To Percy Hammond, she was "a raffish nightingale"; to Texas Guinan, "just a dumb kid." But when she climbed on top of a grand piano and sang her sultry, brokenhearted ballads, she was torchbearer for an era. When she died in Chicago last week, many a U.S. citizen heaved a nostalgic sigh for the footloose, bibulous speak-easy '20s.
In her 41 years, Helen Morgan ran a dizzy gamut: from a Chicago ribbon counter (Marshall Field & Co.) to a Broadway triumph (Show Boat). The songs she sang as the half-caste Julie in that show never...
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