Fran Frey

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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]

Frey was the composer of the song, "Tell The Story", which was used as the early theme song for the 1940's radio program The Big Story , starring Edward G. Robinson. The composition was recorded again in 1962 by Frank De Vol and his Rainbow Strings orchestra, and published on their album, "More Radio's Great Old Themes". Sometime in the 1980's radio host John Hickman of WAMU used it as the opening theme music for the old time radio variety show The Big Broadcast, and it has remained the theme song for The Big Broadcast continuously since then.

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.
  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.
  10. ↑ "Fran Frey | Biography & History". AllMusic .
  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. [ permanent dead link ]
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