Album Review:
The Old Rugged Cross
- Release Date: 2001
- Genre: Vocal Music
- Label: Music for Pleasure
- Artist: Jo Stafford
- Flags: Compilation (best of)
- Type: Compilation
- Rating:
- Styles: Vocal Jazz, Spirituals, Inspirational
- Track Picks: "Abide with Me," "It Is No Secret," "You'll Never Walk Alone"
Review
The EMI Gold issue The Old Rugged Cross collects the original LPs Whispering Hope and Peace in the Valley, a pair of spiritual sets recorded during 1962-1963 by Jo Stafford and Gordon McCrae. McCrae's tenor blends well with Stafford, and the material reflects a good range of selections: "You'll Never Walk Alone," "It Is No Secret," "Abide with Me," and "Now the Day Is Over" (with a violin solo by Mischa Russell). The arrangements, however, are tame and uninventive; beautiful and inspiring, but never quite artistic. ~ John Bush, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | iTunes | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Whispering Hope |  |
Alice Hawthorne | Jo Stafford, |
(3:32) |
| Abide with Me | Thelonious Monk, Henry Francis Lyte | Jo Stafford, |
(2:41) | |
| In the Garden | C. Austin Miles | Jo Stafford, |
(2:16) | |
| Beyond the Sunset | Blanche Brock, Virgil Brock | Jo Stafford, |
(2:51) | |
| Beautiful Isle of Somewhere | Paul Weston, J.S. Fearis, Jessie Pounds | Jo Stafford, |
(3:00) | |
| It Is No Secret | Stuart Hamblen | Jo Stafford, |
(3:08) | |
| I Found a Friend | Rance Allen | Jo Stafford, |
(3:08) | |
| The Old Rugged Cross | Traditional | Jo Stafford, |
(2:29) | |
| Rock of Ages | Jo Stafford, |
(1:59) | ||
| Star of Hope | Jo Stafford, |
(2:55) | ||
| Now the Day Is Over | Jo Stafford, |
(2:18) | ||
| A Perfect Day | Jo Stafford, |
(3:09) | ||
| He Bought My Soul at Calvary | Stuart Hamblen | Jo Stafford, |
(3:01) | |
| Somebody Bigger Than You and I | Sonny Burke, Hy Heath, John Lange | Jo Stafford, |
(3:06) | |
| All Through the Night | Paul Weston, Traditional | Jo Stafford, |
(2:47) | |
| I May Never Pass This Way Again | Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey | Jo Stafford, |
(2:34) | |
| You'll Never Walk Alone | Jo Stafford, |
(1:50) | ||
| Nearer, My God, to Thee | Traditional | Jo Stafford, |
(2:36) | |
| The Lord Is My Shepherd | Hoagy Carmichael, Traditional | Jo Stafford, |
(2:48) | |
| Peace in the Valley | Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey | Jo Stafford, |
(3:11) |
