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Thread: Glenn's heritage?

  1. #11
    Stuck on the Border GlennLover's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    Glenn's surname comes via Scandinavian mythology. In its modern form I think of it as German. (Think of the word 'freiheit' meaning freedom).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyr

    You will note that Freyr 'bestows peace and pleasure on mortals'.

    His ancestry on his mother's side is Irish. He refers to the Nortons & the Deans in the Dublin DVD as being family names.

    The problem we have is that we don't know whether Frey is his birth surname because his mother remarried when he was very young.

    I believe that he has Scottish blood too, because there was an anecdote told some years ago about him doing some family history research in Scotland.

    Once again, like him my own heritage is primarily Irish (father) & German (mother) with some English & Scottish (mother).
    From everything that I have heard & read about Glenn I am lead to believe that ‘Frey’ is most likely not his birth surname. He talked about his father being from the Bethlehem, PA area when he did an interview just before he played there during the "After Hours" tour. He said his father's name was 'Eddie Frey'. 'Eddie' is his mother's second husband. Glenn dedicated a song to "Nell & Ed” on Strange Weather. He has always referred to Eddie as his dad.

    Soda has said during his 2008 concert in Niagara Falls that Glenn mentioned that his mother remarried when he was three. Even during the ‘70’s, Rolling Stone called his mother “Nellie Frey” when they quoted her in an interview about Glenn.

    There are a number of other articles & interviews that would support this, but this is what I remember off the top of my head.

  2. #12
    Stuck on the Border GlennLover's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    Quote Originally Posted by GlennLover View Post
    Glenn does say in the Strange Weather video filmed in Dublin that he of Irish decent through one of his grandmothers. In one of the After Hours interviews he said that he was of Irish, English, Scottish (I believe) & one other which I can't recall. It might have been German.
    The more I think about this the more I believe that he said French rather that German, but don't quote me on that. I can't remember if that is one of the interviews that I was able to download. I'll do some searching when I have time.

  3. #13
    Border Desperado AEW21's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    If his (step)father's family roots are in Pennsylvania, I'm guessing Frey is of German descent--such a strong Germanic culture in that region. As for his biological father--if he was never a real presence in his life, it might mean he doesn't know and/or acknowledge the ancestry from that side of his lineage. From all the interviews I've read, the impression is that he sees Ed to be be his "Dad," no qualifiers added to the word...

    Must be Scottish in that man somewhere though--it was either on this board or the tour thread that someone shared a story that when the Eagles played Glasgow, his people called ahead and wanted the historical society to poke around for him. Unless he was doing it for Cindy's side of the family...?

    ETA: Here's the original post. . So Frey must be a familiar surname in Scotland--must be all those pesky Germanic invading forces over the early years that brought it there. Wonder if the pronunciation difference comes from the Pennsylvania-Duetsch (German) influence.
    Last edited by AEW21; 04-07-2013 at 04:58 PM.

  4. #14
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    Quote Originally Posted by AEW21 View Post
    If his (step)father's family roots are in Pennsylvania, I'm guessing Frey is of German descent--such a strong Germanic culture in that region. As for his biological father--if he was never a real presence in his life, it might mean he doesn't know and/or acknowledge the ancestry from that side of his lineage. From all the interviews I've read, the impression is that he sees Ed to be be his "Dad," no qualifiers added to the word...

    Must be Scottish in that man somewhere though--it was either on this board or the tour thread that someone shared a story that when the Eagles played Glasgow, his people called ahead and wanted the historical society to poke around for him. Unless he was doing it for Cindy's side of the family...?

    ETA: Here's the original post. . So Frey must be a familiar surname in Scotland--must be all those pesky Germanic invading forces over the early years that brought it there. Wonder if the pronunciation difference comes from the Pennsylvania-Duetsch (German) influence.
    I don't know that there is necessarily a pronunciation difference. It seems to me the guy in Scotland for some reason was subscribing to the common misconception that the name is pronounced 'Fray'. Either that or he was trying to make a joke. Glenn endured that in Australia for years. In 1988 he was asked directly how it is pronounced.

    There is a surname spelt 'Fray'. I don't know if it is Scottish or not. I found this:

    http://www.houseofnames.com/Fray-history?A=54323-292

    http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/fray

    These suggest this version of the name is English, not Scottish.

  5. #15
    Stuck on the Border GlennLover's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    I don’t know if this a variation of the story that AEW21 quoted, but I remember reading a story about Glenn calling up a man named Frey, when he was in England (I thought) with the Eagles, to ask about his ancestry. The man told Glenn that he (Glenn) pronounced his name incorrectly. Glenn gave the man tickets to the Eagles concert that night.

  6. #16
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    Well, whether or not the guy was intentionally joking, the story is funny.

    However, it's not as if names ever have a "right" or "wrong" pronunciation; just "standard" and "non-standard." In the UK, it's standard to pronounce the letter combination "e-y" as "a-y." Thus, it's hardly surprising that most British people would assume his name was pronounced "Fray."

    The same occurs in reverse when Americans assume that Ralph Fiennes' name should be pronounced as if it rhymed with "Alf Pines."

    That's why the guy's comment to Glenn is a hoot!

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  7. #17
    Border Desperado Elizasong's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    Thought it was appropriate to ask this question on this thread. Does anyone know any information on Glenn's real Dad? Did he ever get to meet him as an adult? Was his Mom and his Dad ever married? It must have been short lived because he is very close with the man he considers his father.

  8. #18
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    He's never talked about his biological father in any interviews that I'm aware of.

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  9. #19
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    He does mention him at the Royal Oak show. He says his aunt & uncle are there & that without his aunt & uncle his mother would never have met his real father.

    I think about this from time to time but I don't really want to find out what his birth surname was. Frey is who he is.

  10. #20
    Stuck on the Border DJ's Avatar
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    Default Re: Glenn's heritage?

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    He does mention him at the Royal Oak show. He says his aunt & uncle are there & that without his aunt & uncle his mother would never have met his real father.

    I think about this from time to time but I don't really want to find out what his birth surname was. Frey is who he is.

    Couldn't agree more FP.

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