Jo Stafford: A American Voice
Jo Stafford's album, "GI Joe" brings you back to an American past filled with all the dreams and ideals that created and sustained the "geatest generation". You absorb the era, this wonderful heritage, in the beauty and richness of her voice, presentation and in all the heart she brings to such war songs as "I'll Be Seeing You", "I Left My Heart At the Stagedoor Canteen", "I'll Walk Alone", "I Don't Want To Walk Without You" and in all the selections. This voice and this era reflects the America we like to think we really are. It seems a bit strange that she died at 93 just a week or so after I ordered the album. No one sang these songs like Jo Stafford; what a voice, what an era.

Terrific As Usual
Jo Stafford never fails to deliver. Her voice remained clear and pure and delivery uncluttered. These songs were from the WWII era but recorded in the fifties or sixties - You'll Never Know is just perfect.

A Special Voice
I first heard Jo Stafford's voice in the early 90s. And going back in time a bit, during the 80's, I have to consider to be one of the dryest period musically I've experience since I wasn't able to find artists I wanted to hear. The introspective singer/songwriter period during the late 60s and the early 70's had all been phased out only to be replaced by disco dance music and punk rock. I felt abandoned and basically went back to listening to music from artists I've already come to know.

I first heard Jo Stafford on a Pasadena radio show featuring recordings from the Big Band Era and the music of the 50s in 1990. I was immediately taken aback; and her voice hit home with me. Her unique extended phrasing and the lovely lilt in her voice was perfectly expressed with backing arrangements that accompanied her voice beautifully, and which was basically the standard, on this, the G. I. Jo CD.

Before her singing career was launched, she received training to become an opera singer, but apparently it didn't work out quite the way she might have planned. But it is fortunate for us as listeners to hear that vocal training come to fruition on these popular songs of that era. These tracks are quality gems because the sound can never be repeated.

Class Act
Jo Stafford's collection of songs from the World War II era -- songs of longing and nostalgia --is probably her most moving. Recorded in 1958, this concept album (originally titled "I'll Be Seeing You") boasts lean Paul Weston arrangements, never veering towards the maudlin, of course, and typically seamless phrasings from Stafford. She was born to sing these songs, and her voice and interpretations here are unforgettable. "I'll Be Seeing You" is given the definitive treatment -- Jo's descant above the orchestra's melody on the repeat is indescribably beautiful. The breezy "No Love, No Nothin'" tries hard not to be humorous, and offers a tasteful contrast.

Two tracks from the original LP are missing (Yesterdays and I Should Care), and the remaining tracks are not in the same order as they originally were. As in my review of June Christy's Something Cool, I have to disagree with recording labels that tinker with albums (for whatever reason? ), particularly the very special "concept albums" from the '50s, like this one, which were not intended to be a collection of potential "hits" with arbitrary ordering. On the original LP, the first track, "I Don't Want to Walk Without You," led effortlessly into the second track, "It Could Happen to You," by a common tone -- the last orchestral pitch of the first song turns into the new key of the second song, a characteristic Weston technique.

Regardless of packaging annoyances, this is a loving Memorial Day tribute for our war veterans.

Surprisingly Good
Jo Stafford's singing career was a little before my time, so it wasn't nostalgia that drew me to this recording; it is just that Jo Stafford is one of the best singers I've ever heard. I'm guessing this recording was made in the late 1950's, as the sound quality is really good, catching all her beautifully subtle throaty nuances, but the recording was probably made two days before stereo. The artistry, both singing and instrumental is first class; every note was crafted with heart. Jo may have been at her singing peak about the time of this recording. It is unfortunate that technology denied recording artists their best chance for posterity until about the mid 1950's, but luckily the confluence of a voice at its peak, along with good sound makes this an excellent recording.