Columbia 40538 (Single)
Also issued on 45 rpm as Columbia 4-40538
Issued 18th July 1955
Ain’t-Cha-Cha Comin’ Out T-Tonight?
with the Starlighters
Matrix No. RHCO 33494 * Recorded 24th June 1955
St. Louis Blues
with the Starlighters
Matrix No. RHCO 33338 * Probably recorded 15th June, 1954 (see Note)
NOTE
St. Louis Blues is one of the very few Jo Stafford recordings from the 1950’s of which the recording date is, officially, unknown. The compilers of CD Box ‘Jo Stafford - 108 Classic Sides from a Great American Hitmaker’ (JSP Records, 2013) state that it was recorded “Early 1955”. And although the Discography Of Historical American Recordings mentions February 28, 1955 as recording date, discographer William Brown (The Columbia Records (U.S.) 35000/40000 series popular singles discography, 1939-1974) lists the recording date as “Unknown”.
Personally, I am convinced that ‘St. Louis Blues’ must have been recorded in 1954 already. Why? Because this same track was issued on a promotional disc for Gold Seal, the manufacturer of Snowy Bleach and Glass Wax (Jim Marshall, who owns both the Columbia single and the promotional disc, assured me that both singles feature the same recording of
‘St. Louis Blues’). And dozens of contemporary newspaper ads prove that the Gold Seal disc could be obtained by buyers of Snowy Bleach, as early as October, 1954. This means ‘St. Louis Blues’ must have been recorded before October, 1954. The Jo Stafford archive (University of Arizona) even tells us when. It lists a ‘St. Louis Blues’ recorded on June 15, 1954, and adds: ‘from the Snowy Bleach/Glass Wax promotional single # 22271’. Columbia Records must have decided to use the track for a Columbia single and give it a Columbia matrix number. Judging from the number (RHCO 33338), this must have happened in February, 1955.