Frank Ifield
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Frank Ifield (born Francis Edward Ifield, 30 November 1937, Coundon, Coventry, England) is an Australian / English easy listening, country music singer.
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[edit] Early years
He moved with his Australian parents to Dural, thirty miles from Sydney, in 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 ninteen was the number one recording star in Australia and New Zealand. He returned to the UK in 1959.
[edit] The hits
His first record in the UK was "Lucky Devil" (1960) which got to number 22 in the UK Singles Chart. His next six records were less successful, but he finally broke through with "I Remember You" in 1962. It has been said this was the first record to sell one million copies within the UK alone. It reached number one in the UK. It had a slight yodel on it. 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 person to reach number one three times in the UK in succession.
Ifield was the second artist to score a hat-trick of consecutive chart-topping singles in the UK Singles Chart, the only other to do so at that point was Elvis Presley.
His other recordings include "Nobody's Darling but Mine", "Confessin'", "Mule Train" and "Don't Blame Me". In 1963 he had a hit with "I Remember You" and 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, supported by The Beatles. While Vee-Jay Records temporarily had the 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. This consists of four studio recordings of the Beatles 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. It is the rarest Beatles album. Three sealed stereo copies were discovered in 1976. The first copy sold for 600 dollars, the second for 900 and the third for 1,800 dollars. One of the three was sold in 1995 for 22,000 dollars.[citation needed]
[edit] A Song for Europe
Ifield participated in the UK heat of the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions. In 1962 he came second with "Alone Too Long" (losing out to Ronnie Carroll). Fourteen years later in 1976 he made another attempt, this time with "Ain't Gonna Take No For An Answer". Out of twelve entries, he finished last.
[edit] More recently
In 1991, Ifield returned to the UK chart when "She Taught Me To Yodel", billed as - 'Frank Ifield featuring The Backroom Boys' - secured a minor placing in the UK Singles Chart at number 40. In a period of over thirty years, it thus became his sixteenth appearance in that listing.
