Born into a Welsh family on April 29, 1904 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Russ Morgan was encouraged to express himself musically from the tender age of seven. He came by his ability naturally since his father, a coal-mine foreman, was a former musician who played drums in the local band in his spare time with his mother, before her marriage, had been a pianist in a vaudeville act. Almost at the same age that he began to study piano, he began to work in the mines in order to earn money to help support his family and pay for his lessons.
 
At 14, he earned extra money as a pianist performing in a Scranton theater. With his earnings, he purchased another instrument, a trombone. A few years later, in 1921, he used the trombone while working with the Scranton Sirens. This band was one of the hottest in the Pennsylvania area during the 20's. In fact some of its alumni, such as Jimmy Dorsey on sax and clarinet, Billy Lustig on violin and Tommy Dorsey on trombone (who took Russ' place when he left the organization) went on to become famous.
 
He decided, at 18, to try and further his career by going to New York. By 1925, at the age of 21 he was arranging for John Philip Sousa and Victor Herbert. He continued to gain experience by joining Paul Specht's orchestra and toured Europe with the orchestra. Contemporaries of Russ' in this orchestra were Arthur Schutt, Don Lindley and Chauncey Morehouse. Orville Knapp, Paul Whiteman, Charlie Spivak and Artie Shaw also played in this orchestra during the 1920's.
 
Upon returning from the European tour, Jean Goldkette invited him to Detroit to organize, lead and arrange for his new band. Some of the members of the now immortal all-star Goldkette orchestra were his old associates from former days, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Chauncey Morehouse, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Bix Beiderbecke and Fuzzy Farrar.
 
For a short time, in 1934, he arranged for Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra and in 1935, played trombone with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band when they recorded four sides for Vocalion. On Sept. 12, 1935, Russ playing piano and Joe Venuti on violin cut two sides for Brunswick, "Red Velvet" and "Black Satin." Both of the above were written by Russ and Joe.
 
His success in the music world, lead to his being offered the post of Musical Director for Detroit Radio Station WXYZ. His show, "Music in the Morgan Manner" became so popular that, at one time, he was directing nine commercial programs. In addition, while in Detroit, he also arranged for the Detroit 102 piece Symphony Orchestra thus demonstrating once again his varied musical experience and ability.
 
 
In the early 1930's, Russ was in an automobile accident that almost ended his career and after months in the hospital he decided to start again in New York City. He became arranger for the George White Scandals, The Cotton Club Revue and the Capitol Theatre. In addition to this busy schedule, when not arranging for the various Broadway shows, he worked with leading orchestras in New York, such as Phil Spitalny, Eddie Gilligan, Ted Fio Rito and Freddy Martin, as pianist and/or trombonist.
 
He joined the Freddy Martin Orchestra in 1934 as a piano player. He worked chiefly as trombonist and arranger with the band. While working with Martin's orchestra, he also worked as musical director at Brunswick Records in New York. It was here that he met the future Mrs. Morgan, Shirley Gray, whom he married in 1939.
 
While at Brunswick, he met Rudy Vallee, who was so impressed with Russ' musical ability that he insisted he form an orchestra of his own. He then invited Russ to appear as a guest on his popular Fleishman Yeast radio show. Vallee was also instrumental in getting Russ his first engagement in New York City with his own orchestra at the Biltmore Hotel. This first engagement was indicative of the audiences' reaction to Russ' appearances. He started with a four week contract and remained at the hotel for two years! In the next few years, he was able to add musical directorship to the Rinso-Lifebuoy Show on NBC for 39 weeks and the Philip Morris radio series on NBC and CBS for two years to his ever growing list of achievements.
 
Some of his other triumphs were his record-breaking runs in famed hotels, ballrooms and theatres across the country. A few of these outstanding engagements were at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles; Claremont Hotel, California; Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago; Aragon and Trianon, Chicago; Strand, Chicago; the Statler Hotel, New York; Orpheum, Los Angeles; Palladium, Hollywood; to name a few.

Russ with sons David and Jack
 
In 1949, four of the songs he recorded made it big on the charts. They were "So Tired", "Cruising Down the River", "Sunflower" and "Forever and Ever." On the latter he used a vocal quartet that was just starting out and would later become famous as the Ames Brothers. 1949 was his BIG year.
 
During the 1950's, his orchestra continued to be a popular one for great dancing and listening music. He continued to set house records with his appearances in California and New York as well as his many tours across the nation. During this decade it was mostly the long-established veteran bands that were supplying the music for dancers, such as Russ morgan, Jan Garber, Sammy Kaye, Wayne King, Guy Lombardo, Freddy Martin and Lawrence Welk.
 

Jack & Russ on trombones
 In 1958 Russ' 19-piece band had been reduced to 11 men, with his sons Jack on trombone and David on guitar. In 1965 he was booked for an eight-week engagement at the Top O' The Strip at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. It ended up lasting until 1977, a total of 12 years.
 
Sadly, Russ did not complete this one. Instead, he passed away on August 7, 1969 at the age of 65. At that time, Jack took over the leadership. He has lead the band ever since.
 
 
Looking back at his career, one realizes what a multi-faceted talent the "old coal miner from Scranton" was. He performed on piano, trombone, organ, arranged and did many vocals with the orchestra. He played practically every instrument in the orchestra and knew all of the instruments well enough to arrange any type of music He was a very active member of ASCAP and had his songs recorded by many of the leading artists. "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" has been recorded by over 275 different artists and had been played on the Ed Sullivan TV show more than any other song and was the song that started Roberta Sherwood on her rise to fame. Furthermore, Russ won an award from ASCAP for having the best original theme song of any orchestra leader. Some of his other compositions were "Does Your Heart Beat For Me" (his theme), "Please Think of Me," "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place," "So Tired," "Homespun," "So Long," "Sweet Eloise," "Don't Cry Sweetheart," "Wise Guy," "Flower of Dawn," "Tell Me You Love Me" and "Goodnight, Little Angel". He recorded with Decca for twenty years and had five gold records (million sellers.) In motion pictures, he made musical shorts for Paramount and Warner Bros. He made full length movies for Columbia, Monogram and Universal Studios, such as "The Great Man", with Joe Ferrer & "Mister Cory", with Tony Curtis.
 
Russ was such an outstanding musician and so adept as a leader and had his musicians so well trained that he and his band were capable of playing hotel and ballroom-type dance music, playing for shows and engagements at the world famous Nevada clubs, in lounges and at private parties. Regardless of the size of his organization, Russ always put his special "In the Morgan Manner" stamp on the music he composed and played.
His special dedication to fine music has not gone by the wayside with his passing. His orchestra is now in the capable hands of his son, Jack, who is making and breaking records everywhere he appears, by maintaining his father's special trademark while adding his own personal approach to his repertoire.

 

STARTED FIRST BAND: 1935 WHERE: New York City
       
PREVIOUS BAND AFFILIATIONS: Paul Whiteman, The Scranton Sirens, Paul Specht, Jean Goldkette, Phil Spitalny, Ted Fio Rito, Freddy Martin RECORDING AFFILIATIONS: Brunswick, Decca, Vocalion, Everest, Vee-Jay, Capitol.
       
SIDEMEN WITH BAND INCLUDED: Russ Case, Will Bradley, Charlie Butterfield, Toots Mondello, Arthur Rollini, Paul Ricci, Joe Venuti, Claude Thornhill, Jimmy Lewis, Eddie Julian, Russ Black, Chauncey Morehouse, Mert Curtis, Paul Roberts, Al Jennings, Eddie Bush, Cappy Lewis, Walter Link, Jack and David Morgan VOCALISTS WITH BAND INCLUDED: Jack Fulton, Judy Richards, Bernice Parks, Carolyn Clark, Gloria Whitney, Jack Russell, Carol Kay, Jacquelyn Moore, Phyllis Lynne, Pat Laird, Manon Smith, Juanita Crowley, Russ did most of the male vocals himself. He also occasionally featured a group called the "Morganaires".
       
THEME SONG: "Does Your Heart Beat For Me?", closing theme "So Long" TAG LINE: "Music In The Morgan Manner"
       
TELEVISION WITH BAND: A summer show for Admiral TV and Proctor and Gamble, plus local West Coast television shows. SPONSORED RADIO SHOWS: "The Rinso-Lifebuoy Show" and "The Philip Morris Program."

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