''Ballad of the Blues'' is an album by vocalist

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...

that was released in 1959. She is supported by

the Starlighters The Starlighters were an American singing group of the mid 20th century. The group was formed in 1946, the members being Pauline Byrns, Vince Degen, Tony Paris, Howard Hudson, and future star Andy Williams, all alumni of Six Hits and a Miss. Wil ...

, a male vocal quartet, and an orchestra led by

Paul Weston Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the F ...

, her husband. Stafford sings pop, jazz, and blues songs which form a concept album. These include cover versions of traditional songs such as "

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" is an African-American spiritual song that originated during the period of slavery but was not published until 1867. The song is well known and many cover versions of it have been done by artists such as Mar ...

", "

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child", also "Motherless Child", is a traditional Spiritual. It dates back to the era of slavery in the United States. An early performance of the song was in the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. "Blue Gen ...

", and "

Lover Man "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (often called simply "Lover Man") is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger ("Ram") Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her ...

" in addition to original songs written by

Alan and Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

Track listing

# The Blues Is an Old Old Story (1:49) (

Alan Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

) # Street Cries (1:03) (

) # John Henry (2:46) (Traditional/Weston) #

(:47) (Traditional/Weston) #

(2:29) (Traditional) # The Blues Is a Tale of Trouble (1:45) (Bergman/Bergman/Weston) # Kansas City Blues (3:15) (Bergman/Bergman/Weston) #

Memphis Blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...

(2:49) (

W. C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...

/George Norton) # The Blues Is a Traveling Thing (1:19) (Bergman/Bergman/Weston) # He's Gone Away (2:18) (Traditional) # Seems Like When It Comes in the Morning (0:27) # Every Night When the Sun Goes In (2:38) (Traditional) # Times Change and Things Change (1:51) (Bergman/Bergman/Weston) #

(4:00) ( Jimmy Davis/

Ram Ramirez Roger "Ram" Ramirez (September 15, 1913 – 11 January 1994) was a Puerto Rican jazz pianist and composer. He was a co-composer of the song "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" Early life Ramirez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 15, 1 ...

Jimmy Sherman James Benjamin Sherman (August 17, 1908 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania – October 11, 1975 in Philadelphia) was an American jazz pianist and arranger. Sherman played in dance bands in the late 1920s and played on and off with Jimmy Gorham in the ...

) # Blues in the Night (3:14) (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

) # The Blues Is an Old Old Story (Reprise) (0:50) (Bergman/Bergman)

References

1959 albums Jo Stafford albums Columbia Records albums Albums arranged by Paul Weston Blues albums by American artists Albums conducted by Paul Weston {{1950s-album-stub