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This set presents, in chronological order, all thirty six singles, both A and B sides, that EMI released throughout his nine year contract with them, from 1959 to 1968. The early A-sides, when producer Norrie Paramor tried to present him as a teen pop idol, rather than the country star he had been in Australia, met with limited success and in truth the B-sides, including his highly individual phrasing of "Unchained Melody" and the Big Bad John treatment of John D Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" sound much better today, as they did then. However, when in 1962 Frank persuaded Paramor to marry an old country and western song "I Remember You", which made occasional use of his falsetto ability, to a simpler orchestral backing with harmonica, they hit the proverbial jackpot, not just here but worldwide, including the USA. Subsequent releases over the next three years repeated the trick of bringing some hoary old C&W numbers gently up to date and, thankfully, after "Lovesick Blues", which was coupled with the specially-written novelty "She Taught Me How To Yodel", the falsetto part of his range was used sparingly. Once these country/pop hits dried up in 1965/6 Frank reverted to more traditional country and western recordings, some laid down in Nashville, but his unique voice makes them no less interesting.
All the tracks have been digitally remastered, and the cover proclaims that some are in stereo for the first time. Although they have done a fine job with the former, a few of the latter, in particular the "I Remember You / I Listen To My Heart" pairing, are in the exaggerated stereo format that has the music backing coming out of one channel and vocal out of the other; it sounds odd, especially on headphones.
This is a 3 CD set in the old-style double CD jewel box. In truth they would have been able to get all 36 singles onto a double CD and single case, but then there would probably have been no room for the excellent and informative booklet that you get, and definitely no room for the rather dubious "bonus tracks" - three German versions (German with an Oz-English accent) and a remix, with pedal steel guitar added, of "I Remember You", which are tacked on to the end of each CD.
Nevertheless this is a superb collection that does full justice to a favourite singer of the early 1960s. Unlike previous "best ofs" it covers the latter part of his time with EMI and includes such neglected nuggets as the swinging jazz/blues number "Another Cup Of Coffee", a passionate reading of Don Gibson's "Oh Such A Stranger" and the brassy, singalong version of Australia's non-PC anthem "Waltzing Matilda". At last I can dispose of my pile of green (later black) Columbia singles.
Frank was born in England but raised in Australia, later to return to the UK to establish his singing career - a pattern subsequently repeated by Olivia Newton John. Whereas Olivia eventually based herself in America, Frank remained in the UK, playing the small country music circuit long after his pop successes were a distant memory. Country music has never been huge in Britain but it has enjoyed a reasonable level of support especially since the seventies. In the sixties, Frank Ifield discovered - as did the husband and wife team of Miki and Griff - that there was no significant following for the music. Frank, together with Miki and Griff, George Hamilton IV and a few others, helped to change that.
Like Miki and Griff, Frank had to compromise his music to get it heard but anybody listening to it will realize that Frank is a country singer at heart. A look at the track listing will show that Frank liked to cover country songs, although many pop singers also did that in those days.
Frank started his UK chart career with a couple of minor hits (Lucky devil, Gotta get a date) in 1960 but then disappeared from the charts until the summer of 1962, during which time he released several excellent singles including Tobacco road (later a hit for British R+B group the Nashville Teens). Those early UK recordings were done with a view to commercial success although they weren't like Frank's Australian recordings.
In 1962 and with only one single to be recorded before his contract expired, Frank decided he would be himself. At least he'd show EMI what he was really like. The result is an object lesson to all singers as Frank recorded a 1940's show song (I remember you) in a pop-country style. It became the first of three consecutive UK number one hits. Of course, EMI hastily renewed Frank's contract and allowed him more freedom to choose what he recorded.
Next came Lovesick blues, a song dating back to the 1920's but generally regarded as a Hank Williams classic - indeed, many make the mistake of thinking Hank was the original writer. Frank's version is very distinctive. The B-side (She taught me to yodel) also proved extremely popular and was for a time credited as a second A-side.
Wayward wind (a cover of the fifties classic) followed, then came a UK number four hit (Nobody's darlin' but mine) and a further number one (Confessin'). Frank then had another minor hit (Mule train) in October 1963. In the summer of 1964, Frank had one last top ten hit (Don't blame me) followed by six further minor hits up to the end of 1966. After that, he disappeared from the charts completely until a he had surprise minor hit in 1991 on a different label (The yodelling song), which is an old song (She taught me to yodel) with a different title.
Frank has been unable to sing since 1986, after which he returned to Australia. In 2004, I remember you was re-mixed to include steel guitar. Frank had originally wanted to record the song with a steel guitar but was unable to find a top player in the UK and ended up using a Hawaiian guitar (the steel guitar's ancestor) instead.
Frank did much to improve the status of country music in Britain. He may have compromised his sound to appeal to pop music fans, but so have plenty of others. If you just want the hits, a single CD is available (Essential Frank Ifield), but this collection is well worth the extra cost.
All those lovely "B" sides we played on the early sixties green 'Columbia' singles. Read more
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