Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford | |
---|---|
Traditional pop | |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active |
|
Labels | |
Spouse(s) | John Huddleston (1937–div.1943) Paul Weston (1952–d.1996) |
Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917 – July 16, 2008) was an American
Born in remote oil-rich
In addition to her singing with the Pied Pipers, Stafford was featured in solo performances with Dorsey. After leaving the group in 1944, she recorded a series of pop songs now regarded as standards for Capitol Records and Columbia Records. Many of her recordings were backed by the orchestra of Paul Weston. She also performed duets with Gordon MacRae and Frankie Laine. Her work with the United Service Organizations giving concerts for soldiers during World War II earned her the nickname "G.I. Jo". Starting in 1945, Stafford was a regular host of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio series The Chesterfield Supper Club and later appeared in television specials—including two series called The Jo Stafford Show, in 1954 in the U.S. and in 1961 in the UK.
Stafford married twice, first in 1937 to musician John Huddleston (the couple divorced in 1943), then in 1952 to Paul Weston, with whom she had two children. She and Weston developed a comedy routine in which they assumed the identity of an incompetent lounge act named
Early years
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was born in
Stafford's first public singing appearance was in Long Beach, where the family lived when she was 12. She sang "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms", a Stafford family favorite.[10] Her second was far more dramatic. As a student at Long Beach Polytechnic High School with the lead in the school musical, she was rehearsing on stage when the 1933 Long Beach earthquake destroyed part of the school.[11] With her mother's encouragement, Stafford originally planned to become an opera singer and studied voice as a child, taking private lessons from Foster Rucker, an announcer on California radio station KNX.[12][13][note 2] Because of the Great Depression, she abandoned that idea and joined her older sisters Christine and Pauline in a popular vocal group the Stafford Sisters.[14][15] The two older Staffords were already part of a trio with an unrelated third member when the act got a big booking at Long Beach's West Coast Theater. Pauline was too ill to perform, and Jo was drafted in to take her place so they could keep the engagement. She asked her glee club teacher for a week's absence from school, saying her mother needed her at home, and this was granted. The performance was a success, and Jo became a permanent member of the group.[16][note 3]
The Staffords' first radio appearance was on
The sisters found work in the film industry as backup vocalists, and immediately after graduating from high school, Jo worked on film soundtracks.[8][20] The Stafford Sisters made their first recording,"Let's Get Together and Swing" with Louis Prima, in 1936.[22][23][24] In 1937, Jo worked behind the scenes with Fred Astaire on the soundtrack of A Damsel in Distress, creating the arrangements for the film, and with her sisters she arranged the backing vocals for "Nice Work If You Can Get It". Stafford said that her arrangement had to be adapted because Astaire had difficulty with some of the syncopation. In her words: "The man with the syncopated shoes couldn't do the syncopated notes".[9][25]
The Pied Pipers
By 1938, the Staffords were involved with Twentieth Century Fox's production of Alexander's Ragtime Band. The studio brought in many vocal groups to work on the film, including the Four Esquires, the Rhythm Kings, and the King Sisters, who began to sing and socialized between takes. The Stafford Sisters, the Four Esquires and the Rhythm Kings became a new vocal group called the Pied Pipers.[8][26] Stafford later said, "We started singing together just for fun, and these sessions led to the formation of an eight-voice singing group that we christened 'The Pied Pipers'".[27] The group consisted of eight members, including Stafford—John Huddleston, Hal Hooper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody Newbury, and Dick Whittinghill.[28]
As the Pied Pipers, they worked on local radio and movie soundtracks.[29] When Alyce and Yvonne King threw a party for their boyfriends' visit to Los Angeles, the group was invited to perform.[8][30] The King Sisters' boyfriends were Tommy Dorsey's arrangers Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston, who became interested in the group.[8] Weston said the group's vocals were unique for its time and that their vocal arrangements were much like those for orchestral instruments.[31]
Weston persuaded Dorsey to audition the group in 1938, and the eight drove together to New York City.
When
In November 1942, the Pied Pipers had a disagreement with Dorsey when he fired Clark Yocum, a guitarist and vocalist who had replaced Billy Wilson in the lineup, when he mistakenly gave the bandleader misdirections at a railroad station in
Solo career
Capitol Records and United Service Organization
While Stafford was still working for Dorsey, Johnny Mercer told her, "Some day I'm going to have my own record company, and you're going to record for me."[4] She subsequently became the first solo artist signed to Capitol after leaving the Pied Pipers in 1944.[4][47] A key figure in helping Stafford to develop her solo career was Mike Nidorf, an agent who first heard her as a member of the Pied Pipers while he was serving as a captain in the United States Army. Having previously discovered artists such as Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman, Nidorf was impressed by Stafford's voice, and contacted her when he was demobilized in 1944. After she agreed to let him represent her, he encouraged her to reduce her weight and arranged a string of engagements that raised her profile and confidence.[16]
The success of Stafford's solo career led to a demand for personal appearances, and from February 1945, she embarked on a six-month residency at New York's La Martinique nightclub.[48][49][50] Her performance was well-received; an article in the July 1945 edition of Band Leaders magazine described it as "sensational", but Stafford did not enjoy singing before live audiences, and it was the only nightclub venue she ever played.[47][50][51] Speaking about her discomfort with live performances, Stafford told a 1996 interview with The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin, "I'm basically a singer, period, and I think I'm really lousy up in front of an audience—it's just not me."[47]
Stafford's tenure with the United Service Organizations during World War II, which often had her perform for soldiers stationed in the U.S., led to her acquiring the nickname "G.I. Jo".[14][30] On returning from the Pacific theater, a veteran told Stafford that the Japanese would play her records on loudspeakers in an attempt to make the U.S. troops homesick enough to surrender. She replied personally to all the letters she received from servicemen.[4][8][20] Stafford was a favorite of many servicemen during both World War II and the Korean War; her recordings received extensive airplay on the American Forces radio and in some military hospitals at lights-out. Stafford's involvement with servicemen led to an interest in military history and a sound knowledge of it. Years after World War II, Stafford was a guest at a dinner party with a retired naval officer. When the discussion turned to a wartime action off Mindanao, the officer tried to correct Stafford, who held to her point. He countered her by saying, "Madame, I was there". A few days after the party, Stafford received a note of apology from him, saying he had reread his logs and that she was correct.[4]
Chesterfield Supper Club, duets, and Voice of America
Beginning on December 11, 1945, Stafford hosted the Tuesday and Thursday broadcasts of NBC musical variety radio program The Chesterfield Supper Club.[52][53][54] On April 5, 1946, the entire cast, including Stafford and Perry Como, participated in the first commercial radio broadcast from an airplane. The initial plan was to use the stand-held microphones used in studios, but when these proved to be problematic, the cast switched to hand-held microphones, which because of the plane's cabin pressure became difficult to hold. Three flights were made that day; a rehearsal in the afternoon, then two in the evening—one for the initial 6:00 pm broadcast and another at 10:00 pm for the West Coast broadcast.[55][56][57]
Stafford moved from New York to California in November 1946, continuing to host Chesterfield Supper Club from Hollywood.[53][58][59] In 1948, she restricted her appearances on the show to Tuesdays, and Peggy Lee hosted the Thursday broadcasts.[60] Stafford left the show when it was expanded to 30 minutes, making her final appearance on September 2, 1949. She returned to the program in 1954; it ended its run on NBC Radio the following year.[61] During her time with Chesterfield Supper Club, Stafford revisited some of the folk music she had enjoyed as a child. Weston, her conductor on the program, suggested using some of the folk music for the show. With her renewed interest in folk tunes came an interest in folklore; Stafford established a contest to award a prize to the best collection of American folklore submitted by a college student. The annual Jo Stafford Prize for American Folklore was handled by the American Folklore Society, with the first prize of $250 awarded in 1949.[1][62]
Stafford continued to record. She duetted with Gordon MacRae on a number of songs. In 1948, their version of "Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart" sold over a million copies. The following year, they repeated their success with "My Happiness", and Stafford and MacRae recorded "Whispering Hope" together.
Weston moved from Capitol to Columbia Records, and in 1950, Stafford followed suit. Content and very comfortable working with him, Stafford had had a clause inserted in her contract with Capitol stating that if Weston left that label, she would automatically be released from her obligations to them.[8][47] When that happened, Capitol wanted Stafford to record eight more songs before December 15, 1950, and she found herself in the unusual situation of simultaneously working for two competing record companies, an instance that was very rare in an industry where musicians were seen as assets.[64] In 1954, Stafford became the second artist after Bing Crosby to sell 25 million records for Columbia.[19][65] She was presented with a diamond-studded disc to mark the occasion.[65]
In 1950, Stafford began working for Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. government broadcaster transmitting programmes overseas to undermine the influence of communism.[66] She presented a weekly show that aired in Eastern Europe, and Collier's published an article about the program in its April 21, 1951, issue that discussed her worldwide popularity, including in countries behind the Iron Curtain. The article, titled "Jo Stafford: Her Songs Upset Joe Stalin", earned her the wrath of the U.S. Communist Daily Worker newspaper, which published a column critical of Stafford and VOA.[16][26][67][note 5]
Marriage to Paul Weston and later career
Although Stafford and Paul Weston had known each other since their introduction at the King Sisters' party, they did not become romantically involved until 1945, when Weston traveled to New York to see Stafford perform at La Martinique.
In the 1950s, Stafford had a string of popular hits with
In 1953, Stafford signed a 4-year $1 million deal with
Both Stafford and Weston returned to Capitol in 1961.[8] During her second stint at Capitol, Stafford also recorded for Sinatra's label Reprise Records.[89] The albums issued by Reprise were released between 1961 and 1964, and were mostly remakes of songs from her past.[19][90] Sinatra sold Reprise to Warner Bros. in 1963, and they retargeted the label at a teenage audience, letting go many of the original artists who had signed up with Sinatra.[91] In late 1965, both Stafford and Weston signed to Dot Records.[92]
Comedy performances
During the 1940s, Stafford briefly performed comedy songs under the name "Cinderella G. Stump" with
Throughout the 1950s, Stafford and Weston entertained party guests by performing skits in which they impersonated a poor lounge act.
Stafford's creation of Darlene Edwards had its roots in the novelty songs that Mitch Miller, the head of Columbia's artists and repertoire department, had been selecting for her to sing. These included songs such as "Underneath the Overpass", and because she did not agree with Miller's music choices for her, Stafford and her studio musicians often recorded their own renditions of the music, performing the songs according to their feelings about them.[30][75][104] Because she had some unused studio time at a 1957 recording session, as a joke Stafford recorded a track as Darlene Edwards. Those who heard bootlegs of the recording responded positively, and later that year, Stafford and Weston recorded an album of songs as Jonathan and Darlene, entitled The Piano Artistry of Jonathan Edwards.[105]
As a publicity stunt, Weston and Stafford claimed that Jonathan and Darlene Edwards were a New Jersey lounge act they had discovered, and denied any personal connection.
The couple continued to release comedy albums for several years, and in 1977 released a cover of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" as a single, with an Edwards interpretation of
Retirement and later life
In 1959, Stafford was offered a contract to perform at Las Vegas, but declined it to concentrate on her family life.[4] Because she disliked continuously traveling for television appearances that took her away from her children, and no longer found the music business fun, she went into semiretirement in the mid-1960s. She retired fully in 1975.[26][30] Except for the Jonathan and Darlene Edwards material, and re-recording her favorite song "Whispering Hope" with her daughter Amy in 1978, Stafford did not perform again until 1990, at a ceremony honoring Frank Sinatra.[8][22][75][111] The Westons devoted more time to Share Inc., a charity aiding people with developmental disabilities in which they had been active for many years.[26][112][113] Around 1983, Concord Records tried to persuade Stafford to change her mind and come out of retirement, but although an album was planned, she did not feel she would be satisfied with the finished product, and the project was shelved.[8][114][note 7]
Stafford won a breach-of-contract lawsuit against her former record label Columbia in the early 1990s. Because of a clause concerning the payment of royalties in her contract, she secured the rights to all of the recordings she made with the company, including those Weston and she made as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.[75] After the lawsuit was settled, Stafford and her son Tim reactivated Corinthian Records, which Weston, a devout Christian, had started as a label for religious music in the 1970s, and they began releasing some of her old material.[75]
In 1996, Paul Weston died of natural causes; Stafford continued to operate Corinthian Records.[75] In 2006, she donated the couple's library, including music arrangements, photographs, business correspondence and recordings, to the University of Arizona.[115] Stafford began suffering from congestive heart failure in October 2007, from which she died aged 90 on July 16, 2008.[20][116] She was buried with her husband at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[117]
Style, awards, and recognition
Stafford was admired by critics and the listening public for the purity of her voice, and was considered one of the most versatile vocalists of her era.
In their guise of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, Weston and Stafford earned admiration from their show-business peers. Pianist George Shearing was a fan and would play "Autumn in New York" in the style of Edwards if he knew the couple were in the audience.[4] Ray Charles also enjoyed their performance.[120] Art Carney, who played Ed Norton in the comedy series The Honeymooners, once wrote the Edwardses a fan letter as Norton.[4] However, not everybody appreciated the Edwards act. Mitch Miller blamed the couple's 1962 album Sing Along With Jonathan and Darlene Edwards for ending his sing-along albums and television show, while in 2003, Stafford told Michael Feinstein that the Bee Gees had disliked the Edwards' version of "Stayin' Alive".[9][103]
In 1960, Stafford said working closely with Weston had good and bad points. His knowledge of her made arranging her music easy for him, but sometimes it caused difficulties. Weston knew Stafford's abilities and would write or arrange elaborate music because he knew she was capable of performing it. She also said she did not believe she could perform in Broadway musicals because she thought her voice was not powerful enough for stage work.[121] In 2003, she recalled that rehearsal time was often limited before she recorded a song, and how Weston would sometimes slip musical arrangements under the bathroom door as she was in the bath getting ready to go to the studio.[9]
Her work in radio, television, and music is recognized by three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Stafford's music has been referenced in popular culture. Her recording of "
Discography
Film and television
Stafford appeared in films from the 1930s onwards, including Alexander's Ragtime Band.[8] Her final on-screen appearance was in the Frank Sinatra tribute Sinatra 75: The Best Is Yet to Come in 1990.[8][22] She declined several offers of television work because she was forced to memorize scripts (as she was unable to read the cue cards without her glasses), and the bright studio lights caused her discomfort.[127]
Publications
- Stafford, Jo (1951). Easy Lessons in Singing with Hints for Vocalists. Carl Fischer.
- Weston, Paul; Stafford, Jo; Pawlak, Keith (2012). Song of the Open Road: an Autobiography and Other Writings. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-287-9.
Notes
- Jim Cox gives it as Jocinta Elizabeth Stafford,[2] while some obituary writers—such as The Guardian's Veronica Horwell— suggest it was Josephine.[3] Other authors, including the music biographer Gene Lees refer to her as Jo.[4]
- ^ Rucker later changed his name to Galen Drake.[12]
- ^ When Stafford graduated from high school, her teacher wrote in her autograph book, "I'll never forget how much I enjoyed your singing the week mama needed you home to help her."[16]
- ^ The newspaper dismissed Voice of America as "one of the standing jokes of Europe" and criticized Stafford for her "average earnings of $300,000, just like the rest of us hometown girls with our chintz aprons and chocolate cookie recipes".[67]
- ^ Because of Stafford's status as a divorcee, Weston and she had to apply for permission to marry in a Catholic church.[68]
- ^ In Larry Kart's Chicago Tribune article of May 1, 1988, Weston recalls, "We almost made an album about five years ago for Concord Jazz, just after Rosie (Rosemary Clooney) began recording for them."[114]
- ^ Stafford had a reputation for perfect pitch, but she dismissed this, saying she had been a careful singer with good relative pitch.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Jo Stafford of CBS 'Club 15'". The Sherbrooke Telegram. February 23, 1950. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ Cox 2012, p. 285-286.
- ^ Horwell, Veronica (July 19, 2008). "Obituary: Jo Stafford". The Guardian. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-506087-4.
- ^ a b Holden, Stephen (July 19, 2008). "Jo Stafford, Wistful Voice of WWII Era, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ^ "Jo Stafford Biography". musicianguide.com. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Jo Stafford". The Daily Telegraph. July 17, 2008. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Interview by Michael Feinstein, Bonus Tracks on Stafford, Jo (2003). Ballad of the Blues (Audio CD). Feinery.
- ^ Kleiner, Dick (August 5, 1954). "The Marquee". The Telegraph-Herald. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ^ Leonard, Vince (March 19, 1964). "Jo Stafford Easy Talker". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ a b Cox 2012, p. 287.
- ^ a b Hubler, Richard (April 1955). "When Jo Stafford Sings". Coronet Magazine. pp. 166–170.
- ^ a b c d e "Jo Stafford, Singer Known as 'GI Jo'". The Press Democrat. July 19, 2008. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ "Jo Stafford". Parabrisas.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Davidson, Bill (April 21, 1951). "Jo Stafford—Her Songs Upset Joe Stalin". Collier's Weekly. pp. 21, 78–80.
- ^ Stafford, Jo (August 1949). "My First Audition". Radio and Television Mirror. p. 73. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- ^ a b "Behind The Hollywood Front". Radio Mirror. April 1938. p. 84.
- ^ a b c d "Jo Stafford: Multi-Million-Selling Hit Singer Who with 'You Belong to Me' Was the First Woman to Top the U.K. Charts". The Independent. July 19, 2008. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Heckman, Don (July 18, 2008). "Jo Stafford; Singer Gained Fame with WWII Soldiers and in '50s". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ "Marriage license No. 20615". State of California. October 15, 1937.
- ^ a b c d e f g Friedwald, William (July 18, 2008). "Jo Stafford, 90, Singer of Swing, Standards, and Lampoons". New York Sun. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-307-37989-4. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
- OCLC 83247199.
- ISBN 978-0-312-35366-7. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bernstein, Adam (July 18, 2008). "Jo Stafford, 90; Pop Singer Won a Grammy for Comedy". The Washington Post. p. B7. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, p. 13.
- ^ "Biography of Jo Stafford". The University of Arizona School of Music. 2006. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
- ^ Pied Pipers Ad. Billboard. 1943. p. 56. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-934793-19-3. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
jonathan darlene edwards.
- ^ ISBN 0-634-09978-7. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
jo stafford.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, p. 15.
- ^ Roberts. T.C. (November 5, 1987). "Announcer Remembers Top Bands of the Past". The Vindicator. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
- ^ a b "Singer Jo Stafford Dies of Heart Failure at Age 90". Lodi News-Sentinel. July 18, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, pp. 35–52.
- ^ "Jo Stafford Discography" (PDF). The University of Arizona School of Music. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ^ Johnson, Malcolm (May 26, 1942). "Cafe Life in New York" (PDF). The New York Sun. p. 19. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ a b Levinson 2005, p. 124.
- ^ Levinson 2005, p. 157.
- ^ Kaplan, James (October 1, 2010). "The Night Sinatra Happened". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Bob Crosby and Company". Tune In Magazine. March 1944. pp. 10–13.
- ^ "Girlish Voice". Time. July 1, 1946. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2010.(subscription required)
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, p. 65.
- ^ Popa, Christopher (December 2007). "Paul Weston". Big Band Music. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, p. 47.
- ^ a b c d e Franklin, Nancy (August 26, 1996). A Voice from Home. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
{{cite book}}
:|newspaper=
ignored (help) - ^ "Jo Stafford 'Debuts' at La Martinique". St Petersburg Times. February 18, 1945. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, p. 195.
- ^ a b "Singer, Radio Star Jo Stafford Dies at 90". The Union Democrat. July 21, 2008. p. 2. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, pp. 189–192.
- ^ "Actresses and Vocalists Star on Networks". Youngstown Vindicator. December 9, 1945. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
- ^ a b Full-Page Ad for the Chesterfield Supper Club. Life Magazine. January 13, 1947. p. 78. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
- ^ "New member" (press release). National Broadcasting Company. October 30, 1945.
- ^ "Big Plane to Serve as Broadcast Studio". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 28, 1946. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
- ^ BCL (April 8, 1946). "Flyin' High". The Milwaukee Journal.
- ^ Peck, Seymour (April 9, 1946). "Perry Como Goes to a Party" (PDF). PM. p. 16. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ Music—As Written. Billboard. November 2, 1946. p. 20. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
- ^ "Actresses and Vocalists Star on Networks". Youngstown Vindicator. December 9, 1945. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
- ^ Cox 2012, p. 292-293.
- ^ Stevenson, L. L. (December 24, 1949). "Lights of New York" (PDF). Evening Recorder. p. 10. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ Thomas, Bob (January 31, 1950). "Chirper Jo Stafford Spins U.S. Records for Europeans". Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ "Recording for Two Firms at Same Time Is Jo Stafford's Latest Claim to Fame". St, Petersburg Times. November 2, 1950. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
- ^ a b "Jo Stafford to Wear $2 Million in Jewels". Reading Eagle. May 1, 1954. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ "Jo Stafford Will Tell Story Of Freedom on Voice of America". The Deseret News. September 20, 1950. p. 15. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ a b "Uncle Sam's Gal Jo Upsets Joe Stalin". The Pittsburgh Press. July 8, 1951. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Jo Stafford Weds Composer". Meriden Record. February 26, 1952. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ "Success Story Too Good for Hollywood Production". St Petersburg Times. May 31, 1953. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
- ^ Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, p. 25.
- ^ "Jo Stafford and Paul Weston Wed". St. Joseph News-Press. February 27, 1952. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ Stafford, Jo (June 1953). "Blessed, Tiny Timothy" (PDF). Radio-TV Mirror. p. 62. Retrieved November 18, 2010. (PDF)
- ^ "Jo Stafford Has Son". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. November 20, 1952. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ "Jo Stafford Has Girl". Youngstown Vindicator. March 2, 1956. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Reed, Bill (Winter 2000). "Jo Stafford". Songbirds (online magazine). Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85112-156-7.
- ^ "Singer Jo Stafford Dead at 90". United Press International. July 18, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940–1955. Record Research.
- ISBN 978-0-85112-250-2.
- ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
- ^ "Composer Says Modern Music Not Worth Salt". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. July 1, 1953. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- ^ "Jo Stafford Ink 4-Year CBS-TV $1,000,000 Deal". Variety. September 16, 1953. p. 1. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- ^ Thomas, Bob (February 3, 1954). "Hollywood Report". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
- ^ Robertson, Hal (May 30, 1954). "In This TV Family—The Little Woman Takes Orders". The Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 10.
- ^ Graham, Sheilah (February 25, 1955). "Hollywood". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ^ "Want Silent Sunday? Dial 'Channel Zero'". The Milwaukee Sentinel. April 30, 1958. p. 9.
- OCLC 84469912.
- ^ Fanning, Win (January 16, 1964). "Jo Stafford's Show to Premiere Soon". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ Talent Topics. Billboard. November 3, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- ^ "The Paul Weston and Jo Stafford Collection" (PDF). The University of Arizona School of Music. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 31, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-60138-142-2.
- ^ Jo Stafford's Dot LP Out in January. Billboard. October 23, 1965. p. 6. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
- ^ The Billboard Music Popularity Charts: Juke Box Record Plays. Billboard. August 2, 1947. p. 31. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
- ^ Perrigo, Lucia (August 5, 1947). "Jo Stafford–songbird who flew to tiptop roost of air canaries by singing for (skimpy) supper". The Bradford Era. p. 7. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ MacPherson, Virginia (July 27, 1947). "Hill-billy tunes get hot on record parade". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 4. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ General Artists Corporation Trade Ad for Jo Stafford. Billboard. November 5, 1949. p. 9. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ Nostalgia with Let-Down Trimming. Billboard. March 14, 1960. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ "Ford Startime March 8, 1960". Classic TV Archive. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- OCLC 795711638.
- ^ "Tunes That'll Shine in '49". Billboard. January 8, 1949. p. 23. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
- ^ "Singer, Radio Star Jo Stafford Dies at 90". The Union Democrat. July 21, 2008. p. 2. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Weston, Stafford & Pawlak 2012, pp. 71–72.
- ^ a b c Moore, James Ross (2001). "Paul Weston". American National Biography. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ Granata 2003, p. 73.
- ^ a b c d Pietschmann, Richard J. (December 1982). "Jonathan and Darlene Edwards Talk!". Los Angeles Magazine. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ "Music:Two Right Hands". Time. September 23, 1957. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2011.(subscription required)
- ^ "Shower of Stars Newspaper Ad". The Deseret News. January 9, 1958. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ "TV Previews". Lawrence Journal-World. October 11, 1960. p. 14. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ "1960—3rd Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy.com. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
- ^ New LP, Tape Releases. Billboard. April 10, 1982. p. 19. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- ^ "Jo Stafford: Beguiling and Versatile Jazz Singer". The Times. London. July 19, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ Bacon, James (May 10, 1958). "Stars Donate Service, Money for Handicapped Children". Warsaw Times-Union. Warsaw, Indiana. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
- ^ "Paul Weston Work Center, Woodland Hills". AbilityFirst. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ a b Kart, Larry (May 1, 1988). "The Golden Jo: Stafford And Weston Bring Back Their Classics". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
- ^ "Paul Weston and Jo Stafford Archive at the University of Arizona". The University of Arizona School of Music. 2006. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
- ^ "Singer Jo Stafford Dies aged 90". BBC News. July 19, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Cox 2012, p. 297.
- ^ "Versatile singer Jo Stafford dies at 90". CBC News. July 18, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4269-6012-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7867-2803-9.
- ^ Kleiner, Dick (November 26, 1960). "Hubby Writes It and Jo Warbles". The Southeast Missourian. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ^ "Jo Stafford—Hollywood Walk of Fame". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ "Mamie, Maggie Head List of Best Dressed". The Pittsburgh Press. March 21, 1955. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ^ "Jo Stafford". Emmys.com. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
- ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame". Grammy.org. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ^ Popa, Christopher (April 2007). "Big Band News". Big Band Library. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-55704-148-7. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
jo stafford.
Bibliography
- Cox, Jim (2012). Musicmakers of Network Radio: 24 Entertainers, 1926–1962. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6325-1.
- Granata, Charles L. (2003). Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61374-281-5.
- Levinson, Peter (2005). Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way. Da Capo Press Inc. ISBN 978-0-306-81111-1.
- Weston, Paul; Stafford, Jo; Pawlak, Keith (2012). Song of the Open Road: an Autobiography and Other Writings. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-287-9.
External links
- Jo Stafford at Allmusic.com
- Jo Stafford at IMDb
- Discography at the University of Arizona's Paul Weston and Jo Stafford Collection
- Presenting The Music of Jo Stafford and Paul Weston
- Jo Stafford Interview NAMM Oral History Library (1995)
- "Jo Stafford". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 22, 2018.