Fran Frey

Fran Frey (December 23, 1903 in Indiana - December 1, 1962 in California) was a singer[1][2] and saxophonist best known for his work for George Olsen and His Music in the 1920s and early 1930s.[3] Among his better known songs are "The Varsity Drag" of 1927;[4] "Big City Blues" of 1929, and "A Garden in the Rain", also of 1929. Frey sang on 77 songs with the George Olsen band on recordings and on the radio.[5] "Who?" sold more than a million copies.[6][7]

Frey was heard on the Oldsmobile Program on CBS radio in 1933.[8]

Although he played for several other bands after Olsen's, including Victor Young's,[9] he never achieved the level of fame he had in earlier years.[10][11]

Frey died of a heart attack in his home on December 2, 1962 at the age of 58. At the time of his death, he was writing music for the Ice Capades and for Columbia Pictures.[12][13]

References
  1. Benjamin D. Brotemarkle (2004). Titusville and Mims. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-0-7385-1618-9.
  2. Fred W. Edmiston (8 January 2003). The Coon-Sanders Nighthawks: "The Band That Made Radio Famous". McFarland. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-0-7864-4327-7.
  3. Leo Walker (1989). The Big Band Almanac. Da Capo Press. pp. 326–. ISBN 978-0-306-80345-1.
  4. Dunning, John (1998). "Band Remotes". On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-10-18. Varsity Drag Fran Frey.
  5. Phil Hardy (1995). The Da Capo Companion to 20th-century Popular Music. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80640-7.
  6. Marvin E. Paymer; Don E. Post (1999). Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs, 1920-1945. Noble House Publishers. pp. 83–. ISBN 978-1-881907-09-1.
  7. Joseph Murrells (31 December 1984). Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s: an illustrated directory. Batsford. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-7134-3843-7.
  8. "Backstage" (PDF). Radio News. XIV (10): 635. April 1933. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  9. Record Research. Record research. 1976. p. 64.
  11. George Thomas Simon (1981). The big bands. Schirmer Books. p. 499. ISBN 978-0-02-872420-1.
  12. Los Angeles Times, 12/8/1962 Obituaries
  13. Lists dates of birth and death. Ancestry.com. Accessed July 13, 2013.
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