Fran Frey (December 23, 1903 in
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
- December 1, 1962 in California) was a singer
and saxophonist best known for his work for
George Olsen and His Music in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Among his better known songs are "
The Varsity Drag" of 1927;
"Big City Blues" of 1929, and "
A Garden in the Rain
"A Garden in the Rain" is a popular song. The music was composed by Carroll Gibbons, the lyrics by James Dyrenforth. The song was published in 1928. The song was first recorded by the composer, Carroll Gibbons with the Savoy Hotel Orpheans and voc ...
", also of 1929. Frey sang on 77 songs with the George Olsen band on recordings and on the radio.
"
Who
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
?" sold more than a million copies.
Frey was heard on the ''
Oldsmobile Program
The Oldsmobile Show is a half-hour weekly old-time radio variety program in the United States. It was broadcast on CBS in 1933Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 494. a ...
'' on CBS radio in 1933.
Although he played for several other bands after Olsen's, including
Victor Young
Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor.
Biography
Young is commonly said to ...
's, he never achieved the level of fame he had in earlier years.
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
The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Olympic and US National Champion figure skaters who had retired from formal competition. Started in 1940, the Ice Cap ...
and for
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
.
Lists dates of birth and death. Ancestry.com. Accessed July 13, 2013.
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References
External links
AllMusic entry
Fran Frey recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Fran
1903 births
1962 deaths
American male saxophonists
20th-century American singers
20th-century American saxophonists
20th-century American male singers