Jo Stafford

In 1950 Jo Stafford hosted a program on the Voice of America called " How you as an individual can help build a better world". It was the first time I heard her voice. I was in Junior High and wrote to her and after 3 weeks received an album with her recordings. I enjoy very much listening to her most beautiful voice, no other vocalist ever could match.

The first "Jonathan and Darlene Edwards" LP was iconic in our musically-inclined house when I grew up. My Dad - a fine tenor player himself - thought it was about the funniest thing he had ever heard and played it for me and the other more musical siblings many times over the years (and this was a good 20-30 years after the LP's release). Dad is gone now but one of my brothers got out the record about a year ago and we had a reunion. I fully agree that they were "so good at music, they could be bad for the fun of it." Intentionally playing/singing badly, especially in such a clever way, is yet another lost art. RIP

Every Friday night, I produce and host live my show MOSTLY BIG BANDS...on 90.3 FM, KEDM, Monroe, Louisiana.

My two-hour show on Friday was "Remembering Jo Stafford." Of course, I had to play some Jonathan &Darlene cuts. Anyone who'd like a copy of my play list, feel free to e-mail me. I list titles, artist and album #. Corinthian is Stafford's personal label. The J&D material and other albums are still available.

There is a wonderful web site devoted to Jo and Paul.
http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/westonstafford/

Doug:

In the early 1960s, I was music director for WCCC AM&FM in Hartford, Connecticut. As such, I had to audition all new recordings that arrived at the stations for possible airplay. One day, an album from (I believe) RCA Victor arrived touting the talents of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, a sensational new lounge act popular in Europe. I put the disc on the turntable and started reading the liner notes as the music began. At first, I didn't notice it... the flat note here, the sharp there... the dropped measure and slightly screwy harmonies. But they penetrated my consciousness and I thought, "What the hell...?". And then I realized it was a joke, a wonderful, sophisticated joke by a pair of people who were so good at music, they could be bad for the fun of it.

Of course, the truth emerged after awhile - it was Jo Stafford and Paul Weston. They went on to win a comedy Grammy for a subsequent album. I don't think Jonathan and Darlene were their greatest accomplishment, but it's a monument to two people who were comfortable with their own talents and had a remarkable sense of humor.

And, for what it's worth, my favorite Stafford song was "You Belong to Me"....as smooth and tasty as Breyer's French Vanilla.

John Birchard

(The original Greatest Hits of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards is out of print, but volume II is still available at:http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Darlenes-Greatest-Hits-II/dp/B0000010KD . Mr. Birchard is the Rifftides Washington, DC, correspondent -- DR)