Customer Reviews

Jaye P. Morgan Story: Her Greatest Hits

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a mid-period Boomer long interested in the pop music that was charting prior to my arrival, I was amazed and delighted to discover through this excellent CD that Jaye P. Morgan was one of the very best popular singers of the 1950s! Having only heard a couple of her RCA novelty sides, I was not prepared for the elegant, beautifully-assured, and classy ballad performances contained herein, of which "The Longest Walk" might be the best. In fact, this side may be the quintessential 1950s pop ballad. No serious fan of 1950s popular vocalizing can be without this CD. The technical aspects are near-perfect, and the price is right. Grab it, quickly and greedily!

This CD is Jaye P. Morgan in her prime and at her very best. It includes all of her RCA hits and her three Derby hit recordings circa 1953. The quality is outstanding! The liner notes include comments from Jaye P. This is truly a pleasurable trip down memory lane.

Those of us lucky enough to remember the Jaye P. of the mid-to-late 50s revel in these finds. I used to scout record collector conventions just trying to find old 45s of "Danger, Heartbreak Ahead." It took me years. But it was worth it. Then (sigh) they came out with it all nice and clean on CD. If you collect music, not just records, you'll love this collection. "Longest Walk" is also one of my favorites. Yes, America -- Jaye P. Morgan did a helluva lot more than appear on the Gong Show...a clear, bouncy phrasing that is impeccable.

Jaye P. Morgan may be better known now for her work on numerous TV game shows than her singing. But as I write this, the cheapest used copy of this out-of-print CD is listed at just under $30, which suggests that those who do know her singing value it highly. Of the few CDs of her recordings, this is the best, I think, with all of her charted singles from the beginning through her years at RCA, that is, her hits, big and small, from 1953-56. There is also a nice RCA-only compilation with several additional cuts, but it lacks her three early hits from the Derby label (the first three on this CD), which are some of her very best.

Morgan had a finely modulated, nimble, ringing, swinging voice. She was typically put in front of a band with strings and horns, and often a chorus, singing pop tunes aimed at all ages, including the young folks just starting to rock. She makes it all sound easy and natural. In sad ballads, she has just the edge of a tear in her delivery, calling to mind Patsy Cline. In "Life Is a Bowl of Cherries" she has just the ironic wink needed, despite being only 21. In the upbeat numbers she's just having fun, and so do we. She cuts loose on "Pepper-Hot Baby," throwing in a growl and tossing off the rapid-fire lyric effortlessly. Every song on here, including some duets with Perry Como and Eddy Arnold, is top notch.

The sound is mono but is remarkably good overall, with only a little congestion and a bit of break-up in a couple spots. The voice generally comes through especially well.

The helpful CD booklet gives a brief bio, notes on the songs, and clears up how Mary Margaret Morgan came to be known as "Jaye P." It wasn't, as Wikipedia and many other sources say, that she was class treasurer at her high school and got nicknamed after the famous financier (though her old school repeats that story on their website too). Her name was too close to another singer's, so band leader Frank De Vol, who had just hired her, and with whom she got her first hits, suggested the change, and even came up with the treasurer story to use for publicity. Seems to have worked. (Morgan's official website confirms that De Vol was behind the new name.)

We can hope that BMG and others who hold the rights to Morgan's recordings will take notice of the high prices being paid for the limited fare presently available and will issue a boxed set with everything, or at least the years that included her hits. For now, though, if you have a chance to get this CD at a decent price, don't pass it up.

As the liner notes suggest, Jaye P. Morgan may be remembered more these days for her '70s GONG SHOW antics more than her '50s YOUR HIT PARADE type numbers. Well, that's something--at least a footnote in pop culture history. Question is does she deserve more. And you know it's hard to say. Listening to this collection dating back to the 1953 on, you gotta know that they are very much of their era. And frankly, it wasn't the best era for pop singers, not really. Much too much pop pap and a surfeit of novelty numbers that may have been catchy and amusing at the time, but nothing to build a lasting reputation on.

I remember one or two of these novelty tunes from my childhood. I doubt that I understood what a "Mutual Admiration Society" was, but even then I understood that the song was just a goof. Silly fun, suitable for 1950s TV variety shows, but you listen to stuff now with a sigh and a shrug. Why did reasonably talented people churn out such pap? Was it just post-War/Cold War escapism.

At least the (much earlier penned) "Life Is Just A Bowl Cherries" has a "philosophical" bent of sorts. Similarly, her distaff version of "Just A Gigolo" is an intelligent enough reading of noteworthy, memorable old(er) chestnut. But so many other selections here are eminently forgettable YOUR HIT PARADE fodder. Interestingly, there are echoes here and there of the earlier Big Band shound and occasional hints ("Pepper Hot Baby") of the rock'n'roll revolution to come.

Some other highlights include a version of "Two Lost Souls" with the King of Casual, Perry Como (also on another, cutesier novelty mambo number, "Chee Chee-oo Chee"). I don't know if her relatively understated version of "Swanee" will make people forget Judy or Al's, but it has a certain straightforward charm.

Jaye P.'s overall delivery is described in Joseph Laredo's liner notes as "intriguingly husky" and "powerful." These are relative terms, of course. She's louder and brassier than many of contemporaries, but hardly a belter. Still her relative sass plays oft Como's coolness rather nicely--as it also the case with her duet on the aforementioned "Admiration Society" with classic country crooner Eddy Arnold.

Jaye P. Morgan WAS a talented vocalist, after all, and not just a perennial game show diva. Still the bland pop and all those novelty tunes get wearying after a while. I remember what Billie Holiday once said once about novelty numbers, "I could never sing 'Doggie In the Window.' Never." Nope, you can't imagine that--and while that was a Patti Page number, you could say that the thought of the great Lady Day tackling such frivolity as as "Sweet Lips" or "Johnny Casanova" or any number of the other bits of silliness included here.

Another reviewer suggested that Morgan DID get a chance to dig a little deeper on some of her album sides. Wouldn't mind hearing them. But like many other talented pop singers of her day--at least Doris Day had her Big Band recordings to salvage her rep--she was definitely not well served by her Top 40 hits.

Thanks for a speedy and excellent transaction! Could not be happier with the service or the product!!

Jaye P. Morgan, like Mindy Carson, was one of the most entertaining singers of the 1950s who did not become a superstar. This CD contains her biggest hits. It also contains two duets with Perry Como, most notably "Two Lost Souls" and "Chee Chee-Oo Chee," a novelty song. I have not seen these duets listed in any Como collection. For this reason alone, it should be of special interest to Como's fans.

When Jaye P. Morgan signed to RCA she was placed with the label's premiere arranger and conductor, the formidable Hugo Winterhalter. Eddie Fisher has commented that no one remembers his vocals because Winterhalter's arrangements were so magnificent. Of course, everyone remembers Eddie's beautiful and intelligent vocals but he benefitted immeasurably from recording with Winterhalter. Those horns! Those strings! RCA knew just how to record Jaye P. and her one-two-three punch of "That's All I Want From You," "Danger, Heartbreak Ahead" and "The Longest Walk" have never been forgotten. Both she and Giselle MacKenzie had hits for RCA with "Pepper Hot Baby" but the records are quite different (Giselle was released on the X label, which became the Vik label). Jaye P.'s RCA albums are outstanding. She later recorded for M-G-M, this all before she became known as a television personality as on "The Gong Show."

I started looking for Jaye P. Morgan when the song, "A Sunday Kind Of Love", suddenly came to mind as I was driving the other day. It has always been my favorite Jaye P. Morgan song from when I first heard her sing it back in the 50's and I can't understand why it isn't on any of the listings here. If anyody knows where I can find a CD or casette with Sunday Kind Of Love on it, please let me know.Carnes32 @AOL.com.

Another talentless hack like Patti Page and Teresa Brewer, a middle of the road pop singer... if you want to hear a good vocalist from the 50's try June Christy or Chris Connor, but for gosh sakes stay away from Jaye P Morgan.