Frances J. Sper (pronounced "Spur") was a fine female vocalist, pianist, and recording artist of the Jazz Age. Frances Sper Horn (1896-1951) was married to salesman Jack L. Horn (1894-1981) and is the mother of famous jazz musician Paul Horn (1930-2014). Frances Sper was an in-house pianist for Irving Berlin and had her own weekly radio show in New York on WNYC (as well as other radio stations) from 1926-1928.

Sper Family, c. 1903
L-R: Norman, Paul (father), Edward, Felix, Miriam (mother), Joan, Frances

Paul (father) & Felix Sper
Frances & Joan
Jamesburg, New Jersey, April 1917
(Note men’s hats on fence)

Frances had two sisters Joan and Matilda. All the sisters played piano. The sisters also had brothers Felix, Norman and Edward (Abraham). After Frances’ retirement from the music and radio business in 1930, Jack and Frances lived in New York City as well as Washington, DC. Frances passed at the age of 55. Jack Horn died in 1981 in California. Both Frances and Jack are buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Queens, New York.

Peggy English, Frances Sper, unknown girl
Camp Copake, NY (1928)

There has been some speculation amongst record collectors that 1920’s Jazz Age singer Frances Sper was really Peggy English. This notion is dispelled by the above photo which shows Frances Sper and Peggy English side by side. It turns out that Ms Sper and Ms English were actually pals who worked as part of the entertainment in the Summer of 1928 at Camp Copake just 100 miles north of New York City on the New York-Massachusetts state border.

Also, I am now one-hundred percent sure that Winnie Smith is the recording artist pseudonym issued on the Romeo record label for Frances Sper after a record listening test to confirm this.

Frances Sper’s MP3s

• Frances Sper - My Baby Knows How - Cameo 1042
  
• Frances Sper - I’m Tellin’ the Birds, Tellin’ The Bees, How I Love You - Cameo 1050
  
• Frances Sper - Oh! How She Could Play A Ukulele - Cameo 1069
  
• Frances Sper - Ev’erything’s Made For Love - Cameo 1069
  
• Frances Sper - Susie’s Feller - Lincoln 2586
  
• Frances Sper - We Love It - Edison 52339-L
  
• Frances Sper - More Than Anybody - Edison 52339-R
  

Note: Apologies for the quality of the above Edisons but I have yet to purchase the proper stylus for playing Edison records of the 1920’s. When I purchase a suitable stylus, I will re-record them and replace the ones on the web page at that time.

Frances Sper’s Complete Discography 1926-1928

Editor’s Note
If anyone reading this has facts on Frances Sper’s life, career, and later years, please do not hesitate to email me.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Frances Sper granddaughter-in-law Robin Horn for supplying details of Frances Sper and the 1928 Frances Sper and Peggy English photos. And to Frances Sper’s grand-niece Emily Sper for the Sper family photos.

And many thanks to record collector and phonograph enthusiast Michael Sims for supplying the Frances Sper Cameo recordings and label photo.