Connie Haines Sings A Tribute To Helen Morgan

 

Yesterdays

Connie Hayes Sings A Tribute To Helen Morgan

Orchestra Conducted by Lew Raymond

Tops L1606

Tops Music Enterprises, Corp.

1958

From the back cover: Helen Morgan was born in 1900 in quiet Danville, Illinois. A restlessness gripped her early in life and in her teens she heeded the challenge of Chicago. Poor and alone, Helen worked at numerous odd jobs in the big city before making her singing debut in a honky-tonk in West Chicago. From then on, she was wedded to show business for better or for worse.

Helen decided to study singing after a stint in the Ziefeld chorus line on the road and in New York. Subsisting on occasional singing chores in Greenwich Village speakeasies, she finally got her first important job at Billy Rose's Backstage Club, New York's hangout studded with show business notable of the day. It was there that George White saw Helen and signed her for his Scandals Of 1925. Within a year Helen Morgan was a celebrated Broadway star.

One of the greatest triumphs was her role of Julie in the original 1927 Flo Ziegfeld production of Show Boat. Other hits followed. New York was hers. When the star toured Europe, she won high acclaim on that side of the Atlantic as well.

Already a stage, radio and notion picture celebrity, Helen had her own night club which, appropriately enough was called Chez Morgan. However, fulfillment eluded her. She drank to forget and sang to remember. A young woman of generous heart, and gracious to all, her fortunes were soon dissipated.

It was in 1935 that Miss Morgan starred with Rudy Vallee in Sweet Music for Warner Bros.

In January 1958 The Helen Morgan Story is scheduled for release by Warner Bros., with the beautiful Ann Blyth playing the dramatic title role. No less than 31 songs of the Morgan era are used in the film, and the cast includes such important personalities as Jimmy McHugh, famed composer of popular music, Walter Winchell, and Rudy Vallee – all of whom figured in Helen's illustrious career.

This then was Helen Morgan. The selections for this album were taken from the best of her repertoire. For extra measure, included are several other fine old standards dating from the Twenties. Most of the ballads remain so charged with emotion, that it takes a full-bodied and heartfelt voice like that if Connie Haines to do them ample justice.

Now, Connie Haines dose NOT like to perch atop the piano. she does like very much, however, to sing the torch tunes of the late chanteuse. Mind you, there's nothing about the pert Connie remotely suggesting the dolor associated with Miss Morgan. A more cheerful, sunnier personality than Connie would be hard to find. With the melodies that Helen made famous, Connie Haines is brilliant, and feels right at home.

The petite and attractive Miss Haines was intimated into show business at the age of four when she made her debut on radio. At ten she had her own popular commercial radio show in Jacksonville, Florida. When only fourteen, Connie was the youngest headliner ever to play the Roxy Theater in New York. 

Later in her teens, there followed stints with Harry James' orchestra and then the renowned Tommy Dorsey aggregation of the early Forties. When the dynamic singer ventured forth on her own, she had a coast-to-coast show on radio, and later starred in other important shows. In the personal appearance field, Connie has played in the most glamorous of the nation's supper clubs, theaters and hotels. She has had hits on at least four different labels.

Today Miss Haines finds exciting potential for herself in television. She has appeared on all the big network shows and is invariably asked to do return stints. Her biggest TV thrill, however, occurred when Ralph Edwards told her life story to the nation on his NBC program This Is Your Life.

Winsome Connie Haines life is indeed a full one. Whether interpreting the blues or bright show tunes, her great talent continues to enrich the world of music. And to this well chosen selection of the best Helen Morgan, Connie's wealth of experience brings stimulating flavor.

Why I Was Born

They Didn't Believe Me

Yesterdays

Broken Hearted

Make Believe 

Mean To Me

Can't Help Loving That Man

Don't Ever Leave Me

More Than You Know

The Way You Look Tonight

Bill

Why Do I Love You