Jo Stafford R.I.P.

[ghost of miles]

News via Terry Teachout's blog tribute:

Jo Stafford RIP

[Christiern]

Perfect pitch. An artist whose recordings have given me much pleasure over the years. BTW Lester Young told me that she was someone whom he admired greatly. I find that very easy to understand.

[Robert J]

A nice clip of Jo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-QXhJPLmAk

[JSngry]

"I never made it with the critics," she once told Gene Lees. "I think what the critics didn't like was that it was simply singing."

Nothing wrong with that when youdo it as well as she did. Everything right about it, in fact.

And, as always: http://2.upload.dailymotion.com/tag/big/vi...eman-is-a-dope1

[Christiern]

In my naïve August 1958 interview w. Lester Young, I asked him who his favorite singer was. I was trying to get a quote on Billie that I could use in a radio documentary. His answer surprised me--perhaps it shouldn't have:

LY:

You know, I can tell you this, really, my favorite singer is Kay Starr. No, that's the wrong name. What's that other lady's name? Her husband has a band.

CA:

It's not Jo Stafford?

LY:

There you are! Yeah, I'll go there.

CA:

Jo Stafford is your favorite singer?

LY:

Yeah, and Lady Day. And I'm through.

CA:

But Jo Stafford does not sing jazz, does she?

LY:

No, but I hear he voice and the

sound

and the way she puts things on.

[AllenLowe]

"LY: There you are! Yeah, I'll go there."

btw, Chris, interesting use of/reference to a slang phrase - as in "don't go there" that I would never have known was in currency back than - one more instance of black language being WAY ahead of the rest of us -

also, you don't by any chance have a tape of the Prez interview?

[Larry Kart]

In my naïve August 1958 interview w. Lester Young, I asked him who his favorite singer was. I was trying to get a quote on Billie that I could use in a radio documentary. His answer surprised me--perhaps it shouldn't have:

LY:

You know, I can tell you this, really, my favorite singer is Kay Starr. No, that's the wrong name. What's that other lady's name? Her husband has a band.

CA:

It's not Jo Stafford?

LY:

There you are! Yeah, I'll go there.

CA:

Jo Stafford is your favorite singer?

LY:

Yeah, and Lady Day. And I'm through.

CA:

But Jo Stafford does not sing jazz, does she?

LY:

No, but I hear he voice and the

sound

and the way she puts things on.

Yes, but didn't Pres explicitly and unmistakably praise Starr in his Jazz Hot interview of about the same time. I say unmistakably because he said that Starr reminded him at times of Bessie Smith -- which is something that certainly could be said of Starr but never of Stafford.

[Larry Kart]

No, I don't see the Starr reference there, though the version of the Jazz Hot interview I have at hand is the one from The Jazz Review, which is somewhat edited (a more complete translation appeared in the magazine Kulchur -- I have that issue but can't get at it right now.). I certainly do remember (wherever I saw it) the linkage Pres made between Starr and Bessie Smith, because it struck at the time as being so odd (this being before I'd heard enough unbridled Starr to get the point).

[BruceH]

Truth to tell, she's one of those people that I'd half assumed passed away some time ago. RIP

[Christiern]

Yes, Allen, I have the Lester Young tape--audio of the entire "interview" (it was really just an attempt to Lester statements for a radio documentary series I produced for WCAU) is included in the Verve Prez box.

This exchange may be what you were thinking of, Larry--it is, basically, what led into the previous excerpt.

CA:

I mean, you liked Bessie Smith, didn't you?

LY:

Yeah, well, sometime you pick up on Kay Starr and listen to her voice and play one of Bessie Smith's record. See if you hear anything.

CA:

You feel there is a similarity there?

LY:

Yeah, very much.

BTW Martin Williams transcribed the interview for one of his books, but he did some editing.

Edited July 17, 2008 by Christiern

[Larry Kart]

Thanks, Chris. I just found a reference to that exchange in a Gary Giddins piece about Starr from his "Faces In A Crowd," though I'm sure I read it first in Martin Williams' transcription.

[Stereojack]

I gasped when I saw the thread title. Jo is one of my favorite singers.

RIP

[Teasing the Korean]

Jo Stafford has amazing breath control. It's astonishing sometimes to hear the long phrases she sings, over a wide note range, at such a quiet volume, and in one breath.

There is something about her voice that just hits me and it's like I never want to hear any other singer again. Check out her version of the Schwartz/Dietz tune "Something to Remember You By" on the Columbia album "Jo Stafford Sings Broadway's Best." It's the definitive version of that tune.

Another thumbs up for "Jo + Jazz," which came up recently in my thread about "jazz" albums by pop singers.

[mikeweil]

I once bought a Jo Stafford CD just to hear her based on Lester Young's recommendation.

R.I.P.

[Dave James]

The very best at what she did. Enough said.

Up over and out.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

thats incredible, re: lester, man/// i never would of guessed that out of all people *PREZ* would not only dig jo stafford, but rated her like he did- we never would of known that if it wasnt for your interview! why do you say it was a naaive interview-- did you not really ask prez what you wanted to? why were you so interested in getting a billy holliday releated sound byte? was the programming director pushing you to nail that? what do you say you learned most about prez from your expierence in meeeting him?

[mmilovan]

One of the greatest female singers anytime is not in our world anymore...

Her phrasing was just like Billie Holiday, and you can hear that if you listen carefully.

Also, Pres was not a fool, and friend told me that the same thing said Billie when asked about her most favourite singer.

R.I.P. Jo Stafford, You will remain forever in my soul.

Edited July 18, 2008 by mmilovan

[alocispepraluger102]

we all have rooms in our hearts for those things really special to us. jo stafford's finest work is ever close to mine.

[Big Beat Steve]

Jo Stafford has amazing breath control. It's astonishing sometimes to hear the long phrases she sings, over a wide note range, at such a quiet volume, and in one breath.

True, and it only shows how pop singing in today's world has deteriorated. Listening to that gasping and huffing and puffing in between lines and syllables with today's female pop "giants" is just painful.

But would it disrespectful if "Tim-Tay-Shun" by Red Ingle & His Natural Seven was played in memory of Jo Stafford?

(She sounds like she enjoyed herself immensely on that ditty).

[mmilovan]

I think it would be... she always considered herself primarily as ballad singer of songs such as "This Is Always", "Long Ago and Far Away", "It Could Happen To You"... and as for "Tim-Tay-Shun" ("Temptation") she was pretty nervous dropping her lines or misspelling words as alternative takes and breakdowns of that tune tell us.

[Quasimado]

CA: It's not Jo Stafford?

LY: There you are! Yeah, I'll go there.

CA: Jo Stafford is your favorite singer?

LY: Yeah, and Lady Day. And I'm through ...

Beautiful.

At age 11 or 12 I remember swimming at the beach on a hot, still day, and hearing Jo's "You Belong to Me" over the PA, and thinking ... this is about perfect ...

Q

[Christiern]

thats incredible, re: lester, man/// i never would of guessed that out of all people *PREZ* would not only dig jo stafford, but rated her like he did- we never would of known that if it wasnt for your interview! why do you say it was a naaive interview-- did you not really ask prez what you wanted to? why were you so interested in getting a billy holliday releated sound byte? was the programming director pushing you to nail that? what do you say you learned most about prez from your expierence in meeeting him?

This is Jo Stafford's thread, so I won't dwell, but--to clear up the confusion--this was never meant to be an interview, as such. Most of my questions were designed to elicit from Prez statements that I could use in a series of documentaries. If it wasn't for the fact that only two recorded "interviews" with him exist, I would never have made the tape public. I know why my questions sound stupid (naïve, if you will), but I also know that the exchange will come off as just another idiot interviewer blowing a golden opportunity. If I can find my interview w. Billie--from the same period--you will hear the difference. That one was for my regular dj show, so it is an interview.

Now, back to Jo Stafford--has anyone mention her recordings with Red Ingle and His Natural Seven, as "Cinderella G. Stump"? Her twang was prepossessing. I first heard her with the Pied Pipers, played nightly (a theme) over AFN Frankfurt in the late Forties.

[Big Beat Steve]

Now, back to Jo Stafford--has anyone mention her recordings with Red Ingle and His Natural Seven, as "Cinderella G. Stump"? Her twang was prepossessing.

Well, Milovan finds that a bit disrespectful (see above). ;)

[Christiern]

One of the greatest female singers anytime is not in our world anymore...

Her phrasing was just like Billie Holiday, and you can hear that if you listen carefully.

Also, Pres was not a fool, and friend told me that the same thing said Billie when asked about her most favourite singer.

Funny, Billie never mentioned Jo to me--she cited Louis and Bessie as her favorites and urged me to give Annie Ross as much play as I could (I was a dj when she brought up Annie Ross).

This is not to say that Billie didn't admire Jo Stafford--I'm sure she did, as would anyone with a good ear. Billie had good ears.

[mikeweil]

Now, back to Jo Stafford--has anyone mention her recordings with Red Ingle and His Natural Seven, as "Cinderella G. Stump"? Her twang was prepossessing. I first heard her with the Pied Pipers, played nightly (a theme) over AFN Frankfurt in the late Forties.

Chris, you were stationed in Frankfurt? I was born there, and listening to AFN almost daily fo several years. What year was that theme song played, and in which show?

Edited July 18, 2008 by mikeweil