JO STAFFORD - ON LONDON BRIDGE

ON LONDON BRIDGE

JO STAFFORD

SONGWRITERS: ROY C. BENNETT & SID TEPPER

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: INTERNATIONAL HITS

LABEL: CORINTHIAN RECORDS

GENRE: TRADITIONAL POP

YEAR: 2001

 

     Jo Elizabeth Stafford(November 12, 1917–July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer and occasional actress, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classical training to become na opera singer before following a career in popular music, and by 1955 had achieved more worldwide record sales than any other female artist. Her 1952 song "You Belong to Me" topped the charts in the United States and United Kingdom, becoming the second single to top the UK Singles Chart, and the first by a female artist to do so.

        Born in remote oil rich Coalinga, California, near Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley, Stafford made her first musical appearance at age 12. While still at high school, she joined her two older sisters to form a vocal trio named the Stafford Sisters, who found moderate success on radio and in film. In 1938, while the sisters were part of the cast of Twentieth Century Fox's production of Alexander's Ragtime Band, Stafford met the future members of the Pied Pipers and became the group's lead singer. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey hired them in 1939 to perform back-up vocals for his orchestra.

       In addition to her recordings with the Pied Pipers, Stafford featured in solo performances for Dorsey. After leaving the group in 1944, she recorded a series of pop standards for Capitol Records and Columbia Records. Many of her recordings were backed by the orchestra of Paul Weston. She also performed duets with Gordon MacRae and Frankie Laine. Her work with the United Service Organizations giving concerts for soldiers during World War II earned her the nickname "G.I. Jo". Starting in 1945, Stafford was a regular host of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio series The Chesterfield Supper Club and later appeared in television specials—including two series called The Jo Stafford Show, in 1954 in the U.S. and in 1961 in the UK.

        International Hits is a 2001 compilation album of songs recorded by American singer Jo Stafford. It was released on January 1, 2001, by Corinthian Records, the company founded by Stafford and her husband Paul Weston. 

I walked on London Bridge last night

I saw you by the lamppost light

Then bells rang out in sleepy London town

And London Bridge came tumbling down

 

The sky was hidden by a mist

But just like magic when we kissed

The moon and stars were shining all around

When London Bridge came tumbling down

 

Just you and I over the river

Two hearts suspended in space

And there so high over the river

A miracle took place

 

Two empty arms found love to hold

Two smoke rings turned to rings of gold

I bless the night we met in London town

When London Bridge came tumbling down

 

Just you and I over the river

Two hearts suspended in space

And there so high over the river

A miracle took place

 

I bow my head in silent prayer

And thank Him for the love we share

He blessed the night we met in London town

When London bridge came tumbling down.