DESCRIPTION:
Recorded on August 27, 1927. Fran Frey is best-known as alto saxophonist and vocalist in the group George Olsen & His Music, a '20s and '30s big band with an enthusiastic following. In 1927, the group's recording of "The Varsity Drag" became a national dance craze amongst wiggly college students. But let's set one thing straight right from the start: this Fran was a man, and a baritone at that, so fans of the rare female jazz players who existed in these eras better scratch a mark off the tally sheet. As a vocalist, Frey's recordings with Olsen's band include "A Little Bit Bad," a number frequently chosen by critics to cleverly demonstrate what was perceived to be a lack of range on the part of this singer. To be fair, Frey has many fans and was more likely to be featured as part of a vocal duo or trio in combination with fellow vocalists Bob Borger and Bob Rice. In 1926, Olsen's band recorded another title that could have been used against Frey as well, "Too Bad." However, by this time he had been replaced in the singing spot and was just blowing alto sax. The new vocalist was Ethel Shutta and one could say she was vastly preferred by the bandleader without a qualm. In fact, he wound up marrying her. In total, Frey was featured on 26 different sides by this band. Olsen eventually disbanded this outfit and a spin-off trio that also featured Frey, attempting several other ventures with nowhere near the same amount of success. One of these was leading Orville Knapp's band when the latter bandleader, ironically named after Orville Wright, managed to kill himself while flying his private plane. Knapp's widow pulled a coup, however, replacing Olsen with a leader more to her liking. In the meantime, Frey had also been freelancing and attempting to establish a solo career. He was sometimes even a co-writer on his recordings and may have been expressing doubts in his own career when he wrote and recorded "Never Gettin' No Place Blues" with Al Bernard and J. Russell Robinson in 1929. In the early '30s, he recorded the song "Crazy People," perhaps in memory of Knapp. This may not have made recording history, but it certainly created plenty of footnotes since it was issued on several labels in different countries, the orchestra identified as both Art Kahn's Orchestra and the Hollywood Dance Orchestra. The German version of this record, released on a label called Rust, doesn't identify the orchestra at all and manages to spell the tune as "Grazly People." Frey also recorded in New York as alto saxist with Leo Reismanand his orchestra, on sides featuring vocalists such Frank Luther, and Lee Wiley. As vocalist with the band of Ben Selvin in the early '30s, he was is on several popular records, including "Moonstruck" and the canine-friendly "Sittin' on a Log Pettin' My Dog." One of the Selvin numbers provided further ammunition for critics of Frey: "Learn to Croon" was looked at as something of a suggestion from the bandleader and songwriter to their hired hand. Frey also recorded with the Boswell Sisters, Bunny Berigan, Victor Young, and six Columbia sides issued under his own name, including "Moonstruck." Frey also sang on the hilarious radio show of comedian Jack Benny in the '30s; there is even a routine from this period that was logged in as "Receipt from Fran Frey," possibly indicating that the tightwad Benny was demanding to be paid back for a cup of coffee Frey had drank on the air. This artist's surname also shows up spelled as "Fray" from time to time, including on paychecks issued by Jack Benny's accounting department. This, however, could have been a trick to delay payment on the checks. Frey's performing career seems to have increasingly diminished following the second World War. There was a report on his whereabouts as late as the '80s, and although he was no longer performing, he was still connected to show business as music director of a Chicago radio station. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi

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