From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Nov 22, 2002  6:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Terry Stafford

TERRY STAFFORD

Born Terry LaVerne Stafford, 22 November 1941, Hollis, Oklahoma
Died 17 March 1996, Amarillo, Texas

This tall, local sports champion was a fan of Elvis Presley and Buddy
Holly, artists into whose repertoires he would dip when singing with his
school group. He moved from Amarillo, where he was raised, to California
in 1960 and began a showbusiness career in Hollywood where, after two
years as a nightclub entertainer, he was spotted by John Fisher and Les
Worden who had just founded Crusader Records. His voice resembled
Elvis Presley's and his first record, "Suspicion", had originally been
recorded by Elvis on his "Pot Luck" album. Issued in February 1964, it
scrambled to # 3 in the US, despite the onset of Beatlemania. After this,
he had another Top 40 hit with "I'll Touch a Star" which reached # 23 in
the summer of 1964, but further hits proved harder to come by.
He appeared in two films, "Dr. Goldfoot And The Girl Bombs" (1966) and
"Wild Wheels". In the late '60s, Stafford turned to professional songwriting
and he continued writing songs into the '80s. In 1971 he signed with MGM,
but this did not improve his fortunes. A move to Atlantic in 1973 brought
him a few minor country hits, among them the original version of "Amarillo
By Morning", later a # 4 country hit for George Strait (1983). Another well
known country song that Terry wrote is "Big in Vegas", a # 5 hit for Buck
Owens in 1969.

(There will be no BTBWY tomorrow, nor on the 25th)