Biography

Early life

Morgan was born in Mancos 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. 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. Pierpont Morgan) and sang at school assemblies, accompanied by her brother on guitar.

1950s

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 the Top 10 in the U.S. Billboard record chart . Soon after, she received an RCA Victor recording contract, and she had five hits in one year, including "That's All I Want from You," her biggest hit, which reached #3 on the chart. Other notable hits included "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.

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.

In 1956, she had her own The Jaye P. Morgan Show and made guest appearances on a number of other variety shows. She was a charter member of the Robert Q. Lewis "gang" on Lewis's weekday program on CBS, 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.

1960s and 1970s

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 entitled "A Falling Star".

In 1973, Morgan played herself in the episode "The Songwriter" of the sitcom, The Odd Couple. She appeared as Magda Valentine in the film The All-American Boy, and continued to play small roles in films such as Loose Shoes (1980), Night Patrol (1984) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

Morgan guest starred on The Muppet Show (episode 2.18) in which she and Dr. Teeth sang "That Old Black Magic."

Game show panelist

From 1976 to 1978, Morgan was a regular panelist on the popular game/variety show The Gong Show. 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 in the 2002 George Clooney-directed film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a fictionalized version of the life of Chuck Barris, creator of TV game shows The Gong Show and The Dating Game.

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		U.S.	US Cashbox	U.S. AC
1953	"Just a Gigolo"	22
	"Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries"	26	45
1954	"That's All I Want from You"	3	6
1955	"Danger! Heartbreak Ahead"	12	14
	"Softly Softly"	flip	42
	"Chee Chee-oo Chee"	12	17
	"Two Lost Souls"	18	26
	"The Longest Walk"	6	12
	"Swanee"	flip	48
	"If You Don't Want My Love"	12	33
	"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"	81
	"Just Love Me"	97
	"Mutual Admiration Society"	47	24
1959	"Are You Lonesome Tonight"	65	67
	"Miss You"	78	63
	"(It Took) One Kiss"		70
	"That Funny Feeling"		112
1960	"I Walk the Line"	66	55
1962	"A Heartache Named Johnny"	119
1970	"Love of a Gentle Man"			37
	"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life"			40
1971	"A Song for You"	105	108

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 E383
1960	Down South	MGM E3867
1961	That Country Sound	MGM E3940
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	AVL95320

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[ Source: Wikipedia ]