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Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits

Jonathan & Darlene Edwards - Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits Audio CD

A fair review of the Jonathan & Darlene Edwards "Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jonathan & Darlene Edwards reviews here, or go back to the Jonathan & Darlene Edwards tabs.

Band: Jonathan & Darlene Edwards
Title: Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits
Rating:

Release Date: 1993-09-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I Love Paris 2: Dizzy Fingers 3: Take the "A" Train 4: You're Blase 5: Alabamy Bound 6: Nola 7: I Am Woman 8: Don't Get Around Much Anymore 9: Last Time I Saw Paris 10: Honeysuckle Rose 11: Autumn in New York 12: Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee 13: April in Paris 14: Stayin' Alive

WEIRD AND WONDERFUL!
Paul Weston and his wife,
Jo Stafford, two VERY distinguished musicians, created alter ego personalities. You probably already know this story. They called themselves Jonathan & Darlene Edwards
and recorded a series of collections of standards, all of them just
awful enough to make you cringe! Intentional fluctuations of rhythm,
deliberately flat notes -- whole phrases! -- and just plain tasteless
arrangements. . . It will leave you laughing hysterically or seeking
help from a psychotherapist.

An alltime best!
They've been my secret passion, better than chocolate, ever since--for well over 40 years. When I was little, I "discovered" the original J&DE LPs. I've even used some of the songs' "mixed meters" as graduate-level metric dictation in my music theory ear-training teaching! I've shared them with very best friends, as a show of closeness in our relationship.

Buy all of these you can get hold of. They'll change your life!

Warning: The sounds themselves are difficult for highly sensitive musical ears to hear. A suggestion: First describe the cd's humor and get a commitment to listen from The Ears. They'll then enjoy the humor in the midst of aural madness.
.

Unique Singer, Unmatched Piano Artistry
Accompanied by husband Jonathan on piano, Darlene is unafraid to give the Great American Songbook standards her very unusual interpretations -- ones not found by any other performer, living or dead. I was introduced to Darlene Edwards some years ago, and am pleased that some of her best songs are now available on CD. Darlene and Jonathan attack each number with a raw ferocity that is refreshing in today's world of rhythmic, soundalike tunes. Once you hear this fascinating duo, you will never forget them. Hearing Darlene warble "I Love Paris" is like reliving that tragic romantic break-up, listening to Jonathan play "Dizzy Fingers" with total abandon shows how a true musician is not bound by the restrictions of the song sheet, and experiencing "Stayin' Alive" clearly shows what the definitive version of this tune should be. Bee Gees, be damned.
I love Darlene and Jonathan Edwards. They are dear to my heart, and they will always grace my dinner parties and holiday get togethers. They are practically part of the family.

A Heavenly Musical Marriage Out of Hell

From her days with Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers through her long association with Johnny Mercer and Capitol records, Stafford sang much quality material from the Great American Songbook, but she also recorded a lot of pop ephemera (Jumbalaya, Shrimp Boats) and sentimental schmaltz (Serenade of the Bells). It took a few years, but finally the secret was publicly out: Darlene Edwards was not Margaret Truman, as many had guessed, but none other than the vocalist with the serene and silky, solid and reassuring voice on so many top-ten recordings of the '40s and '50s ("You Belong to Me" being her most remembered): Jo Stafford, accompanied by her husband (not Jonathan Edwards but Paul Weston). If redemption were in order, the present recording certainly provides it. It's good to know that all along she had a sense of humor about the whole business.

As early as 1947 Stafford showed her light side with a hillbilly version of the exotic scorcher "Temptation," which she called "Timtayshun. " (Especially hilarious if you know the original. I once played Hammond organ in Boston's combat zone for a humorless and bossy, featured exotic artist who insisted on the same 4 numbers: "Shangri-La" (the arouser), "Harlem Nocturne" (the seducer), "Misirlou" (the exciter), and finally the overpowering climax: "Temptation"--"you came, I was alone, you were my own, it was thrilling, I was willing. " Wish I'd had the guts to do a Jo Stafford variation on the tune).

But her three albums (recorded in the 50s, 60s, and 70s) under the alias Darlene Edwards rank among the greatest musical send-ups of all time (slightly ahead even of Florence Foster Jenkins and Mrs. Miller). This compilation is a good representation of songs from all three albums--from "Take the 'A' Train" (I wonder what Duke and Billy Strayhorn thought at the time) to her hilarious take on the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive. " Sandwiched in between are a couple of songs about Paris that all but permanently puncture the romantic mythos surrounding the city.

Musicians will undoubtedly find this collection funnier--and paradoxically impressive (try singing the melody a half step above or below the piano's pitch!)--than non-musicians. But anyone who's attended amateur recitals or performances that didn't go as planned should get sufficient chuckles out of the recording to make it a worthwhile pick-up. As painfully funny as these performances are, it's "earned" humor. Rarely do the performers resort to slapstick and over-the-top gags (P. D. Q. Bach I find decidedly unfunny for this reason). With humor, less is more, and understatement serves both of the Edwardses especially well.

Time will tell, but for some of us this musical parody could indeed turn out to be Jo Stafford's most memorable legacy (though her exquisite reading of the underrated, sublime "Haunted Heart" certainly deserves enshrinement), out-lasting even those Egyptian pyramids she sings about in "You Belong to Me. " (Romantic love, as many discover, is not nearly as eternal as well-conceived and deftly-executed satiric humor. ).

BE My LIT-tle BA-by BUM-ble-bee...
JaDEheads know the first lp offers treasures not here; at one point when the men's chorus sings "has anybody seen my gal?" darlene replies with the priceless "has anybody seen their gal?". JaDE's first album, my preference, is part of why i love things intelligently absurd and generally uncalled-for. amazon reviewers use terms like "wrong note" and "bad rhythm", but it's the polish that makes the illusion work. what seems like a feeble accident is jo and paul's exact choice even in their shining adlibs. you enjoy the contradiction. plus the willingness of the chorus to soldier through just adds extra charm. you can learn a lot about rightness when you revel in the right kind of wrongness.

You can see a complete list of all Jonathan & Darlene Edwards discography, or go back to the Jonathan & Darlene Edwards tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.