Jim Stafford, Winter Haven's favorite son, was back in town last weekend. This time the welcome-home party was at The Coach Light on Havendale Boulevard. .It was their grand opening and Stafford kicked things off in style.
At the press party Friday afternoon Stafford talked about some career changes. He has just moved from Los Angeles to Nashville and bought a house on 18th Avenue, two short blocks from "the boys who make the noise on 16th Avenue." He has a new single out, "What Your Mama Don't Know," that is moving up the charts, and he's recording a new album - his first since 1976 - that should be out early next year. As yet untitled, be says the album will have "all uptempo fun songs, a legitimate country and, western album."
Stafford likes Nashville because "it's almost like a summer camp." He is writing more and is serious about getting into TV production. He sees Nashville as the home of "heartland TV" or what he calls "programming for the folks." The first day in Nashville he says he was offered three TV shows. "They like me -'cause I'm a talker," he said.
Anyone who doesn't know that Jim Stafford is a " "talker" has never seen him perform., Friday night he was talkin' with the best of 'em. Nothing is sacred when Stafford's on the loose; he's not afraid to fire at any thing: "Cats are like Baptists. They raise hell but you just can't catch 'em at it."
Stafford is a rarity 'in show business. His music took him to the top in the early '70s. But, like his idols Spike Jones and Victor Borge, he would be entertaining and successful without his music.
The packed house got a good taste of both his music and humor Friday night, as Stafford reeled off all his hits starting with "Spiders and Snakes." Others like "Wildwood Weed," "My Girl, Bill," "Cow Patti," and "Swamp Witch" were scattered evenly throughout the set. People kept sending notes to him and he graciously read and responded to each one, giving him a few good comic set-ups. One of the first drew the response, "Gee, I've never tried THAT before. I don't know if I can get a trapeeze at this time of night." He even had a request to do Mac Davis' "Hard To Be Humble." "In Mac's case," Stafford replied, "it's almost impossible." He proceeded to do as much as he knew of it.
Home turf seems to bring out the best in Stafford. There was a looseness and spontaneity Friday night that you couldn't imagine finding in his shows in places like Las Vegas. "I'm more nervous here, though, than anywhere," he said between shows. "They're all my friends out there, people who have seen me for years." You get the feeling he could say anything and get away with it. Some of his better lines had a local flavor: "Epcot! What's that?" he asked. "Sounds like a disease or some place where you buy furniture. Is it near Fedhaven?"
He also paid his respects to some local talent. Song-writer Carl Chambers - whom Stafford says is Nashville's new "fair-haired boy" - wrote Alabama's - latest smash single, "Close Enough To Perfect" and has several more songs ready to be recorded, And Stafford is including a Bobby Braddock tune, a little ditty called "It Took Earnest Angley To Get Me Over You" in his new album. Braddock, who also wrote "He Stopped Loving Her Today" for George Jones, is an Auburndale native. He was recently inducted into The Country Music Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
With "Greensleeves" and the set-ending "Flight of the Bumblebee /Classical Gas" combination, Stafford showed his prowess on the guitar. The house band at The Coach Light, The Fourth Arrangement, did a very' creditable job backing Stafford, who called them- "the earn-as-you-learn band" because they had worked up the arran gements from a tape Stafford had sent them. They didn't even have the benefit of a rehearsal.
Now that he is living a lot closer to home, Stafford plans to play the area more often. If you've never caught him live, it's about time you do.