View source for Be Anything (but Be Mine)

{{Refimprove|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Be Anything (But Be Mine)
| cover      =
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Connie Francis]]
| album      =
| A-side     = Be Anything (but Be Mine)
| B-side     = Tommy
| released   = [[1964 in music|1964]]
| recorded   = 1964
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Traditional pop]]
| length     = 2:09
| label      = [[MGM Records]]
| writer     = [[Irving Gordon]]
| producer   =
| chronology = Connie Francis US
| prev_title = [[Blue Winter (song)|Blue Winter]]
| prev_year  = 1964
| next_title = Looking For Love
| next_year  = 1964
}}
"'''Be Anything (but Be Mine)'''" is a [[popular music|popular]] song composed by [[Irving Gordon]], which was published in 1952.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/search?search_text=Be+Anything,+but+Be+Mine|title=Search Results for 'be anything, but be mine' |website=Secondhandsongs.com|access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref>
==Recorded versions==
*The most successful version of the song was that by [[Eddy Howard]] was released as [[Mercury Records|Mercury]] 5815, which reached number 13 in the spring of 1952.The song marked the debut release of [[Peggy Lee]] on [[Decca Records]], being recorded on April 3, 1952 and issued on Decca (catalog number 8142). This version reached number 21.
*A version by [[Champ Butler]] ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]] 39690) reached No. 26.
*A version by [[Helen O'Connell]] ([[Capitol Records|Capitol]] 2011) (number 30)<ref name=Whitburn>
{{cite book
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| author-link = Joel Whitburn
| title = Top Pop Records 1940-1955
| publisher = Record Research
| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
| year = 1973 }}
</ref>
*Mercury Records also cut a version for the [[rhythm and blues|R&B]] market with [[Wini Brown]] & her Boyfriends; released as Mercury 8270, the track reportedly featured [[the Ravens]] as the male chorale.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/twofems.html|title=Two For the Show|website=Home.earthlink.net|access-date=July 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705225325/http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/twofems.html|archive-date=July 5, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Ruth Brown]] also recorded "Be Anything (but be Mine)" ([[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]] 2015) but her version was relegated to the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of the track "[[5-10-15 Hours]]".
*[[Gloria Lynne]] recorded "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" early in 1964 as her debut release on Mercury Records' [[Fontana Records|Fontana]] label (Fontana 1890). The track entered the Hot 100 in April 1964, but rose no higher than number 88, its hit potential stymied by a lawsuit which barred the sales of any Fontana releases by Lynne, the singer's prior label [[Everest Records]] contending to still have Lynne contractually obligated. Fontana was prevented from releasing product by Lynne until February 1965, when her version of "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" made its album debut on her album ''Intimate Moments''.<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|volume = 76 | number = 16 |date=April 18, 1964|page=35 }}</ref>
*"Be Anything (but Be Mine)" did again become a major hit in 1964 via a remake by [[Connie Francis]] recorded in an April 8, 1964 session in New York City produced by [[Danny Davis (country musician)|Danny Davis]] with [[Alan Lorber]] as arranger/conductor. With "Be Anything (but Be Mine)", Francis returned to the mode of remaking [[traditional pop|traditional pop songs]] which had provided her with most of her early Top Ten hits, although in the 1960s she had abandoned that formula, with the exception of "[[Together (1928 song)|Together]]", a number 8 hit in 1961. "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" did not return Francis to the Top Ten, but did maintain her recent profile as a moderate chart presence with a number 25 peak on [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], where it would mark Francis' final appearance in the Top 40.<sup>1</sup><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1964-06-27|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825235253/http://www.billboard.com/charts/1964-06-27/hot-100|url-status=dead|title=The Hot 100 Chart|archive-date=25 August 2014|website=Billboard.com|access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref> On the Easy Listening chart, which is now the [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Adult Contemporary]] chart, it peaked at number 9. In Australia, Francis' "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" charted at number 48."Be Anything (but Be Mine)" peaked at number 24 on the ''[[Cash Box]]'' Pop 100 where Francis would subsequently reach the Top 40 with "Looking For Love" (number 34), "Don't Ever Leave Me" (number 37), "For Mamma (La Mamma)" (number 35) and "[[Jealous Heart#Connie Francis version|Jealous Heart]]" (number 29).
*Betty Everett recorded a version of 'Be Anything (But Be Mine)' on her cult 1974 album Love Rhymes. The track was produced by Johnny Guitar Watson and David Axelrod.
==Other recordings==
The song has also been recorded by:{{CN|date=September 2023}}
*[[Petula Clark]]
*[[Doris Day]]
*[[Queen Latifah]]
*[[Vera Lynn]]
*[[Lou Rawls]]
*([[:cs:Eva Svobodová|cs]]) (as "Buď Můj")
*[[Jerry Vale]]
*[[Sarah Vaughan]]
*[[Timi Yuro]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Connie Francis}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1952 songs]]
[[Category:1964 singles]]
[[Category:Connie Francis songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Irving Gordon]]