The Columbia Hits Collection

by Jo Stafford

Overview

Not long after Jo Stafford's arranger (and future husband) Paul Weston moved from Capitol to Columbia in 1950, she followed him, preferring to work with an understanding producer (surely their budding relationship played a part as well). During the first half of the '50s, Stafford continued gracing the Hit Parade with the same balance of sedate, honey-toned balladry and up-tempo novelty singles cooked up with Weston. The pair's Corinthian label delivered this compilation of her rather erratic Columbia years, including 25 hits -- six of which were recorded in tandem with Frankie Laine. Stafford's biggest hit at Columbia (and of her entire career) was the wistful ballad "You Belong to Me," which spent months at the top of the charts. Even though she specialized in songs like this at Capitol, she didn't record many of them while at Columbia; "It Is No Secret" is similar, as is "Tennessee Waltz" and "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such As I." The emphasis, however, is decidedly on the novelty songs, paced by frenetic country cornpone like "Hambone" and "Setting the Woods on Fire" (both with Laine). Most of the arrangements here would've been appropriate for the typical weak-lunged pop singer of the '50s; Weston and Columbia don't appear to have placed much confidence in the pure strength of Stafford's voice. ~ John Bush

Product Details

Release Date:	05/28/2002
Label:	Corinthian
UPC:	0783121111526
Rank:	76988

Tracks

1. You Belong to Me
2. Make Love to Me
3. Keep It a Secret
4. Shrimp Boats
5. If
6. Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
7. Tennessee Waltz
8. Around the Corner
9. Hambone
10. Hey, Good Lookin'
11. In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening
12. Pretty Eyed Baby
13. If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time
14. It's Almost Tomorrow
15. Settin' the Woods on Fire
16. Somebody
17. Wind in the Willows
18. Suddenly There's a Valley
19. It's No Secret
20. (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I
21. Early Autumn
22. On London Bridge
23. Thank You for Calling
24. With a Little Bit of Luck
25. Gabriella (The Gamblin' Lady)
26. Kissin' Bug Boogie
27. Love Me Good
28. All Night Long
29. Teach Me Tonight

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jo Stafford   Primary Artist,Vocals
Frankie Laine   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Sid Tepper   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Gene DePaul   Composer
Bob Russell   Composer
Isham Jones   Composer
Irving Gordon   Composer
Chuck Meyer   Composer
Cindy Walker   Composer
Alan Jay Lerner   Composer
Ben Pollack   Composer
Frankie Laine   Performer
Fred Rose   Composer
Lefty Frizzell   Composer
Leon Roppolo   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Leo Moseley   Composer
Walter Melrose   Composer
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Pee Wee King   Composer
Josef Marais   Composer
Robert Allen   Composer
Ned Washington   Composer
Ralph Burns   Composer
Jessie Mae Robinson   Composer
Redd Stewart   Composer
Matt Dennis   Composer
Tolchard Evans   Composer
Hank Williams   Composer
Stuart Hamblen   Composer
Tim Weston   Editing,Assembly,Reissue Producer
Robert Hargreaves   Composer
Roy Bennett   Composer
Mary Lou Williams   Composer
Red Saunders   Composer
Woody Herman   Composer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Jimmy Beck   Composer
Mel Stitzel   Composer
Wade Buff   Composer
Maxwell Anderson   Composer
Jeff Lancaster   Design Direction
Eugene H. Adkinson   Composer
William Norvas   Composer
Frank Kilduff   Composer
Kevin Gray   Digital Transfers
Ed G. Nelson   Composer
Lew Quading   Composer
Allan Roberts   Composer
Frederick Loewe   Composer
Paul Mares   Composer
Paul Weston   Composer
Terry Gilkyson   Composer
Jerome Kern   Composer
Al Stillman   Composer
Alan Copeland   Composer
William Johnson   Composer
Kurt Weill   Composer
Hoagy Carmichael   Composer
Stanley Damerell   Composer
Paul Mason Howard   Composer
Bill Trader   Composer
Chilton Price   Composer
Roger Nichols   Editing,Mastering,Digital Assembly
Gene Lees   Liner Notes
Georg Brunis   Composer
Jack Elliott   Composer