Jonathan & Darlene Edwards - Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits
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CD Details
Artist: Jonathan & Darlene EdwardsEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 1993-09-11
Music Label: Corinthian Records
Soundtracks:
- I Love Paris
- Dizzy Fingers
- Take The 'A' Train
- You're Blase
- Alabamy Sound
- Nola
- I Am Woman
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- The Last Time I Saw Paris
- Honeysuckle Rose
- Autumn In New York
- Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee
- April In Paris
- Stayin' Alive
Music reviews of Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits
Music Review: A Heavenly Musical Marriage Out of Hell
Rating: 5 Stars
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).
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). 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.)
Description of Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits
For the average recording artist assembling a Greatest Hits album is a relatively simple procedure - just putting together the ten or twelve most successful recordings the artist has enjoyed in his or her career. In the case of Jonathan and Darlene the selection is certainly far more complicated. Jonathan is of course firmly convinced that every track in their five albums is a real hit, and the process of picking the best fourteen for Volume One has been a difficult and trying one for him. The carefree abandon of their first PIANO ARTISTRY album, the Gallic sophistication of their PARIS album, the magical arrangements and Darlene's innovative sound effects of the SINGALONG, the nostalgic excellence of SONGS FOR SHEIKS AND FLAPPERS, and finally the swinging jazz of the DUKE AND FATS album all make for an extremely tortuous selective process. And then some of their younger fans insisted that their adventures with contemporary music be included. These were made during Jonathan's NOW period, where he brought his remarkable genius into full contact with the popular song of today. Darlene's remarkable effort on STAYIN' ALIVE, which required hospitalization for a few days after the recording session, is a testament to the dedication these artists bring to their work. ENJOY, and be on the lookout for Volume Two!Broadway & Vocalists CDs
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