caption active nationality notable_work genre image article_title name medium
paul darlene edwards in 1958 weston and jo stafford performing as jonathan and 1957 -- 1982 american '' jonathan and darlene edwards in paris '' musical comedy , outsider music jonathan and darlene edwards 1958.jpg jonathan and darlene edwards
 jonathan and darlene edwards music , television ,
jonathan and darlene edwards

jonathan and darlene edwards were a musical comedy double act developed by american conductor and arranger paul weston , and his wife , singer jo stafford .
the routine was conceived in the 1950s , and involved weston playing songs on the piano in unconventional rhythms , while stafford sang off-key in a high pitched voice .
the couple released five albums and one single as the edwardses , and their 1960 album , `` jonathan and darlene edwards in paris '' won that year 's grammy award for best comedy album .
weston first assumed the role of a bad lounge pianist in the mid-1950s , as a way of entertaining guests at hollywood parties , but was urged to record an album of songs in the unconventional style after giving an impromptu performance in 1956 .
at the time , he was working for columbia records , and after hearing weston 's rendition of `` stardust '' at a sales convention in key west , florida , columbia executives george avakian and irving townsend encouraged him to record an album of similar tracks .
avakian named weston 's character jonathan edwards after the 18th century calvinist preacher of the same name and asked him to record under that alias , but fearing he would not have enough material to record a full album , weston asked his wife to join the project .
stafford , a classically trained singer with the ability to sing both in and out of tune , readily agreed , and named her character darlene edwards .
their first album , `` the piano artistry of jonathan edwards '' was released in 1957 , but weston and stafford did not admit to being behind the act until `` time '' magazine identified them in an article in september 1957 .
the jonathan and darlene edwards act won the couple many fans , including some among their show business peers such as the pianist george shearing , but their 1979 cover of the bee gees ' `` stayin ' alive '' was disliked by the band .
their final album , `` darlene remembers duke , jonathan plays fats '' was released in 1982 .
