Penny Jay
 | This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2019) ) |
Penny Jay | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Helen Florence Adams |
| Also known as | Helen (Penny Jay) Moyers |
| Born | June 12, 1925 Monteagle, Tennessee |
| Died | March 29, 2006 (aged 80) Nashville, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer/Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Standup Bass |
| Labels | OKeh, Republic, Decca, Sony |
Penny Jay (June 12, 1925 – March 29, 2006) was an American country music singer and songwriter, who was active from the 1940s to the 1960s. She is best known for "Don't Let Me Cross Over" a song she wrote which reached #1 on the country music charts in late 1962.
Penny Jay was born in Monteagle, Tennessee. When her Mother, Edna Tobitt Adams remarried they moved to Knoxville, TN and Jay began performing with her mother at church functions at the age of 10. Cas Walker, a Knoxville merchant and host of a radio show on local WROL (which is also credited with helping launch the careers of Dolly Parton and The Everly Brothers) featured Penny Jay performing under the name "Little Miss Helen" when she was 12. Jay played stand-up bass and guitar, and became a fixture on the show during the early '40s. "Little Miss Helen" was the very first Golden Girl of Knoxville, Tennessee.
In the early '50s, Jay began performing as part of a duo with a friend named Marie Wilson. The pair were billed as "Jenny & Jill", and they recorded several original sides for
Jay moved to Nashville in the early '60s, and began performing and writing songs for other artists. She was signed to Republic Records, but her contract was picked up by Decca Records. She ultimately released eight singles on Decca, including "Just Over The Line", "Lonely And Unwanted", and "Those Kinds of Girls". Jay performed at the Grand Ole Opry, and on Roy Acuff's "Midnight Jamboree" radio show broadcast from Ernest Tubb's record shop. (She also toured, during the Korean War, for the USO. Penny enjoyed singing for all the military troops. Her USO Tours carried her to China, Japan, Philippine Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and Hawaii.) Jay's band at this time included her daughter, Sherry Moyers, who was the first female professional C/W Drummer in Nashville.
Jay had her greatest success as a professional songwriter, and in 1962 scored a #1 hit on the country charts when
Jay eventually stopped performing in the 1970s, and moved to Nashville, Arkansas in 1996 to live with her daughter and son-in-law, guitarist Bobby Chambers. She died in 2006. She was buried in Knoxville, Tennessee.
References
External links
- Penny Jay and her 1953 Gibson J-50 at the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum
- Discography at Discogs.com
- Discography at Discogs.com
- Carl and Pearl Butler perform "Don't Let Me Cross Over" on YouTube(Penny Jay seen in background, left) video
- Skeeter Davis sings "Don't Let Me Cross Over" on YouTube
- Jimmy Martin sings "Widow Maker" on YouTube
| Authority control databases: Artists |
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