Frank Ifield
| Frank Ifield | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Francis Edward Ifield |
| Born | 30 November 1937 Coundon, Coventry, Warwickshire, England |
| Genres | Country, easy listening |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Labels | Columbia/EMI Vee Jay (US) |
| Associated acts | Roy Orbison Cliff Richard |
| Website | www.frankifield.com |
Francis Edward Ifield (born 30 November 1937) is an early Australian-English easy listening and country music singer. He achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Chart, where he had four Number 1 hits between 1962 and 1963.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Born in Coundon, Coventry, Warwickshire, England, Ifield moved with his Australian parents to Dural, 50 km (31 mi) from Sydney, about 1946. It was a rural district and he listened to hillbilly music (now called country) while milking the cows. He learned how to yodel in imitation of country stars like Hank Snow. At the age of thirteen he recorded "Did You See My Daddy Over There?", and by the age of 19 was the number one recording star in Australia and New Zealand.[citation needed] He returned to the UK in 1959.
[edit] 1960s success
His first record in the UK was "Lucky Devil" (1960) which got to number 22 in the UK charts. His next six records were less successful, but he finally broke through with "I Remember You" which topped the charts for seven weeks in 1962. Known for Ifield's falsetto and a slight yodel, it was the second highest-selling single of that year in the UK[1] and became the seventh million-selling single.[2]
His next single was a double A-side: "Lovesick Blues" and "She Taught Me How to Yodel". "Lovesick Blues" was originally sung by Hank Williams and was treated in an upbeat "Let's Twist Again" style. The other song is a virtuoso piece of yodelling with the final verse - entirely yodelling - sung at double-speed. It also reached number 44 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. His next hit, "Wayward Wind", made him the first UK-based person to reach number one three times in the UK in succession. The only other person to have done so at that point was Elvis Presley.
His other recordings include "Nobody's Darling but Mine", "Confessin'" (his fourth and final UK number one), "Mule Train" and "Don't Blame Me". In 1963 he sang at the Grand Ole Opry, introduced by one of his heroes, Hank Snow. Many of his records were produced by Norrie Paramor.
[edit] Jolly What!
Ifield toured the UK in 1963. While Vee-Jay Records temporarily had the U.S. rights to a number of The Beatles' recordings, they released an album called Jolly What! England's Greatest Recording Stars: The Beatles and Frank Ifield on Stage on 26 February 1964. The LP consisted of four studio Beatles songs (all previously released), plus eight recordings of Ifield. The original pressing has a drawing of a chubby old man with a moustache, and is itself quite rare. However, just before Vee Jay's publishing rights were about to expire on 10 October 1964 they changed the sleeve cover to a drawing of the Beatles. Probably less than one hundred copies were pressed, making it is one of the rarest Beatles albums. Three sealed stereo copies were discovered in 1976, selling for $600, $900 and $1,800. One of the three was re-sold in 1995 for $22,000.[3]
Like many of the albums rushed out to cash in on the Beatles success, Jolly What! has been called a "rip-off", due to its intentional misleading of buyers. The album consisted entirely of studio recordings (not live, and thus not "on stage"), and all the Beatles material had been previously released. Moreover, while Ifield was a moderate success in his own country he was hardly a "great recording star".[4] The album is also known for a mistake in the liner notes: "It is with a good deal of pride and pleasure that this copulation has been presented" -- presumably "copulation" should have been "compilation". (One person commented that "copulation" was appropriate, since the makers of the album were "trying to screw the fans out of their money.")[4] The album, however, was significant in that, until the release of the Beatles' 1973 compilation album, The Beatles/1962-1966, Jolly What! was the only American Beatles album to include "From Me to You".
[edit] A Song for Europe
Ifield twice entered the UK heat of the Eurovision Song Contest. He came second in the 1962 heat with "Alone Too Long" (losing to Ronnie Carroll). In the 1976 heat he tried with "Ain't Gonna Take No For An Answer", finishing last of 12.
[edit] "She Taught Me to Yodel"
In 1991, Ifield returned to the UK chart when "She Taught Me to Yodel", billed as 'Frank Ifield featuring The Backroom Boys', reaching #40 in the UK Singles Chart. In over thirty years, it is his sixteenth appearance in that list.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK[5] | US Country[6] | ||
| 1963 | I'll Remember You | 3 | — |
| Born Free | 3 | — | |
| 1964 | Blue Skies | 10 | — |
| Greatest Hits | 9 | — | |
| 1965 | Portrait In Song | — | — |
| Up Jumped A Swagman | — | — | |
| 1967 | Tale of Two Cities | — | 35 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single (Songwriters) |
Chart Positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[5] | US[7] | US Country[7] | |||
| 1960 | "Lucky Devil" (Wally Gold/Aaron Schroeder) |
22 | — | — | |
| "Gotta Get a Date" (Berry/Ginsbery) |
49 | — | — | ||
| 1962 | "I Remember You" (Johnny Mercer/Victor Schertzinger) |
1 | 5 | — | |
| "Lovesick Blues" (Cliff Friend/Irving Mills) |
1 | 44 | — | ||
| 1963 | "The Wayward Wind" (Stanley Lebowsky/Herb Newman) |
1 | — | — | |
| "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine" (Jimmie Davis) |
4 | — | — | ||
| "Confessin' (That I Love You)" (Doc Daugherty/Al J. Neiburg/Ellis Reynolds) |
1 | 58 | — | ||
| "Mule Train" (Fred Glickman/Hy Heath/Johnny Lange) |
22 | — | — | ||
| 1964 | "Don't Blame Me" (Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh) |
8 | — | — | |
| "Angry at the Big Oak Tree" (Paul Hampton/Bob Hilliard) |
25 | — | — | ||
| "I Should Care" (Sammy Cahn/Axel Stordahl/Paul Weston) |
33 | — | — | ||
| "Summer is Over" (Tom Springfield/Clive Westlake) |
25 | — | — | ||
| "Please" (Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin) |
— | 71 | — | ||
| 1965 | "Paradise" (Nacio Herb Brown/Gordon Clifford) |
26 | — | — | |
| 1966 | "No One Will Ever Know" (Mel Foree/Fred Rose) |
25 | — | 42 | |
| "Call Her Your Sweetheart" (Leon Payne) |
24 | — | 28 | ||
| 1968 | "Good Morning, Dear" (Mickey Newbury) |
— | — | 67 | |
| "Oh, Such a Stranger" (Don Gibson) |
— | — | 68 | ||
| 1969 | "It's My Time"A (John D. Loudermilk) |
— | — | — | |
| 1991 | "She Taught Me How to Yodel"B (Tom Emerson/Paul Roberts/Van Esther Sciver) |
40 | — | — | |
Notes
- A"It's My Time" peaked at #12 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
- BCredited to Frank Ifield featuring The Backroom Boys
[edit] References
- ^ "Chart Archive - 1960s Singles". everyhit.com. http://www.everyhit.co.uk/chart2.html. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ "Million-Selling Singles". everyhit.com. http://www.everyhit.co.uk/awardmill.html. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ "Beatles and Frank Ifield". http://www.rarebeatles.com/photospg/ifield.htm.
- ^ a b "A Bloody Bad Album". snopes.com. http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/ifield.asp. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 266. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards (albums)
- ^ a b Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards (singles)
[edit] External links
- Frank Ifield's official website
- Frank Ifield with autograph seekers, 1962
- Frank Ifield discography from Music City
- Frank Ifield's Official Discography at Discoogle
- Frank Ifield at the Internet Movie Database
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