Jo Stafford RIP 1917 - 2008

Sadly, another of the great singers of the 40s & 50s is gone. Jo Stafford died on Wednesday 16 July 2008. Reading a bio of her I discovered that at 1 time she studied to be an opera singer. But the Great Depression intervened. What might have been, we will never know. But The Great American Songbook is all the richer for it.

There are 2 songs more than any others that stand out when I think of her. The 1st is Shrimp Boats (Co-written by her husband, Paul Weston), the 2nd was a cover of Hank William's Jambalaya (On the Bayou) (Her cover was actually more popular than Willaim's original country version.) I find it an interesting coincindence that Jambalaya is usually made with shrimp.

Shrimp Boats

Jambalaya (On the Bayou)

She never took herself so seriously that she wasn't afraid to have a little fun now & then. For example in 1947 she did a parody with Red Ingle of Spike Jones fame (1960 TV appearance):

Tim-Tayshun (Temptation)

Red Ingle & his Hillbilly

w/ Jo Stafford as 'Cinderella G Stump'

Together with her husband Paul Weston they created a musical parody duo Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Their 1961 album, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris, tied with Bob Newhart for Best Comedy Album at the Grammys.

Here is another song that she also covered:

Blue Moon

I think that it is appropriate that I close with this recording she made in 1949:

Whispering Hope

w/ Gordon MacRae