The Fat Angel Sings

Glen Frey (1948-2016)  Hailing from the Motor City, Frey kicked around the Detroit Rock scene from the mid-1960s playing in bands such as the Subterraneans, The Four of Us, the Mushrooms, and the Heavy Metal Kids. He nearly joined Bob Seger’s band, but Frey’s mother objected because she considered Seger a bad influence owing to his marijuana use. However, he did contribute acoustic guitar and backup vocals to Seger’s first hit in 1968 “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.” His association with the Detroit rocker continued with Frey singing harmonies on “Fire Lake,’ and “Against the Wind.” in 1980. Through a girlfriend whose band moved to California, Frey relocated there meeting J. D. Souther and forming a duo named Longbranch Pennywhistle. During this period Frey also met Jackson Browne, a convergence if there ever was one.

Then in 1970, Frey met Don Henley and there was a tour with Linda Ronstadt, which included, for a spell, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon. it was during this time that Frey and Henley decided to form a band, and soon the Eagles were hatched with Frey (guitar, keyboards) Meisner (bass), Leadon (guitar, banjo, mandolin, and dobro) and Henley on drums. No one knew at the time that the Eagles would evolve into one of the biggest supergroups of all time. Frey was the front man and lead singer writing or co-writing the lion’s share of the band’s hits including “Take It Easy,” (co-written with Browne), “New Kid in Town,” “Tequila Sunrise,” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” among others. When the Eagles disbanded in 1980, Frey launched a successful solo career and was a consistent hit maker throughout the 1980s, scoring two Top 10 hits “The Heat is On,” (1984), and “You Belong to the City,” (1985) as well as “Smuggler’s Blues,’ (1985) and several lesser hits.

The Eagles had vowed that they wouldn’t reunite until “Hell Freezes Over,” which it miraculously did in 1994. The “Hell Freezes Over,” album followed with the hit single “Get over It.” Frey played on the Eagles’ “Long Road out of Eden in 2007 and joined the band on the tour that accompanied the album. Frey recorded five solo albums and one live long player in all, including “After Hours,’ in 2012. With the Eagles, he collected Six Grammy awards, five American Music Awards, and his band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Frey’s final appearance with the band was at the completion of the two-year History of the Eagles World Tour, which ended in Louisiana on July 29, 2015. Sadly, Glen Frey passed away on January 18th, 2016 from complications surrounding rheumatoid arthritis. The music world had lost another icon, but Frey will be remembered for his song writing and as the lead singer of the Eagles, with many classic hit records under his belt.

Universal Music will issue Above The Clouds: The Collection, a new four-disc deluxe box set that focuses on the solo career of Glenn Frey.

The 3CD+DVD set starts with a 15-track ‘best of’ disc which includes singles like The Heat Is On (from Beverly Hills Cop), Smuggler’s Blues and You Belong To The City. The second CD digs deeper into Frey’s back catalogue and includes tracks from his last studio album, 2012’s After Hours, 1985’s Allnighter, new tracks from 1995’s Solo Collection and more.

The one and only album (self-titled) by Frey’s and JD Souther’s Longbranch / Pennywhistle is officially released on CD for the first time on disc three. This was recorded in 1969 in California (after the pair had moved from Detroit to California) and issued on the Amos label. While the country rock/folk outfit were short-lived, JD Souther would go on to co-write loads of great Eagles songs, such as Best of My Love, New Kid in Town and Heartache Tonight.

The fourth and final disc is a DVD of a live show from Dublin in 1992 from the Strange Weather tour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b449xvDqX0M

I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the creation of Above The Clouds, a beautiful and exceptional collection of Glenn Frey’s unique voice in music, here expressed in his solo career. It is an imposing body of work and just as rich and genuine as you would expect. It is also a fitting tribute to the man who flew front seat in that exceptional songwriting and harmony phenomenon called Eagles, the biggest band in American history. Glenn was my first songwriting partner in Los Angeles when we were pups and I’m a far better song writer for knowing him. He brought a spark to every thing he touched, lit up every room he entered, and brought a rock solid integrity to every song he worked on. Check out “Run Boy, Run” from Longbranch/Pennywhistle, our virgin album as singer/songwriters. It’s a good song, rock solid and a first look of what was to follow. I could go on and on about Glenn but there are simply too many good things to say and besides, you could be listening to him sing instead of reading about him. As Linda Ronstadt put it the day after Glenn left us; “What to say? It’s a little bit different world now”. Perfectly said, so here is a big box of his beautiful music to give life after Glenn some more groove, a few more tears, and a whole lot more light. Cheers Glenn, and thank you. JD Souther

Above The Clouds: The Collection was released on 11th May 2018.