Jaye P. Morgan
Jaye P. Morgan (born Mary Margaret Morgan) is a retired American popular music singer, actress, and game show panelist.
Jaye P. Morgan | |
|---|---|
Morgan in 1968 | |
| Born | Mary Margaret Morgan December 3, 1931 Mancos, Colorado, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Years active | 1951–1984 |
Early life
Morgan was born in Mancos[1][2] in Montezuma County in far southwestern Colorado. Her family moved to California by the time she was in high school. Morgan had six siblings; five brothers and one sister.[1] In the late 1940s, at Verdugo Hills High School in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles, she served as class treasurer (and got the nickname "Jaye P." after the banker J. P. Morgan) and sang at school assemblies, accompanied by her brother on guitar.[1]
Career
In 1950, a year after her graduation from high school, Morgan made a recording of "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" issued by Derby Records, which made it to #26 on the U.S. Billboard record chart. Soon after, she received an RCA Victor recording contract,[3] and she had five hits in one year, including her biggest hit "That's All I Want from You", which reached #3 on the chart.[4] Other notable hits included "There's a Dream in My Heart" by Rolande Maxwell Young, "The Longest Walk" and "Pepper Hot Baby". In 1954, she married Michael Baiano. She joined MGM Records in 1959 after spending the previous six years with RCA Victor.[1]
From 1954 to 1955, Morgan was a vocalist on the ABC television series show Stop the Music. In November 1955, the British music magazine, NME, reported that Morgan was the top female vocalist in the U.S. Cash Box poll.[5] Beginning January 11, 1954, she was a featured singer on the Robert Q. Lewis Show on CBS-TV.[6]
In 1956, she had her own show, The Jaye P. Morgan Show, and made guest appearances on a number of other variety shows.[7] She was a charter member of the Robert Q. Lewis "gang" on Lewis's weekday program on CBS,[1] and was featured on a special episode of The Jackie Gleason Show in which Lewis's entire company substituted for the vacationing Gleason. In 1958, Morgan appeared on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. On October 6, 1960, she guest starred on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
In 1961, Morgan was cast as Sally Dwight in the episode "Money and the Minister" of the CBS anthology series, General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan. In 1962, she played Patty Maxwell in "Patti's Tune" of the CBS military sitcom/drama Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper. That same year, she was cast as Kitty Flanders in "That's Showbiz" on NBC's The Joey Bishop Show. In 1964, Morgan was cast as Ruth Evans in the episode "Sunday Father" of the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour.
She spent considerable time in the 1960s making nightclub appearances. In 1966, she guest starred on CBS's My Three Sons as fading singer Claudia Farrell in the episode "A Falling Star".[8]
In 1973, Morgan played herself in the episode "The Songwriter" of the sitcom, The Odd Couple.[8] She appeared as Magda Valentine in the 1973 film The All-American Boy,
Morgan guest starred on The Muppet Show in 1978, where she sang "That Old Black Magic" as a duet with Dr. Teeth.[8][9]
Morgan had smaller roles in films including Loose Shoes (1980), Night Patrol (1984), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).[8]
Game show panelist
From 1976 to 1978, Morgan was a regular panelist on The Gong Show, on which she achieved notoriety for flashing her breasts.[10] She also appeared on Rhyme and Reason and Match Game and in the 1980 "behind-the-scenes" movie version of The Gong Show. She also appeared on the Playboy Channel game show Everything Goes, and with her former Gong partner Jamie Farr on Hollywood Squares Game Show Week II in 2004.
Morgan appeared as herself in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,[11] a 2003 semi-biographical film about the life of Chuck Barris, creator of The Gong Show as well as television game shows The Dating Game, and The Newlywed Game.[8][12]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Label and Number |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Jaye P. Morgan and Orchestra (10") | Royale 18122 |
| 1954 | Jaye P. Morgan and Orchestra (10") | Royale 18147 |
| 1954 | Jaye P. Morgan and Orchestra (10") | Royale 18162 |
| 1955 | Jaye P. Morgan sings with Frank DeVol’s Orchestra | Allegro Royale 1604 |
| 1956 | Jaye P. Morgan | RCA Victor LPM-1155 |
| 1958 | Just You, Just Me | RCA Victor LPM-1682 |
| 1959 | Slow & Easy | MGM E3774 |
| 1960 | Up North | MGM E3830 |
| 1960 | Down South | MGM E3867 |
| 1961 | That Country Sound | MGM E3940 |
| 1962 | Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries | Tops Mayfair 9739 |
| 1970 | What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life | Beverly Hills BHS-24 |
| 1976 | Jaye P. Morgan | Candor C-1001 |
| 1983 | Lately! | Palace PLP-S6540 |
| 1995 | Jaye P. Morgan & Kaye Ballard – Long Time Friends | AVL-95320 |
Singles
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | US Cashbox | U.S. AC | |||
| 1953 | "Just a Gigolo" b/w "Wasted Tears" | 22 | Jaye P. Morgan (Rondo-Lette label) | ||
| 1954 | "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" b/w "Operator 299" | 26 | 45 | ||
| "Ring Telephone Ring" b/w "Don't Tell Him" | |||||
| "Nobody Met the Train" b/w "Life Was Made for Living" | |||||
| "I Ain't Got the Man" b/w "Baby Don't Do It" | |||||
| "That's All I Want from You" b/w "Dawn" | 3 | 6 | Non-album tracks | ||
| 1955 | "Danger! Heartbreak Ahead" / | 12 | 14 | ||
| "Softly Softly" | flip | 42 | |||
| "Have You Ever Been Lonely" b/w "Life Was Made for Living" | The House Of Jaye P. Morgan | ||||
| "Chee Chee-oo Chee" (with Perry Como) / | 12 | 17 | Non-album tracks | ||
| "Two Lost Souls" (with Perry Como) | 18 | 26 | |||
| "The Longest Walk" / | 6 | 12 | |||
| "Swanee" | flip | 48 | |||
| "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" b/w "Just a Gigolo" | The House of Jaye P. Morgan | ||||
| "Baby Don't Do It" b/w "Nobody Met the Train" | |||||
| "If You Don't Want My Love" / | 12 | 33 | Non-album tracks | ||
| "Pepper Hot Baby" | 14 | 19 | |||
| "Not One Goodbye" / | 48 | ||||
| "My Bewildered Heart" | 47 | ||||
| 1956 | "Get Up! Get Up!" / | 83 | |||
| "Sweet Lips" | 85 | ||||
| "Lost in the Shuffle" / | 69 | ||||
| "Play for Keeps" | 79 | ||||
| "Johnny Casanova" b/w "The West Point Dress Parade" | 81 | ||||
| "Just Love Me" b/w "The Call of the Wild" | 97 | ||||
| "Mutual Admiration Society" b/w "If'n" Both sides with Eddy Arnold | 47 | 24 | |||
| 1957 | "I Thought It Was Over" b/w "Pledge Allegiance to Your Heart" | ||||
| "Graduation Ring" b/w "You, You Romeo" | |||||
| "There's a Dream in My Heart" b/w "Take a Chance" | |||||
| 1958 | "Tell Me More" b/w "My Blind Date" | ||||
| "I Know, I Know, I Know" b/w "I Love You So Much It Hurts" Both sides with The Morgan Brothers | |||||
| "Star Dust" (with The Morgan Brothers) b/w "Easy Does It" | |||||
| 1959 | "Are You Lonesome Tonight" / | 65 | 67 | ||
| "Miss You" | 78 | 63 | |||
| "(It Took) One Kiss" b/w "My Reputation" | 70 | ||||
| "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" b/w "Somebody Loses, Somebody Wins" | |||||
| "That Funny Feeling" b/w "Left My Gal in the Mountains" | 112 | ||||
| "My Darling, My Darling" b/w "Thoughts of Love" | |||||
| 1960 | "Half As Much" b/w "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" | That Country Sound | |||
| "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" b/w "I Understand" | Non-album tracks | ||||
| "I Walk the Line" b/w "Wondering Where You Are" (Non-album track) | 66 | 55 | That Country Sound | ||
| "When You Get What You Want" b/w "A World I Can't Live In" | |||||
| 1961 | "Catch Me a Kiss" b/w "Close Your Eyes" | Non-album tracks | |||
| 1962 | "A Heartache Named Johnny" b/w "He Thinks I Still Care" | 119 | |||
| 1965 | "Put a Ring on My Finger" b/w "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" | ||||
| 1970 | "Love of a Gentle Man" b/w "Billy Sunshine" | 37 | What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life | ||
| "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life" b/w "Applause" | 40 | ||||
| "I've Got an Awful Lot of Losing You to Do" b/w "He's Too Good For Me" | |||||
| 1971 | "A Song for You" b/w "Do You Really Have a Heart" (from What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life) | 105 | 108 | Non-album track | |
References
- ^ a b c d e Ovington, Reg (August 22, 1954). "TV is Banking on Jaye P. Morgan". Reading Eagle. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- ^ Feather, Leonard (December 20, 1992). "Next Role For Jaye P. Morgan: A Jazz Singer". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Guinan Family (2009). Lakewood Park. Arcadia Publishing. p. 83. ISBN 978-0738565781.
- ^ Cusack, Bob (2005). Nostalgia Is What It Was. iUniverse. p. 155. ISBN 978-0595361793.
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Hamlyn. p. 20. ISBN 978-0600576020.
- ^ "Monday (11)" (PDF). Ross Reports on Television. January 11, 1954. p. 1. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2007. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786486410.
- ^ a b c d e "Jaye P. Morgan". TV Guide. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ Garlen, Jennifer C.; Graham, Anissa M. (January 10, 2014). Kermit Culture: Critical Perspectives on Jim Henson's Muppets. McFarland & Company. p. 218. ISBN 978-0786453757.
- ^ Eakin, Marah; Teti, John; Adams, Erik (June 16, 2014). "Bonus round stars: 9 celebrities who found their greatest fame on game shows". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
- ^ "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind". movies.com. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- ^ Phillips, Jevon (March 22, 2017). "Chuck Barris, creator of 'The Gong Show' and 'The Dating Game,' dies at 87". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 5, 2018.