Frank was born in England but raised in Australia, later to return to the UK to establish his singing career - a pattern 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. This compilation contains all the essentials.
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, when he began a sequence of big hits - three number ones (I remember you, Lovesick blues, Wayward wind), a number four (Nobody's darlin' but mine) and a further number one (Confessin'). He 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 not included here.
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 enjoy country music and sixties pop music, you will probably enjoy this. And if you do, check out Miki and Griff.
