As they say in Louisiana, “How’s bayou?”

Today I woke up with this song running through my head:

Goodbye, Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh,
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou;
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh,
Son of a gun, we’ll have good fun on the bayou.

Chorus:
Jambalaya, ’n a crawfish pie ’n a filet gumbo,
Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma chere amie-oh,
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou.


It was a popular song way back when in the fifties, and although the performer I remember hearing sing it was Jo Stafford, it was a Hank Williams song.

Jambalaya, for the uninitiated, is a Cajun dish, a version of paella. Perhaps you heard Justin Wilson (“How y’all are!”) talk about it on his PBS cooking show or saw him make it on more than one occasion (“I gar-on-tee!”). Perhaps not. Jambalaya is also, as it turns out, the name of a Canadian racehorse.

If you want to know more about Jambalaya, the song, click here.

If you want to know more about jambalaya, the dish, click here.

If you want to know more about Jambalaya, the racehorse, click here.

If you don’t want to know more about Jambalaya (the song) or jambalaya (the dish) or Jambalaya (the racehorse) or Jo Stafford or Hank Williams or Justin Wilson, you may now return to your colorless life relatively unscathed.

You were expecting maybe Maria Callas?

From the archives: I'm thinking if you liked Anna Russell...

...you’re probably going to love Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, a husband-and-wife team who recorded five albums over the years at the urging of their mentors, the great Paul Weston and Jo Stafford. Jonathan (Paul) plays a mean piano and Darlene (Jo) has never been in better voice. Upon winning a grammy they were astounded to learn it was for comedy, not their musical artistry.

Well, thanks once again to YouTube, here is a real end-of-the-year treat. I give you the incomparable, the often imitated but never duplicated, the unbelievable (have your earplugs handy) Jonathan and Darlene Edwards performing “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue”.

[A slightly different version of this post was first published on December 30, 2007. --RWP]

I'm thinking if you liked Anna Russell...

you're probably going to love Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, a husband-and-wife team who recorded five albums over the years at the urging of their mentors, the great Paul Weston and Jo Stafford. Jonathan (Paul) plays a mean piano and Darlene (Jo) has never been in better voice. Upon winning a grammy they were astounded to learn it was for comedy, not their musical artistry. Well, thanks once again to YouTube, here is a real end-of-the-year treat. I give you the incomparable, the often imitated but never duplicated, the unbelievable (have your earplugs at the ready) Jonathan and Darlene Edwards!