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Roarin' 1920s: Jane Gray (Peggy English) - Miss Annabelle Lee, 1927

3,394 views · Published 15 March 2014 · 2:56 · Indexed 14 November 2026

Channel: 240252 · 2014 · Music

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Jane Gray (Peggy English) -- Miss Annabelle Lee (with piano acc. by Bill Wirges or Rube Bloom), Diva 1927 (USA)

NOTE:  One of the most outstanding and still somewhat mysterious findings among white female vocalists of the American Roarin' Twenties is Peggy English. Compared to her two fabulous contemporaries: Jane Green and Marion Harris, Peggy English recorded over one hundred sides from 1925 to 1928, under at least 13 different names across many record labels - with the name Jane Gray exclusively on the Harmony and Velvet Tone labels. Her piano accompanists included Rube Bloom and Bill Wirges. 

Marguerite Grace "Peggy" English was born 1893 in Helena, Montana.  In the early 1900's the English family moved from Helena to Manhattan, New York. In the 1920 Federal Census both Peggy and her sister Lydia are listed as "Actress" in the occupation category. During the period 1927-1928 Peggy English promoted as "The Brunswick Girl", toured on the Publix Theatre circuit. In 1927 she  appears at the Tivoli Theatre in Chicago with Frankie Masters and His Band in "Jazz á la Carte". In 1928 she continued touring with the Ray Teal Orchestra and appearing in such cities as San Antonio, Atlanta, and Washington, DC on the Publix tour. In 1931 Peggy English appears as a "blues singer" on WABC Radio with Max Smolen's Orchestra. She returns to the recording studio one final time in April 1933 for a one-day recording session as "Harlem Hannah ad Her Hot Boys" and "Hannah's Hot Shots". Out of that session came "Easy Rider" and "My Handy Man" which appeared on the Bluebird label. 
The last info about her artistic activity comes out in 1934 when she could be seen with Johnny Johnson's Orchestra  in Albany, New York. Peggy English  passed away in 1988 at the age of 94. She was survived by sister Lydia, who passed two years later, also at the age of 94. Peggy never married nor had any children.
(my info is based upon Peggy English's bio in http://www.jazzage1920s.com/peggyenglish/peggyenglish.php )

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