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Scarlet Sun
11-18-2010, 06:07 PM
It was kinda ridiculous in retrospect. When did he stop using it? You hear it a lot on the Live LP, I wonder if he retired it after the first Eagles breakup . . .

Freypower
11-18-2010, 06:28 PM
I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by 'ridiculous'.

I didn't really hear him speak at length until he visited Australia in 1988 and he spoke 'normally' if that is what you want to call it.

sodascouts
11-18-2010, 08:00 PM
I've noticed this, too - he seemed to sound almost Texan sometimes in the seventies, but no more. Maybe he lost it in the mid-80s after he'd stopped hanging out with Don Henley and JD Souther, and divorced Texas debutante Janie Beggs.

Ive always been a dreamer
11-18-2010, 08:09 PM
I think part of it may also be attributed to just the differences in how young men talk as opposed to more mature ones. However, from a female point-of-view, I personally don't think it was ridiculous - I think it was rather endearing. :smile: However, I will also say that even today, while he doesn't have a southern accent, he does still have somewhat of a drawl. It's just not quite as pronounced now as it was when he was younger.

Scarlet Sun
11-18-2010, 10:11 PM
I believe it was more along the lines of a Troubadour country-rock affectation, not offensive or anything like that, just kind of silly.

EagleLady
11-18-2010, 10:16 PM
There's Nothing Silly or Ridiculous about a Southern Accent or Drawl, JMO!

Scarlet Sun
11-18-2010, 10:48 PM
There's Nothing Silly or Ridiculous about a Southern Accent or Drawl, JMO!
what if you're from Detroit?

Victim of Love
11-19-2010, 01:30 AM
We're adaptable creatures and people tend to pick up things from the people they spend a lot of time with...like speech patterns. I'm guilty of it myself. I spent a few years living in the South and within a few short months I was speaking with the same 'drawl' I was exposed to in my daily life. Didn't realize it until I was on a visit home and it was pointed out to me. To this day if I spend more than five minutes talking to someone from the south, I slide back into that speech pattern unconsciously. It doesn't matter what you call it -- drawl, accent, whatever -- every region of the U.S. has a distinct speech pattern. I've become somewhat adept at identifying where someone is from by their speech...New York, New England, the South (and there are different degrees of 'southern drawl' in different parts of the South), Minnesota, Nebraska, California...there are indicators in the way certain letters and words are pronounced.

Just for the record, "home" is about an hour or so from Detroit! We native Midwesterners don't think WE have an accent. Fact of the matter is our speech patters sound funny to folks in OTHER parts of the country.

Here on the Border everyone speaks with the same drawl: EAGLES!

MikeA
11-19-2010, 01:37 AM
Hey, y'all want drawl, I got so much cottin in my speech that I was once offered a deal as spokes person for Q-Tips! Ain't no Texas slur neither...pure Arkansas!

LOL

I really don't notice it much until I listen to something I've recorded and then it blares out so pronounced that even I do a double take. I don't think you can ever take the South out of a southerner. Maybe moderate it a bit, but I guess Kansas isn't far enough north to be much of an influence.

sodascouts
11-19-2010, 04:47 AM
We're adaptable creatures and people tend to pick up things from the people they spend a lot of time with...like speech patterns. I'm guilty of it myself.

Same here. I grew up in Texas but I haven't lived there for eight years. I can "turn on" the accent when I want, but my normal speaking voice has hardly any trace of it. There are a few idiomatic exceptions - I still find myself saying "itn't" instead of "isn't" sometimes, "dutn't" instead of "doesn't" on occasion, and that long "a" will always have a Texan edge unless I make a conscious effort to soften it - but overall one wouldn't be able to tell I was from Texas just by listening to me. (I also make sure never to say "ain't," "y'all," or "fixin' to.") Of course, in agitation I will still holler "SHOOT!" and "DANG IT!" with a thick Texas accent. lol

When I go back to visit the family for the holidays, though, after a few days I fall into the old speech patterns again. I imagine the same is true for Glenn.

You echo what you hear. Glenn was surrounded by Texans in the country rock scene, so he started talkin' like 'em.

Brooke
11-19-2010, 11:06 AM
Soda and VOL, I certainly agree. I have a friend that grew up in Battlecreek Michigan and whenever she would come down here to visit, I marveled at her northern/nasal accent. Then when she was around 30 she moved to South Carolina and you would declare that she grew up there from the southern drawl that she used. It was quite funny to listen to her. And such a shock. You adapt to your environment, I guess.

People think I have a southern accent, but I don't hear any! :lol:

GettheLeadonOut!!
11-19-2010, 02:18 PM
Glenn's fake drawl always bothered me because it always struck me as pure affectation. And I don't buy that by hanging out with the a bunch of L.A. country rockers at the Troubadour, a Detroit boy like Glenn would develop such a pronounced southern drawl. Henley and JD's "accent" was never nearly as pronounced, Bernie had (and still has) his San Diego surfer twang as does LA native Jackson Browne to an extent and Randy's midwestern accent always seemed slight as well.

At any rate, I'm glad he finally ditched it.

Freypower
11-19-2010, 05:30 PM
I would only say that the introduction to The Long Run on Eagles Live : 'we got our buddy Phil Kenzie up here to help us do, uh, our tribute to Memphis, Tennessee' doesn't sound like he is 'drawling'. On the other hand, before Take It Easy when he says 'here's a song about to DR-AAAH -VE home' you could say that is a drawl. But I am not American so I wouldn't know. To me he just sounds like a rock star.

I also have a couple of earlier examples of him speaking where I would say he isn't drawling (in particular an introduction to Ol '55 from 1975 and an introduction to Roy Orbison's Dream Baby from circa 1972).

Brooke
11-19-2010, 08:36 PM
I have to say I never even noticed it before.

Ive always been a dreamer
11-19-2010, 11:01 PM
When engaged in regular conversation, Glenn still has what I call a Midwestern drawl. It’s not always apparent, but it’s definitely there at times. It’s particularly noticeable in his enunciation of certain words and when he ends a sentence. A few examples that come to mind off the top of my head are the way he sometimes pronounces ‘here’, ‘there’, ‘under”, and ‘tomorrow’. If you are turned off by his drawl, then that’s fair enough. But, I can tell you with certainty that it hasn’t completely disappeared and it doesn’t seem fake to me – it’s just the way he talks.

Stars
11-20-2010, 09:10 PM
I have to agree with Brooke. I have never noticed it before either. Maybe I need to listen a little harder next time I'm watching a concert dvd. I certainly didn't notice anything when I saw the Eagles in concert over the past couple years.

Glennsallnighter
11-22-2010, 06:17 PM
I'm the same. I only have to talk to someone to pick up their accent. It apparently is related to having a 'musical ear', which people say I have and which Glenn :heart: obviously DOES have.

I love Glenn :heart:'s accent on whatever cd or dvd I hear him speaking on. I'd just love to hear more of it..... :wink:

MikeA
11-22-2010, 06:46 PM
GAL....you may well have something there with the "musical ear". I'd never thought about that.

alreadygone
02-27-2016, 06:49 PM
I thought I would bump this forum and say that it wasn't really a "faux Texan" drawl as it was an upper midwest accent, which is common in the great lakes area. It has a twang to it which kind of makes it sound similar to a Texas dialect.

buffyfan145
02-27-2016, 09:31 PM
As someone from Ohio I totally agree with this that Mid-Western accents actually do have slight Southern twang. Those of us in some of the Mid-Western states (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, etc) actually do pronounce some words as they do in the Southern states but this is because a lot of us are actually descendants of people who were originally from the Appalachian Mountain states. My Mother's side of the family is originally from West Virginia and Virginia and I grew up around older members of my family having their Southern accents still. This is common around our area as in the 40s, 50s, and 60s people from those states moved here to work in the auto plants, factories, construction, and other jobs to support their families.

So a lot of us talk with a slight twang depending on if that was the case in your family or just from that being the local accent. My Dad's side is from New England but even my Dad developed the slight Mid-Western twang because he's lived here since he was a little boy. I'll sometimes accidently slip into a Southern twang especially if I get excited about something. LOL I even hear it slightly when actress Kristen Bell talks as she's also from the Royal Oak area as Glenn.

He might have added to it in the 70s being around Don, JD, and others but there is a twang in the Mid-West too.

alreadygone
02-27-2016, 11:35 PM
a lot of us are actually descendants of people who were originally from the Appalachian Mountain states. My Mother's side of the family is originally from West Virginia and Virginia and I grew up around older members of my family having their Southern accents still. This is common around our area as in the 40s, 50s, and 60s people from those states moved here to work in the auto plants, factories, construction, and other jobs to support their families.


I've wondered what Glenn's background was. It seems like a lot of people in Detroit are slavic (names ending in ich, k, or ski).

buffyfan145
02-28-2016, 11:00 AM
I found a better article on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly_Highway) talking about the Appalachian migration and it actually went back father than I expected. People from Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas all started migrating to Ohio, Detroit, and Indianapolis after WWI but the big migration happened after WWII and the depression as the auto industry (Detroit) and steel & construction industry (here in Ohio) got big. It's the reason my maternal grandparents moved here. It's also how "hillbilly" became a slang term because they moved to these areas and brought their families, keeping the accents and culture from "the hills". Royal Oak seems to have been a suburb for the auto workers like Glenn's dad so Glenn would've grew up around that culture no matter if his parents were a part of it or not. Glenn's accent sounds like my family members and how most of us in Ohio, Detroit, and Indiana talk.

As for Glenn's background I know I've read on here he was part Irish, Scottish, and French-Canadian, and the first two are a huge part of the Appalachian ancestry too. It's why my Mom always jokes that music and singing runs in our family because of the Celtic ancestry and being from "the hills".

Ive always been a dreamer
02-28-2016, 02:14 PM
Thanks for the background info, buffy. I don't ever reading that Glenn was part French-Canadian, but my memory seems to be failing me quite a bit lately.

buffyfan145
02-28-2016, 05:27 PM
You're welcome Dreamer. :) I think I read it here but I know I saw it somewhere as I noticed the ancestry almost matched mine (I'm also part Italian).

GlennLover
02-28-2016, 09:16 PM
Thanks for the background info, buffy. I don't ever reading that Glenn was part French-Canadian, but my memory seems to be failing me quite a bit lately.

I thought that I had heard him say in an interview that he was part French, not French-Canadian. Being Canadian my self I think I would have been delighted if he had some Canadian ancestry I probably would have remembered that, poor as my memory is.

Glennhoney
02-28-2016, 10:51 PM
I thought that I had heard him say in an interview that he was part French, not French-Canadian. Being Canadian my self I think I would have been delighted if he had some Canadian ancestry I probably would have remembered that, poor as my memory is.
..I agree..I think I would've picked up on that too..

OutlawManNJ
02-29-2016, 03:44 AM
Im from Jersey and find it rediculous that most of you dont say "DAWG" like we do and instead you guys say "DAHG" :shh: same for CAWFEE....Not CAHFEE!

What the hell is a Dahg!! Its Dawg! 8)

GlennLover
03-01-2016, 02:42 AM
You're welcome Dreamer. :) I think I read it here but I know I saw it somewhere as I noticed the ancestry almost matched mine (I'm also part Italian).

Is this where you saw it, bf145? http://ethnicelebs.com/glenn-frey

SPOILER ALERT - the article mentions Glenn's birth name although I don't know the reliability of this site.

UndertheWire
03-01-2016, 05:46 AM
The genealogy looks plausible - I assume it's quite straightforward for someone who knows their way round public records to research Glenn's family tree given the amount of information available. One of the sources cited was https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4239
(which is probably where this discussion belongs).

GlennLover
03-01-2016, 06:57 AM
One of the sources cited was https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4239
(which is probably where this discussion belongs).

LOL, I noticed that. This site has often been named as a reference or "official" authority, thanks to Soda.

I agree that this discussion should be moved.

buffyfan145
03-01-2016, 11:47 AM
Yes, that was it. I did a search on Glenn's ancestry before, as I usually do with celebs I'm a fan of, and it sent me here and I saw that page too.

But with Glenn's accent I was listening to videos of him talking again and taking into account about the Appalachian people moving to Detroit I can hear it in the way he pronounces certain words. So I do think he grew up around those accents too like most of us in the mid-west.

NightMistBlue
03-01-2016, 12:13 PM
Thanks for that site, GlennLover! Really cool to finally know Glenn's birth surname. You're so cute with the spoiler alert :)

We had a lady from Michigan join our office last year. I told her that her twangy midwestern accent reminded me of Glenn Frey. Thankfully, she was amused and not at all offended.

Glenn did have a southern drawl sometimes in the early days but I liken it to his patchy jeans or sparkly belt: it was part of his country-rock persona.

Freypower
03-01-2016, 04:53 PM
After all these years, too late, we find out what appears to be his birth surname.

The flag of Lebanon springs to mind.

NightMistBlue
03-01-2016, 04:59 PM
Do I recall correctly that Glenn never reunited with his biological dad after the father abandoned his family?

Freypower
03-01-2016, 05:00 PM
Do I recall correctly that Glenn never reunited with his biological dad after the father abandoned his family?

Not as far as we know.

GlennLover
03-01-2016, 06:33 PM
After all these years, too late, we find out what appears to be his birth surname.

The flag of Lebanon springs to mind.

LOL. It appears that the name may be an anglicized version of a French Canadian name. That's probably more likely.

Freypower
03-01-2016, 06:55 PM
Yes, but which spelling? DuCèdre or DuCidre? Both are listed in the article. DuCèdre means Cedar.

AlreadyGone95
03-01-2016, 08:15 PM
I don't know about the rest of ya'll, but I can't imagine calling Glenn by his biological surname. When I think of cedar, the first thing that comes to mind is the tree!

And as a southerner, whose family has been here in Georgia since the 1800s, I can definitely hear a southern twang to 70s' Glenn's voice.

buffyfan145
03-01-2016, 09:43 PM
I agree. It's weird to think about but Frey suits him better and is his name.

One of the vids I rewatched this morning was actually from when he inducted Linda Ronstadt into the HOF and I still hear the twang part of the accent slightly when he says certain words, which is probably how I speak too but don't notice it. LOL

GlennLover
03-01-2016, 10:23 PM
Yes, but which spelling? DuCèdre or DuCidre? Both are listed in the article. DuCèdre means Cedar.

I guess the proper spelling isn't know. It certainly loses some thing in translation. I've never heard "cedar" used as a surname before.

He was definitely Glenn FREY.

sodascouts
03-02-2016, 12:16 AM
The genealogy looks plausible - I assume it's quite straightforward for someone who knows their way round public records to research Glenn's family tree given the amount of information available. One of the sources cited was https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4239
(which is probably where this discussion belongs).

I'd like to move posts but it seems there's a lot of mixing of heritage talk and accent talk! I'll try to figure out which to move later.

Wow, can't believe we finally know his birth name.