Can't Help Loving That Birch Phonograph

"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, is one of the most famous songs from their classic 1927 musical play Show Boat, adapted from Edna Ferber's 1926 novel. Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023.

This recording features Helen Morgan, (real name Helen Riggins) American singer and stage, film and radio actress. Born 2 August 1900 in Danville, Illinois, USA. Died 9 October 1941 (age of 41) in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

She charted six times between 1927-1930. Her top charted song "Bill" hit #4 in 1928. Her other top 10 songs included "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" (#7, 1928), "Why Was I Born?" (#8, 1930), and "A Tree in the Park" (#9, 1927). As an actress, she is best remembered on screen as Julie in Show Boat (1936), repeating her 1927 Broadway role. In a number of stage revues, she danced, sang, and excelled in sketch comedy.

She came to New York in 1918 after winning a couple of beauty contests. She was eventually hired by Florenz Ziegfield to appear in the chorus of Sally, which opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 21, 1920. It ran for two years.
In 1941 she came to appear in a version of George White's Scandals at the State Lake Theatre. She became seriously ill with a liver complaint brought on by her drinking and died. There have been two films on her life story: a 1957 Playhouse 90 drama, The Helen Morgan Story and the feature film The Helen Morgan Story (also in 1957), starring Ann Blyth.