The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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JOE JEFFREY GROUP
“MY PLEDGE OF LOVE”
(Joseph “JOE JEFFREY, JR.” Stafford Jr.)
Wand 11200
No. 14 July 26, 1969
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UPDATED SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
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Little has been pieced together about Joe Jeffrey and his flash flight into and out of fame. For a period
Joe (b. Joseph Stafford, Jr.) was Buffalo, New York-based and playing the local bar circuit. Someone,
possibly Jerry Meyers at Stone Gold Productions, took a liking to him and booked studio time at Cleveland’s
Audio Recording Studio and, later, at Chip Moman’s American Sound Studio in Memphis. The retro-
sounding “My Pledge of Love” apparently was Joe’s first recording. His group, at hitmaking time was
comprised of Ron Browning (drums), Charles Perry (percussion) and Al Russ (bass); with Joe on vocals
and guitar.
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Following “My Pledge of Love” were seemingly only four more singles–“Dreamin’ Til Then” (1969), “Hey
HeyWoman” (1969), the original take on “My Baby Loves Lovin”‘ (1970) and a Gene McDaniels’ remake “A
Hundred Pounds of Clay”–plus a lone album, My Pledge of Love. Despite glowing liner notes on the latter
supplied by DJ Sandy Beach, who favorably compared Joe’s effort with the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, Joe’s
moment had come and gone by the end of 1969.
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For years thereafter, others have reported that he worked the Cleveland and burb bars as a one-man band
playing his “hit” and the hits of the day. Others have stated that he has since died.