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Jo Stafford

Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917 – July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classical training to become an opera singer before following a career in popular music, and by 1955 had achieved more worldwide record sales than any other female artist. Her 1952 song "You Belong to Me" topped the charts in the United States and United Kingdom, becoming the second single to top the UK Singles Chart, and the first by a female artist to do so.

Born in remote oil-rich Coalinga, California, near Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley, Stafford made her first musical appearance at age 12. While still at high school, she joined her two older sisters to form a vocal trio named the Stafford Sisters, who found moderate success on radio and in film. In 1938, while the sisters were part of the cast of Twentieth Century Fox's production of Alexander's Ragtime Band, Stafford met the future members of the Pied Pipers and became the group's lead singer. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey hired them in 1939 to perform vocals with his orchestra. From 1940 to 1942, the group often performed with Dorsey's new male singer, Frank Sinatra.

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 Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, parodying well-known songs. The act proved popular at parties and among the wider public when the couple released an album as the Edwardses in 1957. In 1961, the album Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris won Stafford her only Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, and was the first commercially successful parody album. Stafford largely retired as a performer in the mid-1960s, but continued in the music business. She had a brief resurgence in popularity in the late 1970s when she recorded a cover of the Bee Gees hit, "Stayin' Alive" as Darlene Edwards. In the 1990s, she began re-releasing some of her material through Corinthian Records, a label founded by Weston. She died in 2008 in Century City, Los Angeles, and is interred with Weston at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City. Her work in radio, television, and music is recognized by three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Birth and Death Data: Born November 12, 1917 (Coalinga), Died July 16, 2008 (Los Angeles)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1941 - 1968

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 57 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-060348 10-in. 1/20/1941 For you Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Victor BS-060627 10-in. 2/7/1941 Whatcha know Joe? The Pied Pipers ; Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and mixed vocal ensemble vocalist  
Victor BS-060629 10-in. 2/7/1941 Little man with a candy cigar Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Victor BS-060908 10-in. 2/17/1941 Yes indeed! Sy Oliver ; Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet vocalist  
Victor BS-066924 10-in. 7/15/1941 Swingin' on nothin' Sy Oliver ; Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet vocalist  
Victor BS-067650 10-in. 8/19/1941 Let's just pretend Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Female vocal solo, with jazz/dance band vocalist  
Victor BS-067916 10-in. 9/18/1941 Who can I turn to? Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Victor BS-067936 10-in. 9/26/1941 It isn't a dream any more Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Victor BS-067937 10-in. 9/26/1941 Embraceable you The Pied Pipers ; Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and mixed vocal ensemble vocalist  
Victor PBS-072174 10-in. 3/9/1942 The night we called it a day The Pied Pipers ; Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Female vocal solo, with vocal group and jazz/dance band vocalist  
Victor BS-075401 10-in. 7/1/1942 He's my guy (Nobody knows better than I) Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Victor BS-075405 10-in. 7/2/1942 Manhattan serenade Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and trombone quartet (take 1); with female vocal solo and trombone solo (take 2) vocalist  
Victor BS-075408 10-in. 7/2/1942 A boy in khaki—a girl in lace Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Victor BS-075409 10-in. 7/2/1942 You took my love Jo Stafford ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo vocalist  
Columbia RHCO4554 10-in. 7/18/1951 Shrimp boats Norman Luboff Choir ; Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with vocal ensemble and orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10046 10-in. 12/10/1951 A-round the corner Norman Luboff Choir ; Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with vocal chorus and orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10198 10-in. 6/27/1952 Come rain or come shine Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10204 10-in. 6/24/1952 You belong to me Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10260 10-in. 7/20/1952 Jambalaya Norman Luboff Choir ; Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with vocal chorus and orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10290 10-in. 9/5/1952 All the things you are Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10316 10-in. 10/10/1952 Keep it a secret Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10584 10-in. 8/8/1953 Little man with a candy cigar Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO10660 10-in. 11/27/1953 Make love to me Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO33338 10-in. October 1954 St. Louis blues Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with vocal chorus and orchestra vocalist  
Columbia RHCO40902 10-in. 8/1/1958 I'll be seeing you Paul Weston Orchestra ; Jo Stafford Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist  
(Results 1-25 of 57 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Stafford, Jo," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103383.

Stafford, Jo. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103383.

"Stafford, Jo." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/103383

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