Jim Stafford
| Jim Stafford | |
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Stafford in 1975
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Wayne Stafford |
| Born | January 16, 1944 |
| Origin | Winter Haven, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Country, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, various instruments |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Website | Jim Stafford Theatre |
James Wayne "Jim" Stafford (born January 16, 1944) is an American comedian, musician, and singer-songwriter. While prominent in the 1970s for his records "Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under The Scotsman's Kilt", "My Girl Bill", and "Wildwood Weed", Stafford has headlined at his own theater in Branson, Missouri, since 1990. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica.
Stafford was raised in Winter Haven, Florida. In high school, he played in a band along with friends Bobby Braddock, Kent LaVoie (also known as Lobo) and Gram Parsons (of the Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers).
Stafford's first chart hit was "Swamp Witch", produced by Lobo, which cracked the U.S. Top 40 in July 1973. On March 2, 1974 his biggest hit, "Spiders & Snakes", peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over two million copies, earning a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. that month. Stafford continued to have moderate chart success through most of 1975.
Although Stafford's first televised appearance was not until 1974 on a show called Rock Concert that aired in the United Kingdom, many remember him from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour revival show, which aired on NBC in 1975, for which he was credited with being the supervising writer.
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