twangy country-tinged ballad about heartbreak and rejection, was the singer’s biggest hit and, to this day, 66 years later, remains an emotionally resonant ditty.

But the song was actually a gamble. This followed a warning from an MGM executive, who reportedly told Francis that releasing it could mean the end of her career. In reality, though, the historic song became her first No. 1 hit and made her the first solo woman to top the all genre-chart.

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Just 22 at the time, Francis had already amassed a string of 13 Top 40 singles, including her 1958 breakthrough, “Who’s Sorry Now.” But “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” became the winning song that would finally get her to the top of the charts.

Released by MGM Records in 1960 as the B-side of “Jealous of You (Tango della Gelosia),” the song achieved so much success that it’s difficult to imagine the singer was forced to quiet naysayers on her way to the top. But that’s exactly what happened.

Written by legendary songwriting duo Jack Keller and Howard Greenfield, the track was originally intended as a soulful song for blues singer LaVern Baker, according to Songfacts. But Francis, having worked with the two on “Stupid Cupid,” approached them for a country tune.

According to Rich Podolsky’s Don Kirshner: The Man With the Golden Ear, Keller was initially shocked when Greenfield told him Francis wanted the song done as a country tune. But he ultimately adapted the arrangement anyway, even adding the organ opening to give it a more authentic country feel, per Songfacts.

Francis got even tougher pushback on the song from MGM producer Arnold Maxim, who was assigned to oversee her recording sessions. “If you put out that country song, I think your career is finished,” he reportedly said.

Obviously, he was wrong. Per Songfacts, when Francis received a framed copy of the commemorative single, she sent it to Maxim—“along with a set of salt-and-pepper shakers.”

“With ‘Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,’ I knew going in that it was a No. 1 song,” Francis told DISCoveries Magazine, per Songfacts. “I knew that even before the recording session. I really did, just because the lyrics were so great. It had to be a hit because everything like it was. The only music that doesn’t seem to change much is country music.”

“Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” was the first of three No. 1s for the singer-actress extraordinaire. Her second came in September 1960 with “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own,” another Keller and Greenfield original, and then “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You,” in March 1962.

With its lush 1960s pop production and aching vocal delivery, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” wasn’t just another song for Francis. It changed the trajectory of her career, establishing her as a crossover artist when pop, country, and rock were increasingly colliding on the charts.

As her song says, somebody has to be a fool. With this song, though, it wasn’t Francis.

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