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Jo Elizabeth StaffordAmerican singer, pop star
Date of Birth: 12.11.1917
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Jo Elizabeth Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer and a pop music and jazz star from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. Known for her pure voice and versatility, she was one of the pioneers of the contemporary musical parody genre. In 1961, she received a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for her record "Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris," which she made with her husband, Paul Weston. Stafford also made history as the first woman to reach the top spot on the UK Singles Chart.
Early Life and Career
Jo Stafford was born on November 12, 1917, in Coalinga, a small town in California. She grew up in a musical family, with her father being Grover Cleveland Stafford and her mother Anna York Stafford. As a child, Jo dreamed of becoming an opera singer and received vocal training. However, due to economic hardships during the Great Depression, she abandoned the idea and joined her sisters, Christine and Pauline, in the popular vocal group "The Stafford Sisters," which performed on the Los Angeles radio station KHJ.
In 1937, Jo and her sisters worked on recording the soundtrack for the musical comedy film "A Damsel in Distress" with Fred Astaire. When her sisters got married, the group disbanded, and Jo joined a new group called "The Pied Pipers." With nine members, including John Huddleston, who later became Jo's husband from 1941 to 1943, the group gained popularity and caught the attention of Paul Weston and Tommy Dorsey, one of America's greatest jazz trumpeters and trombonists.
Rise to Fame
In 1938, at Dorsey's invitation, The Pied Pipers went to New York for a recording session, but the sound didn't impress the sponsor, and the contract was terminated. However, in 1939, Dorsey invited the group to join his orchestra, which became a huge success for all the members, especially Jo. She sang all the solo female numbers and excelled at ballads. During this time, the young Frank Sinatra also performed with Tommy Dorsey's band.
In 1952, Jo married Paul Weston, who became the musical director of the new record label "Capitol Records," and they had two children, Tim and Amy. In 1944, Stafford left The Pied Pipers to pursue a solo career. She gained the nickname "GI Jo" for her performances for American soldiers stationed overseas as part of the USO. Starting in 1944, Jo hosted the musical radio show "The Chesterfield Supper Club" on NBC on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In 1948, Stafford's single "Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart" with Gordon MacRae sold over a million copies, and the following year, her song "My Happiness" repeated that success. In 1950, she switched labels from Capitol to Columbia Records but returned to Capitol in 1961. While at Columbia, Jo became the first artist to sell 25 million records for the company. She also recorded at Frank Sinatra's Reprise studio and left the label when Sinatra sold it to Warner Brothers.
Parody Career and Later Life
During the 1950s, Jo's songs consistently topped the charts, with "You Belong to Me" becoming a massive hit, dominating the charts in the US and the UK for a long time. From 1954 to 1955, she hosted her own 15-minute show on CBS-TV. In the 1950s, Jo and Paul often entertained guests at parties, performing as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Jo sang in a high-pitched voice while Paul played a deliberately off-key piano, producing whimsical rhythms.
In 1957, as a joke, Jo recorded a song under the name Darlene Edwards, and to her surprise, the recording was well-received by listeners. The following year, Stafford and Weston released a full album under these pseudonyms. They claimed that the Edwards were a couple from New Jersey whom they had discovered and denied any personal connection. Their trick became a sensation, and people tried to guess who was behind the pseudonym. It took a long time before the creators of the parodies revealed the truth.
After 1967, Jo performed very rarely, only making exceptions for the release of a single parodying The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" in 1979 and for Frank Sinatra's tribute ceremony in 1990. In the early 1990s, she won a legal battle against her former record label and regained the rights to all her old recordings. Following the lawsuit, she revived Corinthian Records with the help of her son and husband.
In 1993, a compilation of the best albums by Jonathan and Darlene Edwards was released. In 1996, Paul Weston passed away at the age of 84. Jo continued to oversee Corinthian Records. In 2006, she donated her and her husband's library to the University of Arizona. Jo Stafford died on July 16, 2008, at the age of 90, in Century City, California, due to heart failure.
