Ifield, Frank (30th November 1937-18th May 2024)

He was a singer and guitarist born Francis Edward Ifield in Coundon, Coventry, England as one of seven sons to Australian parents who had travelled to the UK in 1936 where his father, Richard, was the creator of the Ifield fuel pump for jet aircraft for Lucas Industries.

He and his family returned to Australia in 1948 when he was 10 years old and his parents game him a ukulele. In 1949 his grandmother gave him a guitar and he taught himself to play as well as to yodel at the same time by imitating country music stars. By the time he was 13 years old he appeared on Amateur Hour talent show at the local radio station 2GB and performed “Did You See My Daddy Over There?” which was issued as his first single by Regal Zonophone Records in 1953. Later that year regularly performing at Youth Parade on the Brisbane radio station 4BK.

In 1954 he released a cover of “Abdul Abulbul Amir” with his own “A Mother’s Faith” on the B-side. Two years later he was hosting Campfire Favourites on the TV station TCN-9 and from 1956 to 1957 recorded six singles where he was backed by Dick Carr Buckaroos and from 1960 to 1961 “Whiplash” was used as the theme song for the TV programme of the same name.

In 1959 he saw success when his “Guardian Angel” topped the charts on local radio and later that year his “True” and “Teenage Baby” reached the top 30. That same year he came back to the UK and in 1960 his “Lucky Devil” achieved the No. 22 spot on the UK Singles Chart.

He released a further six singles which didn’t achieve the same chart success but in 1962 he recorded “I Remember You” which turned the tables for him and saw it becoming the second highest seller that year and topping the UK singles chart for 7 weeks and reaching No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Also in 1962 he sang “Alone Too Long” in the UK heats for the Eurovision Song Contest and came second to Ronnie Carroll.

The follow-up single was the double A-side “Lovesick Blue” and “She Taught Me How to Yodel”, which he also performed at the Royal Variety Performance at the request of the Queen Mother. Once again he topped the charts in the UK, reached No. 2 in Australia and No. 44 in the US.

Many of his records were produced by Norrie Paramor and accompanied by Norrie Paramor and His Orchestra including his next single “Wayward Wind” which topped the charts once more in 1963 and saw him becoming the first UK based artist to reach No. 1 three times in succession on the UK chart, second only to Elvis Presley. His other single releases that year were “Nobody’s Darlin’ But Mine” which reached No. 4, “Confessin’ (That I Love You)” which was a further chart-topping No. 1, “Mule Train” which reached No. 22 and “Don’t Blame Me” which reached No. 8.

In 1964 the compilation Jolly What! was released with eight of his tracks and 4 by the Beatles and although music trends were changing he continued to release his own style and the songs “Angry at the Big Oak Tree” and “I Should Care” both came out that year and both made the Top 40. The following year he charted in the Top 40 with “Paradise” and in also in 1966 and 1967 with “No One Will Ever Know”, “Call Her Your Sweetheart” and “Tale of Two Cities”.

In 1965 he starred in the film Up Jumped a Swagman and that same year he married the dancer Gillian Bowden who he had two children with. In 1966 he went to Nashville, Tennessee and sang at the Grand Ole Opry and the stage governor Frank Clement made him an Honorary Tennessean.

In the 1970s he gained further popularity in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg and made a second attempt at a song in the heats of the Eurovision Song Contest but this time finished last of 12 entries.

During the 1980s he became ill with pneumonia in 1986 and had to undergo surgery to remove part of his lung. His vocal cords were damaged and he was unable to sing until their recovery. In 1988 he and his wife, Gillian, were divorced and he went back to Australia,

Nearly thirty years later in 1991 his successful hit “She Taught Me How to Yodel” was re-released as “The Yodelling Song” and was credited as Frank Ifield featuring The Backroom Boys. Once again it hit the charts when it reach No. 40 in the UK. The following year he married the airline hostess Carole Wood.

In 2003 he was inducted into the Australian Hall of Renown and in 2007 into the ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2005 he co-wrote and published his autobiography I Remember Me: the First 25 Years and in 2009 he was inducted into the Mo Awards Hall of Fame and that same year was presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia.

He died peacefully in Sydney, Australia in May 2024 when he was 86 years old.

Recordings
I’m Smiling Now (Frank Ifield)
Columbia 45-DB 4960

Sources:

Ifield, Frank (30th November 1937-18th May 2024)

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