Flying at Half-Stafford
Jo Stafford was a popular and accomplished singer in the 1940-50s, though her career extended into the '60s and even, to a degree, beyond that. Her husband Paul Weston had a very good career, as well, as a talented pianist, composer and conductor. Perhaps his most successful song was "I Should Care" that was recorded by Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie and a great many others -- including Amy Winehouse.
But as long and respected as their music careers were, they both are probably best remembered for a series of novelty albums they recorded together that didn't even use their real names, but rather identified the performers as "Jonathan and Darlene Edwards." For those albums, she sang wildly off-key (an impressive trick for a singer with such great pitch), while he played over-flowery arrangements, often missing a note here and there. Eventually, the joke was uncovered, and they were revealed as the woeful artists, though that didn't affect the albums' popularity.
This will be a multi-part series of posts to do it all justice. And I think it's best to start with hearing (and seeing) what a terrific singer Jo Stafford actually was. This is a wonderful and very clever medley about love and romance that she performed om 1961 with Ella Fitzgerald (which by that alone should give you an idea of how in high regard she was held). It comes from a brief TV show she had in England, though it was more like a series of specials. Earlier, she had a series on American television.
So before we dive down into the off-key world of Jonathan and Darlene -- along with a fun TV appearance on The Jack Benny Program -- here is Jo Stafford showing what she can actually do, along with Ella Fitzgerald.
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