Search - Jo Stafford :: Yes Indeed!

1940's pop music at it's best

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 07/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jo was one of the best singers of her generation, and this box clearly demonstrates that. All the 26 tracks available on the Capitol collectors series CD are included here, plus 73 other tracks, all mastered to the highest quality.



The set covers Jo's entire period with Capitol, so it starts with a few songs featuring Jo as lead singer of the Pied Pipers doing typical big band stuff, but the remaining tracks all feature Jo as solo singer, with an occasional duet. Besides including all the essential hits and a few lesser ones, there are many great covers of classic songs which Jo sings brilliantly. The track listing says it all.



Long ago and far away, I love you, It could happen to you, Candy, Trolley song, There's no you, That's for me, Symphony, Day by day, The things we did last summer, Temptation, Feudin' and fightin', Serenade of the bells, Some enchanted evening, Whispering hope, Ragtime cowboy Joe and No other love, all American top ten hits for Jo, are among the hits included here.



If you enjoy this and you'd like more of Jo's music, I recommend the compilation Jo Stafford on Capitol, which has very little overlap with what's here, and which contains most of the lesser hits that were omitted from this set. I also recommend Jo's fifties music, for which the strongest compilation is Columbia hits collection. If you like the Pied Pipers tracks, there is a compilation just focusing on that music. Jo is well served by CD releases, although there are still some treasures yet to be released on CD.



If you haven't got any of Jo's music, I suggest starting with the Columbia hits collection, then you can decide how much of her forties music you want. If you only want the big hits, the Capitol collectors series will be enough, but if you enjoy it a lot, this is the one to buy - it's about double the price, but has nearly four times as many tracks."

Combination of great standards and fine singing

Ian Muldoon | Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia | 01/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although I understand those who appreciate the songs Ms Stafford made popular in the fifties, it is her singing of the great standards that I find immensely appealing - it is this combination that provides the reason this 4CD set is well worth the investment.
In the forties, the "cool" style of female singing reached its apex I believe, along with the domination of the strong female roles in cinema often in FILM NOIR. Such singers as Ms Christy and Ms O'Day kept a distance from the material, even adopting an ironic stance to the lyrics. This "distancing" had its own appeal, and its own sexiness, as we knew that she knew that we knew it's just a song. Although, Ms Stafford is not a stylist of the same level as either of those two singers, she too maintains a distance but has also a "sweeter" voice tinged with a touch of melancholy. But in such songs as AMOR, AMOR and THE TROLLEY SONG
the songs seem written for her. With so many great songs, this collection is a bargain."

Spectacular collection

William J. Dunaj | Miami, FL USA | 06/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was too young to appreciate Jo Stafford's music or to know much about her, but I always loved the song "I'll Be Seeing You" without knowing who had sung the version that I loved. In recently searching all of the versions on iTunes, I learned that it was Joe Stafford's version that I had remembered and it was the best by far. That made me begin searching for other songs by her and I ordered this album. It is the best album set I have ever owned, because out of 100 songs, there are very few that I do not appreciate - primarily up tempo numbers - with the far majority being outstandingly beautiful songs. When I was young I thought that Barbra Streisand was the greatest female singer, because she had such a strong voice, now I believe she cannot compare to Jo Stafford: who was reputed to have a perfect pitch, enabling her to sing songs that no one else could carry, and an amazing vocal range, while also projecting an exceptional warmth and a personality in her voice that Barbra Streisand is lacking. Jo Stafford and Doris Day recordings have convinced me that the best singing voice is not the loudest voice. The amazing thing about this album is that I had thought that all of the really great old standards were still being sung today, or at least had been rerecorded by Barbara, and that only the inferior songs have been forgotten. Was I wrong. There are many songs on this album I have never heard of before, like "Manhattan Serenade, Trouble in Mind, If I ever love Again, How Sweet You Are" that are just amazingly good, at least when sung by Jo Stafford. These are songs that should have become old standards, because they are as good or better than the ones that have. There are also other songs that I never liked very much, like "Embraceable You" and "Some Enchanted Evening," that are amazingly good when sung by Jo Stafford. The last one I associated with strong male operatic voices and excessive theatricality, sort of a male version of Barbra Streisand, never expecting that I would come to really like the song when delivered with more subtlety, warmth, and personality. This album has convinced me that when singing operatically from the diaphragm with great volume it becomes almost impossible to project warmth, subtlety, and personality -- while those latter attributes, along with always singing perfectly on key, are what make Jo Stafford's music so truly exceptional."