... He died On March 17 1996 of liver failure.
Terry LaVerne Stafford who grew up in Amarillo, Texas, was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 U.S. Top 10 hit, "Suspicion," and the 1973 country music hit, "Amarillo by Morning."
After high school he moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career in music. The song "Suspicion," which was released on the Crusader record label and which had previously been recorded by Elvis Presley, made it to number 3 in the U.S. and number 31 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Suspicion," with a vocal by Stafford that reminded many listeners of Presley, had the unusual distinction of being at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1964 just below The Beatles when they made history by holding down the entire top five. The following week is when Suspicion topped out at #3 with The Beatles holding the other 4 spots of the top 5.
Stafford's recording sold over one million copies. His follow-up, "I’ll Touch a Star" made number 25 in America. Both recordings were produced by Les Paul's (brother-in-law, Bob Summers who played all the instruments on the tracks as well as engineering and recording them. Bob released his own version in the 70's as well as a remake with Ed Greenwald on vocals in 2008.
Stafford continued to record, but had no more hits, although his 1973 composition, "Amarillo by Morning," was later covered by George Strait on Strait's 1982 album Strait from the Heart. The song was named "#12 country song of all-time" by Country Music Television. Another hit for Stafford was "Big in Vegas" recorded by Buck Owens. Big in Vegas was recorded by Terry as Big in Dallas.
Stafford lived most of his life between Los Angeles and Amarillo and died in Amarillo of liver failure.
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