First is an EP recorded in October 1954 and issued in late 1955. The first two songs ("Each Step of the Way" and "Lord, Keep Your Hand on Me") were written by Redd Harper for evangelist Billy Graham's first film, Mr. Texas, released in 1951. "The Lord Is My Shepherd" is a Ralph Carmichael song, and "It is Springtime" is from Ted Silva.
Stafford never sounded more at home than when singing gospel music, and this is quite a good record in excellent sound.
Despite recording these evangelical songs, both Stafford and her husband Paul Weston were Catholics. In the early 1960s they began a company called Corinthian Records, which began by issuing Catholic liturgical music. The second LP in the series was "We Sing at Benediction," which was designed to teach Catholics the music and prayers of this service. It was a strange idea - it's not as though Catholics would be unfamiliar with their own liturgy. Much of the album is devoted to a fellow named Joseph Rottura instructing us on how to pronounce the Latin of the prayers and songs. His approach is highly Italianate, with rolled R's and elided H's. This is distinctly not the way I was taught to pronounce Latin through years of instruction in the language, but Rottura is intent on his approach, telling us the proper pronunciation will be more pleasing to God. He must have been surprised two years hence, when the Church tossed out the Latin liturgy altogether.
Of course, the main attraction of the record is hearing Jo Stafford singing several hymns, and she does this quite well. However, unless I am misremembering events of 50 years ago, these hymns would then have been presented by the celebrant and congregation, not by a solo singer. Anyway, they are beautiful to hear as done by Stafford. The tracks where she performs are indicated as "sung". Good mono sound from this 1961 LP.
