MERV GRIFFIN has been called "television´s total performer." Every day over 20,000,000 viewers tune in his Emmy award-winning show—the most enjoyable 90 minutes in broadcasting. And as you watch him talking casually with great personalities—actors, entertainers, writers, politicians—you can´t help but be struck by the feeling that here is a very special man, with a very special talent.
They say a television camera is like an x-ray machine. It sees right through into the inner person. And what the TV audience admires in Merv are the same things that impress his friends—his intelligence, his inventive humor, his honesty, and his gentleness.
Merv is a man of so many abilities that people sometimes forget that he began his career as a singer. He won the music polls as the number one band vocalist several times. He has a quiet, natural style that is all his own. And when he sits down at the piano, you can feel the excitement.
Merv got his first singing job at radio station KFRC in San Francisco when a teenager. The famous bandleader Freddy Martin heard him perform and hired Merv to sing on the exclusive hotel circuit, movie houses, and ballrooms. Soon Merv was electrifying overflow crowds from Los Angeles´ Coconut Grove to the Waldorf Astoria, to New York´s Strand Theatre.
His jaunty recording "I´ve Got A Loverly Bunch of Coconuts" sold more than three million copies and catapulted him to stardom. He followed up with other top hits including "Wilhelmina" and "Never Been Kissed."
One night Doris Day came to see his standing-room-only nightclub performance. She was so impressed with the young singer that she arranged a screen test at Warner Brothers. And so he began a new career in films, starring in "So This is Love" (with Kathryn Grayson): "The Boy From Oklahoma": and "The Phantom of the Rue Morgue."
Merv then broke into television, hosting his own network shows from Miami and New York. He appeared frequently on "The Jack Paar Show," "The Arthur Murray Show," "The Robert Q. Lewis Show," and "Keep Talking." Meanwhile, he also starred on Broadway in the first successful revival of "Finian´s Rainbow."
Soon TV executives were talking about "The Merv phenomenon." And as the popularity of "The Merv Griffin Show" continued to soar, he began a new enterprise as the creator and producer of such popular television game shows as "Jeopardy!" "Word for Word," "One in a Million," "The Memory Game," "Let´s Play Postoffice," "Reach for the Stars," and, most recently, NBC´s highest rated daytime show, "Wheel of Fortune."
Today, when Merv´s not at the studio in Hollywood or taping a new national special, you´ll find him at home in Pebble Beach, far up the beautiful rugged Pacific coastline. He enjoys tennis, and deep-sea fishing. And he pilots single engine planes and co-pilots his own. (A favorite companion in those activities is his 17 year old son, Tony.)
Currently, "The Merv Griffin Show" is syndicated on over 125 stations throughout the country and Canada. His millions of fans look forward to those moments when Merv sits down at the piano to play a hauntingly beautiful number (often of his own composition). And when he sings-with such rich and mellow control—it´s unforgettable.
This two-record album (ibid: Only one record in this album - never was two) brings together many of the hits both vocally and playing the piano that Merv has made famous in his 25 years in show business. Put it on your turn table, sit back, and listen to the quiet mastery of a great, great performer.

MORT LINDSEY, musical director for "The Merv Griffin Show" holds many distinctions. He conducted for Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand at the Hollywood Bowl—and also conducted the classic album "Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall", for which he won a Grammy Award.
Mort holds a Doctoral degree from Columbia University and for several years taught Orchestration and Scoring at his Alma Mater. He has conducted and composed for five major movies and is a three time Emmy nominee, as well as an Emmy Award winner.
After three years in the Air Force, Mort joined NBC and has also worked with WCBS-TV and the ABC Television Network in New York.
Mort and his wife, Judy, have three children and live in Malibu, near Hollywood.