A DISCOGRAPHY MOMENT: JO STAFFORD - MARCH 26, 1946

Jo Stafford (1917-2008) was one of the greatest female vocalists in all of pop music history/. In the 1940s and 1950s she had a huge musical output. On this studio session she got to record with the great Nat King Cole on piano...

March 28, 1946 (Thursday)

Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home (with Nat King Cole - piano) (Matrix No. 1054) * Recorded for single Capitol 15171
Cindy (with Nat King Cole - piano) (Matrix No. 1055) * Recorded for single Capitol 259
Ridin’ On The Gravy Train (with Nat King Cole - piano) (Matrix No. 1056) * Originally unissued
I’ll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time (with Nat King Cole - piano) (Matrix No. 1057) * Recorded for single Capitol 277

‘Ridin’ On The Gravy Train’ (Matrix No. 1056) was issued in 1991, on the CD ‘Capitol Collectors Series: Jo Stafford’ (Capitol CDP 7 91638 2)

THE SAGA OF RED INGLE

Red Ingle was a very unique and fun entertainer. He was an American musician, singer and songwriter, arranger, cartoonist and caricaturist. He is best known for his comedy records with Spike Jones and his own Natural Seven sides for Capitol.

Ingle was born in Toledo, Ohio. He was taught basic violin from age five by Fritz Kreisler, a family friend. However at 13, he took up the saxophone, and that instrument later became his main instrument. Ingle received a music scholarship and studied at the Toledo American College of Music, playing classical music on a concert level. Ingle was also influenced by the country fiddlers he had heard; he was able to play their songs in their style as well as the classics in a traditional pose.

At 15 he was playing professionally with Al Amato, and by his late teens, Ingle was touring steadily with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, along with future jazz legends Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer. A graduate of Toledo's Scott High School, at one time he intended to become a teacher. Ingle left the College of Music in 1926 to become a full-time musician when he married Edwina Alice Smith. He joined Ted Weems' Orchestra in 1931, after briefly being a bandleader himself, and working under Maurice Sherman. His work with Weems was such a success that they worked together into the 1940s. Singer Perry Como later called Ingle 'one of the most talented men I've ever met.

After he failed an eye test for the Air Force, he returned to music with Spike Jones & His City Slickers, where his comedic talents and flair for vocal effects found a welcoming home. Jones started featuring him as a frontman immediately, and Ingle's stage presence helped transform the City Slickers' stage act into something more visual than before. With Ingle's input, the band gradually became a complete stage package that would eventually peak (after his departure in 1946] in the late 1940s and early 1950s with the successful Musical Depreciation Revue. "You Always Hurt the One You Love", "Liebestraum" and "Glow Worm" – this last being featured in the film Breakfast in Hollywood, one of many films featuring the band.

Ingle left Jones and the City Slickers in November 1946 after a salary dispute. He drifted through Radio and Hollywood, even working in light opera until he made "Tim-Tayshun", a spoof recording of the then-popular Perry Como hit "Temptation", with Jo Stafford (under the name "Cinderella G. Stump") for Capitol Records in 1947.

As the single went on to sell three million copies, Ingle formed a new band – Red Ingle and His Natural Seven; the group included several former City Slickers, among them Country Washburn, who had arranged "Tim-Tayshun". The band had several more hits, including "Cigareetes, Whuskey, and Wild, Wild Women", "Them Durn Fool Things," and "'A', You're a Dopey Gal." "Cigareetes" became a hit because it was banned from radio airplay by all major networks.

After "Tim-Tayshun's" success, Ingle had a follow-up in mind: a take-off on the classical works of Paganini, but doing this required a violinist who was trained in classical music. Knowing that any direct requests for a classical performer would be refused, Ingle dreamed up his own "classical" ensemble: "Ernest Ingle's Miniature Symphony". A concert violinist responded and was quickly signed to a recording contract for the intended record. When the musician was shown the arrangement he was to play, he protested and attempted to leave without performing. Ingle and his band quickly reminded the violinist of the legality of the contract he had just signed. A deal was struck to get "Pagan Ninny's Keep 'Er Going Stomp" recorded: the concert performer was allowed to use a pseudonym on the record.

Ingle and his Natural Seven also performed with Grand Ole Opry performers such as Minnie Pearl and other Opry notables. He joined Jo Stafford on her 1949 tour of the Midwest. Despite the comedy emphasis, the quality of the musicianship was often outstanding, including in some cases Les Paul or Western Swing performers Tex Williams and steel guitarist Noel Boggs. The band also recorded short films of their numbers, before disbanding in 1952; by 1956, Ingle had formed the band once again.

After working again with Weems, Ingle eased out of music, tiring of touring. He reunited with Jo Stafford in 1960 for a performance of "Tim-Tayshun" on Startime; by this time he had lost a great deal of weight and was barely recognizable as the former leader of the Natural Seven. He also had a reunion with Perry Como; band leader Ted Weems and former fellow band members Ingle, Elmo Tanner, Parker Gibbs and "Country" Washburn appeared as guests on Como's Kraft Music Hall on 18 October 1961.

Ingle said he had been trying to retire from the music business since 1942; he signed up with Spike Jones a year later, and that his leaving the band in 1946 was another try at retirement. By 1948 he described himself as being resigned to staying in the field. He died from an internal haemorrhage on 6 September 1965, in Santa Barbara, California and was buried in Ovid, Michigan...

MY FIVE FAVORITE FEMALE SINGERS

 Nothing relaxes me more than one of the great songbirds from the golden age of singing. Whenever I am feeling stressed out, I love going to my music room and just listen to golden voices in the dark and get lost in the audio aspirins. I made a list of my five favorite female singers in 2013 and 2019 so I figured I was due to update my list. There are so any great female singers out there...

5. BILLIE HOLIDAY (1915-1959)
People either love or hate Billie's voice, and I love her singing. From her early recordings in the mid 1930s with Benny Goodman to her said and weakened voice in the 1950s, Billie had a way to sell a song. Billie's best recording was "God Bless The Child". "God Bless the Child" became Holiday's most popular and most covered record. It reached number 25 on the charts in 1941 and was third in Billboard's songs of the year, selling over a million records. Billie died tragically too young but her voice lives on in so many vocal masterpieces. (rank in 2013: 9, rank in 2019: 6)

4. JUDY GARLAND (1922-1969)

Like Billie, Judy Garland conveyed so much in her voice. Judy became an icon for the gay movement, but she also was a great recording star. Her records I feel were even better than her movies. At a young age she was signed to Decca and recorded some great numbers there like "Figaro", "Over The Rainbow", "No Love No Nothin", and "This Heart Of Mine". She only recorded soundtracks afterwards at MGM Records, but once she signed with Capitol in the 1950s, she made some terrific albums. Again, like Billie, Judy died way too young. (rank in 2013: 10, rank in 2019: 8)

3. CONNEE BOSWELL (1907-1976)

If you need an audio aspirin, then please listen to Connee Boswell. Connee herself is widely considered one of the greatest jazz female vocalists and was a major influence on Ella Fitzgerald. After breaking up with her sisters in 1936, she made some great solo records for Decca for the next 20 years. Some of my favorite of these records are: "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart", "Sand In My Shoes", and "Why Don't You Fall In Love With Me" to just name a few. She made an excellent album for Decca in 1956 simply titled "Connee" with Sy Oliver and his Orchestra. Connee's last chart hit was "If I Give Myself To You" in 1954, and in my opinion I don't think she recorded enough. (rank in 2013: 2, rank in 2019: 3)

2. DINAH SHORE (1917-1994)

There is nothing finer than Dinah! After failing singing auditions for the bands of Benny Goodman, and both Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Shore struck out on her own. She became the first singer of her era to achieve huge solo success. She had a string of 80 charted popular hits, spanning 1940–1957. Eddie Cantor helped to discover her, and she got a contract to Bluebird in 1939 where she recorded such recordings as "Sleepy Lagoon" and "Yes, My Darling Daughter". She then went to Columbia and scored some mega hits like "Lavender Blue" and "Button And Bows". In the 1950s she also sang for Capitol Records for a time. Dinah became more widely known for her television shows by the 1960s, and her voice was not what it was, but she is still one of my favorite songbirds out there.(rank in 2013: 3, rank in 2019: 2)

1. JO STAFFORD (1917-2008)

Like Bing Crosby on my favorite male singer list, Jo Stafford has also been number one on my list for decades. In addition to her recordings with the Pied Pipers, Stafford featured in solo performances for Dorsey. After leaving the group in 1944, she recorded a series of pop standards for Capitol Records and Columbia Records. Many of her recordings were backed by the orchestra of Paul Weston. In the 1950s, Stafford had a string of popular hits with Frankie Laine, six of which charted. Their duet of the Hank Williams song "Hey Good Lookin'" made the top 10 in 1951. She had her best-known hits—"Jambalaya", "Shrimp Boats", "Make Love to Me", and "You Belong to Me"—around this time."You Belong to Me" was Stafford's biggest hit, topping the charts in the United States. Jo retired in 1970, and although she retired so young, she left us with such a great recording songbook. There was no one like Jo! (rank in 2013:1 rank in 2019: 1)

There are many other singers that I love too so here is my list of runners up to round out the top ten: Margaret Whiting (1924-2011), Peggy Lee (1920-2002), June Christy (1925-1990, Jeri Southern (1926-1991), and Kate Smith (1907-1986).

MY FIVE FAVORITE FEMALE SINGERS

Since I just updated my favorite male singer list recently, I figured I better give the favorite female singers an update. There are so many great songbirds out there that have left their mark, but these are currently my five favorite...

5. ELLA FITZGERALD (1917-1996)
Ella Fitzgerald had a way with a song that no other vocalist, man or woman, had. She started out with Chick Webb and his band in the 1930s, but went out on her own after Webb died. She was with Decca Records in the 1940s, but I think my personal favorite era of her records in when she was with Verve and recorded those Great Songbook series in the 1950s and 1960s. 2013 ranking: 7

4. PEGGY LEE (1920-2002)
The smoky quality of Peggy Lee's voice always appealed to me. Peggy started out with Benny Goodman and his band in the early 1940s, and she became one of the truly great vocalists. She not only was a singer but an actress and songwriter as well. My person favorite recording of hers is "Where Can I Go Without You" on the Decca label. 2013 ranking: 11

3. CONNEE BOSWELL (1907-1976)
Even though she suffered from polio and was handicapped, Connee was one of the great voices of our times. She started out with her sisters, the Boswell Sisters, but went on her own in 1936 when her sisters got married and retired. She could sing jazz like no other woman. Her duets with Bing Crosby were legendary, and she continued to make great records through the 1950s. She did an album with Sy Oliver in 1956 that is one of the best things put on vinyl. 2013 ranking: 2

2. DINAH SHORE (1917-1994)
For the few people that remember Dinah Shore, they might think of her just from her television show of the 1970s. She was so much more, and a wonderful singer. She was discovered by Eddie Cantor, and she had countless hit records like: "Lavender Blue", "Jim", and one of my favorites
Shoo Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dowdy". She started out with RCA Victor, but would also record with Columbia and Capitol. Her voice is audio gold. 2013 ranking: 3

1. JO STAFFORD (1917-2008)
Jo Stafford has been my favorite female singer nearly as long as Bing Crosby has been my favorite male singer. I am also honored to have gotten an autographed picture of Jo Stafford in the late 1990s. Jo started out as a member of the Pied Pipers in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, but she became a solo artist in 1943, and she was one of the first acts signed to Capitol Records. There is not enough room to list all her hits but a few include: "You Belong To Me", "Shrimp Boats", and "Make Love To Me". Jo retired from performing in 1970 while she was on top, but she had nearly perfect pitch. I have a lot of favorites by Jo, but check out her recordings of "Always True To You In My Fashion", "A Ghost Of A Chance", and "Best Things In Life Are Free" to just name a few. 2013 ranking: 1

Again, this is just my opinion as of 2019 and not a complete list. I have dozens of singers that I love and listen to. Here are five more runners up that I love as well: Billie Holiday (1915-1959), Kate Smith (1907-1986), Lee Wiley (1908-1975), Mildred Bailey (1903-1951) and Judy Garland (1922-1969)...

MUSIC BREAK: JO STAFFORD - ROW, ROW, ROW

GUEST REVIEW: JO STAFFORD

Here is an excellent music review from one of the best albums my favorite female singer, Jo Stafford made. While I do not agree with everything the author writes, it is a great review of a great artist...

Jo Stafford: "Jo + Jazz" (Corinthian 108)
by Thomas Cunniffe

When remembering Jo Stafford, many musicians cite her purity. The term not only refers to Stafford’s clear voice, but to the musical mind that controlled it. Stafford’s advanced harmonic knowledge and precise intonation allowed her to sing passages that would defeat a lesser vocalist (and to hear her satirize lesser vocalists, check out the hilarious recordings she made under the names Cinderella G. Stump and Darlene Edwards). In one of his last interviews, Lester Young included her among his favorite singers, and while she never claimed to be a jazz vocalist, Stafford showed her affinity to jazz in her albums “Once Over Lightly” (with Art Van Damme), “Ballad of the Blues” and “Do I Hear A Waltz” (both with her husband, Paul Weston) and in a wonderful jam session with Ella Fitzgerald from Benny Goodman’s first “Swing Into Spring” television special.

However, Stafford’s finest jazz album was the 1960 Columbia LP, “Jo + Jazz”. Surrounded by an all-star band which combined stars from the Ellington band (Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Harry Carney, Lawrence Brown and Ray Nance) and the West Coast jazz scene (Jimmy Rowles, Don Fagerquist, Conte Candoli, Russ Freeman, Joe Mondragon, Shelly Manne and Mel Lewis), Stafford sings in a light, attractive tone, swinging gently, and creating definitive performances. The band was arranged and conducted by Johnny Mandel, and the play list includes three gems from the Ellington book (“Just Squeeze Me”, “Day Dream” and “I Didn’t Know About You”), big band era classics (“For You”, “Dream of You”, “S’posin’” and “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry”), standards (“You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To”, “I’ve Got The World On A String” and “The Folks Who Live on the Hill”) and jazz-inspired songs (“Midnight Sun” and “Imagination”).

The joys of this album come in the small details: the way Stafford gently imitates Hodges’ scooping sound on “Just Squeeze Me”, the creamy sound of her voice on “Day Dream”, the sincerity as she sings the long lines of “For You”, her lazy, reflective rendition of “I Didn’t Know About You”, and her seemingly effortless reading of the descending chromatic line on “Midnight Sun”. One senses the respect Stafford has for her material. She can perform a song like “Folks Who Live on the Hill” with an elegant simplicity and let the message of the lyrics carry the listener along. On the other hand, she creates a soaring melodic variation on “What Can I Say” that represents a distinct improvement over the original. Webster played on several vocal albums during this period, and his big breathy sound is present on nearly every cut. Rowles and Fagerquist perform delightful solos as well, but my favorite touch is another small detail—the rumbling bass clarinet of Harry Carney that spices several of Mandel’s arrangements. (This might be the best place to note Tim Weston’s superb re-mixing of the album for the Corinthian CD release, which offers a better mix of instrumental colors and vocals than the original Columbia LP).

We could have had many more albums like “Jo + Jazz”. By the end of the 1960s, Stafford’s pitch was starting to fail her (no doubt exacerbated by her long addiction to cigarettes) and she effectively retired from singing. A few years later, Carl Jefferson of Concord Records offered Stafford a contract, but the singer decided not to accept it due to her personal dissatisfaction with her voice and her reluctance to tour again (the same offer was accepted by Rosemary Clooney). “Jo + Jazz” stands as one of the finest vocal jazz albums ever recorded. It is also a fascinating glimpse of what Jo Stafford might have been, but rarely was: a true jazz singer....

MY RATING: 10 OUT 10
AUTHOR'S RATING: NOT GIVEN

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MY FIVE FAVORITE FEMALE SINGERS

I figured since I did a list of my favorite male singers, I should do one on my five favorite songbirds. Surprisingly it was harder to do this list than the male counterpart list. My top three favorite female singers have stayed the same through the years, but the other two spots are up for grabs. It varies depending on my mood, so don't get too upset with this list. It is changes weekly...

5. ALICE FAYE (1915-1998)
I know people will find it shocking that I rank Alice Faye higher than such polished singers as Doris Day and Margaret Whiting or than some jazz songbirds like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, but I feel that Alice could sing anything. She did not have much or a recording output, and it was a crime because she had a wonderful voice. Faye recorded a little in the 1930s and then her studio boss Daryl Zanuck at 20th Century Fox would not let her make an more commercial recordings. She sang some nice number on her radio show with husband Phil Harris in the early 1950s and then she made one album for Reprise Records in the 1960s. Again it is a crime against musical lovers that she did not record more.

4. KATE SMITH (1907-1986)
Eddie Cantor once said that Kate Smith had such a huge frame to hold a heart so big. It is definitely true, because I do not think there was a nicer person in the musical business. A sign of a good singer is the ability to adapt to changing times and song styles. Kate Smith sang every genre from classic pop to country to rock from the 1920s to the 1970s. I love Kate's old vintage recordings from the early 1930s like "Too Late" and "River Stay Away From My Door". I also love some of her later work like "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine", "Yesterday", and "More". Of course I have three words why Kate should be on anyone's top list - "God Bless America". We were robbed of Kate's voice when she suffered a diabetic stroke in 1976 and for the next ten years she suffered greatly. Her recordings I have are among my prized possessions.

3. DINAH SHORE (1917-1994)
In later years Dinah Shore became more known as a television personality than a singer, but throughout the 1940s and 1950s I think she had one of the most pleasant voices on record. She was discovered by Eddie Cantor, and was a long time contract singer for RCA records. Her early 1940s records like "Skylark", "Sophisticated Lady", and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" showed that Dinah was vocally pretty advanced for her age. In the 1950s she moved to Capitol and then to Reprise for a bit, and I think her recordings suffered. However, she would still make a good record like "Mississippi Mud", "Carolina In The Morning", and even her version of the Frank Sinatra hit "Love And Marriage" was almost better than Sinatra's version. Dinah pretty much stopped recording or even singing for that matter in the 1970s, but her personality was like a beautiful song, and I was a fan until the sad day I heard she had passed away.

2. CONNEE BOSWELL (1907-1976)
Like most of the women on this list, Connee Boswell really did not make a bad recording. Even her horrible recording on Decca of the song "Mommy" is still worth listening to. Connee began her recording career with her sisters in 1925, and soon they were the most popular sister group in the country. The trio recorded some true masterpieces of music like: "42nd Street", "Heebie Jeebies", and "That's How Rhythm Was Born". By 1936, the sisters were all getting married, and Connee's two sisters - Vet and Martha wanted to retire. Connee signed with Decca Records and continued to make recordings for them for the next twenty years. Her best recordings were later in her career though. She recorded her final record on the Decca label with Sy Oliver in 1956 titled simply "Connee". The record is a masterpiece in my opinion. Her version of "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain" among others is one of my favorite recordings. She also made a great album with the Original Memphis Five a year later on the RCA label. With the change in music, Connee slowly withdrew from the scene, but again we are lucky for the wonderful music she left behind.

1. JO STAFFORD (1917-2008)
One of the true sadnesses in my adult years was that I never got to talk or meet Jo Stafford. I am lucky to have gotten her autograph, but in later years she did not appear much in public but was devoted to her family and fans. Jo started out singing with her sister in the late 1930s, and then she joined the Pied Pipers and worked with Tommy Dorsey. Unlike Frank Sinatra's recordings with Dorsey, Jo Stafford did not do any real great solo work with the band. However, Stafford was one of the first artists signed to the new Capitol Recordings in 1943. Her solo work made her one of the great voices of all time. In the 1940s her recordings included: "The Trolley Song", "Candy", and others - but one of her greatest recordings came in 1953. Her version of "You Belong To Me" is among my favorite records of all time, and the record is an example of the perfect pitch that Jo Stafford had. In the 1950s she moved over to Columbia Records and then to Reprise for a bit. Every album she made or song she sang was worth listening to, and like the other singers she retired from the musical scene way too soon. Jo Stafford stopped recording around 1970, but many of her recordings are among the best that were ever put on record.

Of course, this top five list does not include all of the great female singers out there - they are only my five favorites. Here are five more than deserve to be on anyone else's best of list as well: Margaret Whiting (1924-2011), Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), Judy Garland (1922-1969), Billie Holiday (1915-1959), and Doris Day (born 1924). Again, this list is not a definitive list by any means. Who would you have on your top five...

THE COOL JO STAFFORD

By Patricia Barber

What’s cool? Who’s cool? How do you get cool? Jo Stafford was a cool singer. She was of the cool school ... cool was and is an aesthetic that embodies reserve. Whether that reserve comes from poise or rebellion, you just don’t give everything you’ve got. No blistering tempos, no complex bebop changes and no frantic scat singing. Jo sang with an ease and directness that reflected the confidence of the country. They called her “G.I. Jo” during WWII.

Being called Jo when you’re a woman is cool. In America, during the 1940s, swing and jazz were the popular musics of the day. That’s incredibly cool. Americans were cool. Jo, an accomplished musician and pianist as well, sang with a rich timbre and dead-on pitch. She hung slightly back of the beat in that swinging way, the way we walked down the street then, open faces and loose gestures, as if we had nothing to lose. We sang and danced our way through the middle of the 20th century and we won the war. The soldiers loved Jo and we loved her. She sold 25 million records. That’s cool.

But Jo was cool before the 25 million records. Cool begets cool and cool can come from a lot of things. It can come from growing up in California in the richest country on earth. It can come from the security of a loving family. It can come from knowing you’re a good singer, good enough to make the rhythm section do the dirty work while you let the words fall easily from your gorgeous lips. It can come from having gorgeous lips, being young, beautiful and smart and funny.

Jo was all that. After her string of hits, she and her second husband, Paul Weston, created a musical comedy review, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, a pre-Saturday Night Live spoof on a bad lounge singer and pianist. The first time my bass player played this record for me I laughed so hard my sides hurt.

It’s cool to know when to get in, even cooler to know when to get out. After all those hits, Jo Stafford retired early to live a long, full life. She had had more than one ace in the hole. Jo was talented, beautiful, rich, smart, funny and loved by millions. Jo Stafford will be remembered as the perfect voice at the perfect place and time. Cool...

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JO STAFFORD (1917-2008)

My favorite female singer is the underrated Jo Stafford. She nearly had perfect pitch and I don't think she ever made a bad album! Here are a few video moments with Jo Stafford...