Dead or Alive: Jo Stafford ?

Born in Coalinga, California, on November 12, 1917, Jo Elizabeth Stafford had a bunch of hits in the late thirties and into the forties.

Opera was her first love, and she studied voice as a child, but the Great Depression changed her direction as it did so many others. She joined her sisters and sang on a radio station, KHJ, in Los Angeles. They were known as the "Stafford Sisters". Gradually, the sisters got married and the trio broke up.

Jo Stafford was a singing "pin up" girl for soldiers and sailors who were fighting in Europe and in the Pacific during World War II, and later during the Korean War. Jo Stafford, unlike many of today's pop and rock singing stars, was on tour so much with the USO that she earned the nickname "GI Jo".

Her first million seller was in 1948, with "Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart". She followed with "My Happiness", in 1949.

During the 1950's is when Jo Stafford broke the charts wide open. She sang a duet with Hank Williams Sr, "Hey, Good Looking", in 1951. Her string of hits in the 1950s included "Jambalaya," "Shrimp Boats," "Make Love to Me," and "You Belong to Me."

It's the last song that she will always be remembered for. Stafford didn't write, "You Belong to Me," ; it was written by Chilton Price. This song shouldn't be confused with a song of the same title, written and recorded by both Carlly Simon and Michael McDonald.

Price's lyrics were really speaking to the thousands of American GIs spread out all over the world, and the girlfriends and wives left behind, and waiting, and blue.

You've heard the song. It starts with, "See the pyramids around the Nile; watch the sunrise from a tropic isle; just remember darling all the while; you belong to me."

Want to hear it? You Belong to Me

This 1952 song made the top of the charts in the US and UK, and Jo Stafford was the first woman to reach the top of the charts in the UK.

This song meant a lot to many GI's in far flung corners of the world.

I first heard when I was young, never believing that I would ever end up on some far corners of the world. Of course, i was not in some exotic locale to fight any battles, but the loneliness is still a factor, as I was in these places for work.

Jo Stafford's career slowed down to nearly nothing after the early 1960's. The world changed. Jet travel brought the world closer, and people could hop a plane and be back sooner rather than later. Her last singing performance was a tribute to Frank Sinatra, in 1990.

Jo Stafford is still alive. She is 90. At least I can't find any notice of her dying.

I kind of like it that the "dame" shares my birthday.

So, Jo Stafford, and her biggest hit, belong to us.