Jo Stafford
(1917 - 2008)
Jo, youngest of the three Stafford Sisters who often appeared with the Sons of the Pioneers, became an internationally known singer, working with Tommy Dorsey. She was usually accompanied on recordings by her husband, Paul Weston, and his orchestra. Jo died of congestive heart failure on July 17, 2008.
Here is a part of her conversation with Elizabeth Drake McDonald in 2001.
You asked me specifically about Bob and writing a song, Wind, while on a trip up the Oregon coast. That would be my sister, Christine. They had a kind of a thing going for quite some time before he remarried. I know she would be the one who would have been with him because they had quite a little interest in each other for quite awhile.
We worked with them and were great admirers of the Pioneers. They were really, I think, quite wonderful. And, of course, Bob Nolan was a complete maverick and a wonderful talent. We loved working together and we loved singing with them and they loved singing with us.
I don’t know why the Open Spaces pilot never jelled because it was quite well accepted by just about everybody. We were sort of soul mates musically and so, you know, I think we appreciated each other a great deal and loved singing together and it showed.
I had a terrible crush on Roy, of course, which did me no good at all! But we were very good friends with them and knew all of them – the original group with Tim Spencer, and Roy and Bob and the Farr Brothers . We were good friends.
