"Be Anything" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song. It was written by Irving Gordon

Irving Gordon

Irving Gordon was an American songwriter.-Biography:Irving Gordon was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he studied violin, and after attending public schools in New York City, went to work in the Catskill Mountains at some of the resort hotels in the area...

 and was published in 1952

1952 in music

-Events:*February 26 - Jo Stafford marries bandleader/arranger Paul Weston.*March 21 - First reported Rock and roll riot breaks out at Alan Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland, Ohio...

.

The recording by Eddy Howard

Eddy Howard

Eddy Howard was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s.-Biography:...

 was released by Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 as catalog number

Catalog numbering systems for single records

This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...

 5815. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on March 21, 1952 and lasted 16 weeks on the chart, peaking at #13.

The song was also released in 1952 by Champ Butler on Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 as catalog number 39690, and by Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...

 on Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

 as catalog number 2011. The Butler recording entered the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart for one week at #26 on May 9, 1952; the O'Connell recording entered the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart for one week at #30 on May 16, 1952.

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...

 cut a single version of "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" in an April 8, 1964 session in New York City produced by Danny Davis

Danny Davis (country musician)

Danny Davis was a band leader, trumpet player, vocalist and producer and founder/leader of the Nashville Brass.-Early life and career:...

 with Alan Lorber

Alan Lorber

Alan Lorber was the leading arranger in the USA in the early 60s having created hits for many of the top artists of the day which amounted to 60 million dollars in sales. He is also a prolific music producer and composer. He was especially active in the 1960s and produced a wide variety of music....

 as arranger/conductor. With "Be Anything (but Be Mine)", Francis returned to the mode of remaking traditional pop songs

Traditional pop music

Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...

 which had provided her with most of her early Top Ten hits although in the 1960s she'd abandoned that formula except for "Together

Together (1928 song)

"Together" is a 1928 popular song with music by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The most popular 1928 recording of the song, by Paul Whiteman, with Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, was a #1 hit for two weeks....

" a #8 hit in 1961. "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" did not return Francis to the Top Ten rather maintaining her recent profile as a moderate chart presence with a #25 peak on Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, where it would mark Francis' final appearance in the Top 40.¹

• ¹"Be Anything (but Be Mine)" peaked at #24 on the Cash Box Pop 100 where Francis would subsequently reach the Top 40 with "Looking For Love" (#34), "Don't Ever Leave Me" (#37), "For Mamma (La Mamma)" (#35) and "Jealous Heart" (#29).