THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

585-Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra-You Belong to Me.

1953-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.32. Jo Stafford became the very first female singer to have a UK Number 1 single, when this song topped the chart in January 1953.

Jo Elizabeth Stafford was born on November 12th, 1917, in Coalinga, California, United States, she died of congestive heart failure on July 16th, 2008, at the age of 90. Her first venture into music was when forming the ‘Stafford Sisters,’ a vocal trio, at the age of 12, with her two older sisters. The girls found moderate success on radio and in film. In 1938 while the sisters were working for ‘Twentieth Century Fox,’ Jo Stafford was invited to join the singing group ‘The Pied Pipers,’ becoming their lead singer. In 1939 the Bandleader Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) hired The Pied Pipers’ to perform vocals with his orchestra, and from 1940-1942, the group often performed with Dorsey’s new male singer, Frank Sinatra (1915-1998.) During World War II, Jo Stafford linked up with the ‘United Service Organisations,’ performing concerts regularly for soldiers, which earned her the nickname ‘G.I. Jo.’ As well as singing, she was also an actress, appearing in 15 films between 1936-1947, she also had her own musical variety television programme in America on ‘CBS,’ ‘The Jo Stafford Show,’ which ran from 1954-1955, and then using a similar format, it was commissioned by ‘ITV’ in the UK, and broadcast over nine episodes in 1961.

The discography of Jo Stafford includes 80 top 40 hit singles on Billboard in America between 1944-1959, with four of those songs, including ‘You Belong To Me,’ reaching Number 1, while in the UK, where the first singles chart wasn’t issued until November 14th, 1952, four of her songs have charted, with ‘Make Love to Me,’ providing her with her only other top 10 hit, when reaching Number 8 in 1954. There are also dozens of official compilation Albums available, that have been issued on a regular basis since 1955 to the present day. In 1952 Jo Stafford married the American composer and conductor Paul Weston, (1912-1996) who was born Paul Wetstein, together they developed a comedy routine in which they assumed the identity of an incompetent lounge act named ‘Jonathan and Darlene Edwards,’ parodying well-known songs. Under that name they released six Albums of comedy music between 1957-1993, and two singles, including a cover version of ‘Stayin’ Alive,’ by The Bee Gees in 1979.

‘You Belong to Me’ has been recorded by dozens of different artists down the years, with this version by Jo Stafford being the best known, and most successful. The first recording of the song was in February 1952, by the American singer Joni James, (1930-2022) which failed to chart. The only other hit version of the song is by the American ‘Doo-Wop’ group ‘The Duprees,’ who took their recording to Number 6 on Billboard in 1962. The song has also featured in many films and television programmes, being performed by a variety of different artists including Bob Dylan, (1994-Natural Born Killers) and Tori Amos (2003-Mona Lisa Smile.)

‘You Belong to Me’ was recorded on June 24th, 1952, by Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra, and released on July 18th, 1952. It appeared on the very first UK singles chart on November 14th, 1952 at Number 2, and finally reached the Number 1 spot in January 1953. The song was co-written by Chilton Price, (1913-2010) Pee Wee King, (1914-2000) and Redd Stewart, (1923-2003) with the arrangement, and production being by Paul Weston (1912-1996.) At the time of recording, Jo Stafford and Paul Weston were married, and she was pregnant at the time with their first child.

‘You Belong to Me’ was initially written by Chilton Price while she was working as a librarian at the Louisville radio station ‘WAVE,’ where the Country Music artists Pee Wee King, and Redd Stuart were regular performers. Chilton Price showed this song and others she had written to King and Stewart, and after they had made lyric and melody adjustments, they were co-credited as the songs authors. Price claimed that King and Stewart had no part in the writing of the song, but Billy Stewart, the son of Redd, refutes that claim, saying that Stewart and King revised the lyrics, and improved the melody. The other song of note to which all three are credited is the 1951 composition ‘Slow Poke,’ which gave Pee Wee King a Billboard Country Number 1 single in 1951, as well as topping the chart in Australia in 1952.

‘See the pyramids along the Nile, watch the sun rise on a tropic isle. Just remember, darling, all the while you belong to me. See the marketplace in old Algiers, send me photographs and souvenirs. Just remember when a dream appears, you belong to me.’