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Jonathan Edwards (Paul Weston)
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Paul Wetstein
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Mar 12 1912 – Sep 20 1996 age 83
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Official Site
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Darlene Edwards (Jo Stafford)
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Jo Elizabeth Stafford
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Nov 12 1917 – Jul 16 2008 age 90
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Through the 1940s and the 1950s, Jo Stafford was best known for her
rich, warm voice and her laid back, easy, even wistful delivery of jazz
standards and big band classics. Stafford was one of a very few jazz
vocalists who had classical vocal training, and one of an even smaller
number who had “perfect pitch”—the rare ability to identify or find any
note without help from an instrument. Yet in the late 1950s, Stafford
and her husband, arranger and pianist Paul Weston, recorded a series of albums that were intentionally and deliberately downright awful.
In 1957, Stafford and Weston recorded an album entitled, “Jo Stafford and Paul Weston Present: The Original Piano Artistry of Jonathan Edwards, Vocals by Darlene Edwards.”
Stafford and Weston claimed that the Edwards were a New Jersey lounge
act that they discovered. Vocalist “Darlene” was consistently at least
one-quarter step out of tune; pianist “Jonathan” couldn’t keep time. The
album was such a success that they followed up with an album of standards
featuring the same level of (non) artistry. This second album was a
huge commercial success. In 1961, the “Edwards” recorded a third album, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris,
which won a Grammy Award—for best comedy album! Incidentally, it
appears that it was some time (presumably between their first and second
album) that Weston and Stafford actually owned up to being “Jonathan”
and “Darlene.”
So how does this relate to innovation? Jo Stafford and Paul Weston
weren’t afraid of failure. They had spent time and money in the studio
recording their album. They had in fact done the Jonathan and Darlene
act to entertain close friends at small parties, so they took a
calculated risk. Second, they did something “bad” very well. As a
musician, I can tell that it takes tremendous skill—and nerve—to perform
consistently badly in a way that is consistently funny.
Ultimately, Stafford and Weston did something that had never been
done before: musical parody based on performance. Before “Jonathan and
Darlene Edwards” there was Florence Foster Jenkins,
an operatic wannabe who sang recitals dressed in angel’s wings. But
Jenkins took herself very seriously and thought she was a great singer.
Stafford and Weston combined skill, art, and took a calculated risk that
has kept and will keep thousands entertained for years.
— Excerpt Joel Kleinbaum
01 It Might As Well Be Spring
02 Poor Butterfly
03 Autumn In New York
04 Nola
05 Stardust
06 It's Magic
07 Sunday, Monday Or Always
08 Jealousy
09 Cocktails For Two
10 Dizzy Fingers
11 Three Coins In The Fountain
12 You're Blase
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Corinthian Cor-104
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Musical Parody
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Thanks furrball!
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Jonathan Edwards (Paul Weston)
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Paul Wetstein
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Mar 12 1912 – Sep 20 1996 age 83
|
Official Site
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Darlene Edwards (Jo Stafford)
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Jo Elizabeth Stafford
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Nov 12 1917 – Jul 16 2008 age 90
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Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris is a 1960 comedy album recorded by American singer Jo Stafford and her husband, pianist and bandleader Paul Weston. In character as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, the pair put their own interpretation on popular songs including "I Love Paris" and "Paris in the Spring." The album followed a successful comedy act the couple would perform at parties during the 1950s, in which Weston would play an out of tune piano while Stafford would accompany him by singing in an off-key and high pitched voice. A joint winner of the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, the album garnered Stafford her only major award for her singing.
The concept of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards has its roots in an event which occurred at a Columbia Records sales convention where, in order to fill time, Weston put on an impression of a dreadful lounge pianist. His audience responded very positively, and continued to ask for more even after the convention was over. Throughout the 1950s, Stafford and Weston developed the act to entertain guests at parties. The couple would pretend to be a bad lounge act. Stafford would sing off-key in a high pitched voice, while Weston would play an untuned piano off key and with bizarre rhythms. Weston's pseudonym, the name of the Calvinist preacher, was chosen by George Avakian, an executive for Columbia Records, who wanted Weston to record his musical misadventures under that name. The more thought Weston gave to the request, the more unsure he was that he could fill an entire album as Jonathan Edwards alone. He enlisted Stafford, who became Jonathan's wife, Darlene, and the off-key vocalist of the duo.
Stafford made her first recording as Darlene Edwards in 1957 after finding herself with some spare time after a recording session, and those who heard bootlegs of this track gave it a positive reception. Stafford and Weston subsequently recorded an entire album of songs as the Edwardses later that year, entitling it Jo Stafford and Paul Weston Present: The Original Piano Artistry of Jonathan Edwards, Vocals by Darlene Edwards. By way of a publicity stunt, the Westons claimed they had no personal connection to Jonathan and Darlene and that they were a Trenton, New Jersey lounge act whom they had discovered and who happened to live with them. This led to much speculation throughout the United States as people tried to identify the act, with Time Magazine reporting that Margaret and Harry Truman were strong contenders, before identifying the couple in the article. The 1957 album was followed by an album of "pop standards" on which the pair put their own interpretation on popular songs. It proved to be a commercial and critical success, becoming the first commercially successful musical parody album. The Westons brought the Edwardses to television in 1958 for a Jack Benny Shower of Stars, and to The Garry Moore Show in 1960.
Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris was recorded in 1960, and won an award for that year's Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album. The album "tied" with Bob Newhart's "Spoken Word Comedy" because the Grammys took the unusual decision to issue two comedy awards for 1960. The 1961 award for Best Comedy Album was the only Grammy Stafford ever won. Source: Wikipedia
01 I Love Paris
02 Valentine
03 Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
04 La Vie En Rose
05 The River Seine
06 April In Paris
07 The Poor People Of Paris
08 The Last Time I Saw Paris
09 Autumn Leaves
10 Paris In The Spring
11 Madamoiselle De Paree
12 Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup
