Jim Stafford

James Wayne Stafford (born January 16, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comedian. While prominent in the 1970s for his recordings "Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under the Scotsman's Kilt", "My Girl Bill", and "Wildwood Weed", Stafford headlined at his own theater in Branson, Missouri, from 1990 to 2020. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ, and harmonica.

Early years Stafford was raised in Winter Haven, Florida. In high school, he played in a band called the Legends, along with friends Bobby Braddock, Kent LaVoie (also known as Lobo) and Gram Parsons (of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers).

Career

Recording history Stafford's first chart hit was "Swamp Witch", produced by Lobo, Stafford continued to have moderate chart success through most of 1975 with an additional minor hit called "My Girl Bill" which reached number 20 in the BBC Top 50 chart a year earlier in 1974.

Television work Stafford's first televised appearance was in 1974 on a show called Rock Concert that aired in the United Kingdom.

The Jim Stafford Show was a six-week summer variety series shown on ABC from to . It featured Valerie Curtin, Richard Stahl, Deborah Allen, Cyndi Wood, and Gallagher, and was co-produced by Tony Scotti. Stafford, Rod Warren, April Kelly, and Pat Proft were among the writers on the series.

In 1976, Stafford guest-starred in two episodes of Gemini Man, which were later combined into a TV movie titled Riding with Death. He also guest-starred in the episode "The Understudy" on The Love Boat.

Stafford appeared numerous times on music specials, variety shows, and talk shows. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. He co-hosted Those Amazing Animals with Burgess Meredith and Priscilla Presley, from 1980 to 1981, and also hosted 56 episodes of Nashville on the Road.

Stafford was credited with being the supervising writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour revival show, which aired on CBS in 1988.

Songwriting Stafford contributed to several movie soundtracks. He received a gold record for his work on the Disney movie The Fox and the Hound. He wrote "Cow Patti" for the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can and appeared in the movie. His work has been covered by George Jones and Jerry Reed. His second classical guitar album, Somewhere in Time, appeared in March 2002. His most recent comedy album was Don't Tell Mama I'm a Guitar Picker, She Thinks I'm Just in Jail. In 2010, he produced and recorded his first Christmas album, A Guitar for Christmas.

Live performances Stafford operated and performed at the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson, Missouri, beginning in 1990.

Personal life From 1978 to 1980, Stafford was married to singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry and they have a son. Stafford was later married to Ann Britt Stafford for 24 years; she was a co-owner of the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson until December 2013.

Filmography Gemini Man/Riding with Death (1976) – Buffalo Bill Any Which Way You Can (1980) – Long John E.S.P. (1983) Kid Colter (1984) – Bill Colter Bloodsuckers from Outer Space (1984) – Buford Gordy (1995) – Branson performer

Discography Albums Year Album Peak chart positions Label US US Country AUS CAN 1970 Welcome to Maddox Country — — — — Southern Mother 1971 Jim Stafford — — — — Sharyn-Shag 1974 Jim Stafford 55 6 27 48 MGM 1975 Not Just Another Pretty Foot — — — — 1993 New Deal — — — — Strats Publishing 1995 Greatest Hits — — — — Curb Live in Branson — — — — Jim Stafford Theatre 1996 Guitar Gold — — — — Guitar Gospel — — — — 1997 Plays Harmonica — — — — Strats Publishing 2002 Don't Tell Mama I'm a Guitar Picker — — — — Somewhere in Time — — — — Jim Stafford Theatre 2006 Best of Jim Stafford — — — — UMVD Special Markets

Singles