James Wayne "Jim" Stafford (born January 16, 1944, in Eloise, Florida) is an American comedian, musician, and singer-songwriter, prominent in the 1970s. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ and harmonica.
Stafford was born in Winter Haven, Florida. In high school, he played in a band along with friends Bobby Braddock, Kent LaVoie (aka Lobo (musician)) and Gram Parsons (of the Byrds).
Stafford first charted in 1974 with “The Swamp Witch," followed by a gold single, “Spiders and Snakes”, which peaked at #3 on the American pop charts, and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks. Other hits included “My Girl Bill” (#12), and “Wildwood Weed” (#7).
The Jim Stafford Show appeared on ABC in 1975. He appeared as well 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, and also hosted 56 episodes of “Nashville on the Road” In 1987 and 1988, he performed regularly and served as head writer/producer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Stafford contributed to several movie soundtracks, including "The Fox and The Hound" and Any Which Way You Can, in which Stafford appeared. His work has been covered by George Jones and Jerry Reed. His second classical guitar album, “Somewhere In Time” appeared in March 2002.
Stafford has operated and performed at The Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson, Missouri since the 1990s. His children accompany him on stage.
Stafford hosted, co-wrote, and produced a nationally syndicated radio show, "Branson USA"; his play Glans Dialogues premiered on the Springfield Little Theatre stage and ran for a season in Branson.
In the late 1970s, Stafford was married briefly to singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry. Stafford and his present wife/business partner Ann have two children, and live outside of Branson, on Table Rock Lake.
