Terry Stafford - Songs

ABOUT

Terry Stafford (November 22, 1941 - March 17, 1996) was a pop, rock and country singer and songwriter with an Elvis Presley sound-alike singing voice who became famous during the early 1960s. Born in Hollis, Oklahoma and raised in Amarillo, Texas, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music after graduating high school in 1960. With Bob Summers, the brother-in-law of Les Paul, Terry put together a demo of what would become his first chart hit and signature song, "Suspicion," a Doc Pomus/Mort Shuman-penned ballad first recorded in 1962 by Presley on his album, "Pot Luck." A local DJ took the demo to Crusader Records, and it became the second song to be released nationally by the newly-formed record label.

Stafford's fame soared in early 1964 when "Suspicion" became a huge hit at the height of Beatlemania, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. This smash, which soon after went gold, was followed later that year by "I'll Touch A Star," which made the Top 40. His last entry on the Pop/Rock charts came in late 1964 with "Follow The Rainbow," which was a minor hit.

In late 1973, Stafford re-emerged on the Country charts with "Amarillo By Morning" (b/w "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose"), a song he co-wrote with Paul Fraser, which became the first in a string of hits through 1989. This extensively covered song, which later became a top hit for George Strait, was named by CMT as the #12 country song of all-time and is often played at rodeos. Other Terry Stafford-penned songs included "Big In Dallas," which Buck Owens rewrote and made into a hit in 1969 (as "Big In Vegas").

MERCHANDISE

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SONGS

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Terry Stafford

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