Polly Bergen's first album for Columbia stems from her Emmy-winning appearance in The Helen Morgan Story for an episode in the CBS series Playhouse 90.
Bergen runs through 11 songs associated with the Broadway torch singer and does excellent readings of Morgan standards like "Can't Help Lovin' That Man," "Don't Ever Leave Me," and "Body and Soul." She has the throaty voice, golden pipes, and wide range to best any star on Broadway, though her delivery is occasionally over-evocative and melodramatic -- a common complaint against Broadway actors.
Bergen Sings Morgan was reissued in 1999 as a Collectables two-fer also featuring her subsequent Columbia LP, The Party's Over. ~ John Bush