James Wayne Stafford is an American comedian, musician, and singer-songwriter. While prominent in the 1970s for his recordings "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's first charthit 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 number three on the BillboardHot 100, selling over two million copies, earning a gold disc by the RIAA that month. Stafford continued to have moderate chart success through most of 1975.
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 has operated and performed at the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson, Missouri, since 1990. His children, Sheaffer and GG, accompany him on stage. Stafford also currently tours during the winters. Jim is performing Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:30 pm at The Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson.
During the wrap party for a late-'80s variety special held at Stafford's home, the entertainer allegedly sexually assaulted one of his writers, Nell Scovell, by compelling her to perform oral sex. Scovell then lost her job as the show went into a second season. Scovell made the accusation in her memoir and a 2019 Vanity Fair article. Stafford was asked to speak to the allegation in March 2018, but did not respond.
Personal life
In the late 1970s, Stafford was married briefly to singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry, and they have a son, Tyler Gentry Stafford. Stafford was also married to Ann Britt Stafford for 24 years. She co-owned the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson until December 2013.
