Remembering Glenn Frey

[sodascouts]

OK, so I'm finally ready to share something I've never posted publicly before because I wasn't sure it was something he wanted "out there". However, now, well, that doesn't matter anymore. It was something that was pretty much one of the greatest moments of my entire life....

It was the time Glenn Frey asked me, Dreamer (Kay), and Perfect Little Sister (Lissa) up to his hotel room for a chat with him and his daughter... a chat that wound up lasting two hours.

It was in Niagara Falls 2007.

(This story is freaking LONG, so I'm going to break it up. I wrote it all down right after it happened so I'd never forget, and it came out to 12 pages).

It all started with a phone call...

==============================

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007
11:40 pm


Kay and I were talking on the phone about the upcoming trip to see Glenn's solo shows at Niagara Falls the day after next, and wondering what the shows would be like. We talked about how nothing could top Pebble Beach... unless he invited us to hang out with him. “But the odds of that are slim to none,” I joked.

Then, Kay got a beep on her phone. “Who’s that? It says ‘blocked.’ I haven’t blocked anyone.”

“They probably blocked their number from showing on your phone,” I replied.

“Well, I don’t want to answer the phone then,” Kay said, and let the message pick up. We talked for a couple more minutes.

As we talked, I was taking things out of the trunk of my car and carrying them into my apartment, since I’d need the trunk to be empty when I left the next day for Canada. I was chatting away and moving towards the door with my latest bundle of crap from my trunk, balancing the cell phone on my shoulder, when I heard the phone ringing from outside in the hall.

I quickly opened the door and stepped inside to check the caller ID. It said “Unknown Caller.” It was my one-ring number, not the one I give to friends, so my first instinct was not to answer it. However, I have no answering machine and it kept ringing.. and my ringer is LOUD. So I decided to answer it just to get the ringing to stop as it was disrupting my call with Kay. We also thought it was odd that I was receiving a call from “unknown” so soon after she got a call from “blocked.”

“I’m going to get that Kay – I can always hang up if it’s a sales call.” I put my cell phone down, picked up the landline phone, and heard a voice say:

“Hello, is this Nancy?”

“Yes.”

“This is Glenn Frey.”

“WHAT?! No way!”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“No, who is this REALLY?”

“It’s really me, Glenn. I’m sorry to call you so late... I hope I didn’t wake you up...”

“No, you didn’t...” I paused. “Are you for real? This is really Glenn Frey?”

“Nancy, you know it’s me.”

I paused. He sounded so sure I would recognize his voice... so I said hesitantly... “Well, if this isn’t Glenn Frey, then you should burn in hell. But if it is... this is SO COOL!”

He said, “My ticket’s at will call but it’s not time for me to pick it up yet.”

“Huh?”

“For Hell. I’ve got a ticket for Hell at Will-Call...”

“Oh! HAHA!” At this point I decide I’m going to go with it. “OK, OK, I’ll buy this, but why would you want to call me?”

“Aren’t you that girl who followed me around Pebble Beach with your girlfriends Lisa and Kay?” [Note: for a refresher on that, read here.]

“Uh, yes.. it’s Lissa by the way, not Lisa, short for Melissa.”

“Oh, OK, Lissa. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about you girls off and on since Pebble, and I’ve been meaning to send you that swag I promised you. I even put together a box of things, but I just got so busy at work that I didn’t get around to sending it. I thought that if you were coming to Niagara Falls, I could present it to you girls then.”

“That would be great!” I stammered. There was a ton of background noise at this point, and I figured I should take care of this, so I said, “Are you hearing a lot of interference?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Are you on a cell phone? I’m on a hard line.”

“So am I, but why don’t you call me on my cell phone?”

“OK, what’s the number?”

I gave him the number and then unceremoniously hung up on Kay, lol. Also, desperate not to lose the connection, I literally ran outside with my cell phone. I waited for what seemed like an eternity, but was really about two minutes, wondering if this could be for real. If it was, HOLY CRAP! If it wasn’t... I would feel like such an idiot. How could I know?!!! It sounded so much like him...

He called back. “Anyway, as I was saying, I meant to give you girls that swag, but got distracted.”

“Oh, I’m so upset that we weren’t your first priority,” I joked.

“Well, you should have been,” he said kindly.

“Aw...” I didn’t know what to say.

“So you are going to Niagara Falls, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am, and so is Kay, but... Lissa can’t afford to go.”

“Oh, she can’t?”

“No, she’s saving up for this thing in February...” I tried to joke.

“What thing? Oh, you mean the AT&T.”

“Yes... hahaha,” I stumbled weakly. “That is if you’re even doing it this year... you guys are going to be pretty busy next year I guess...” he didn’t say anything. I hoped I hadn’t said anything wrong! But I continued on. “I feel really bad about Lissa not going, too. She is kind of my ‘Partner in Crime’ and this will be the first time we haven’t been together when doing something related to you...” and then I hastily added “...you guys” so it didn’t sound so stalker-esque, lol.

“Well, if it’s just a matter of money, I can help out with that,” he said.

“Oh really? That’s great! But... there’s something else... her husband has some issues with you.”

“With me?”

“Yes, you know, when we went down to Pebble Beach to see you he wondered...”

“Oh, it’s not like that at all! I’m not like that. I’m a happily married man. I’m neutered. I even told my daughter Taylor about you and she’ll be there.”

“Oh, I know, I know!! It’s just that she’s so beautiful and some guys...” I trailed off, feeling like I was saying too much.

“Well, I don’t want to get anyone into any trouble or cause any marital discord. I want to make the world a better place,” he joked.

I laughed, getting the reference to "Ain't It Love" immediately, then went on. “You know what? Don't worry. I’m sure we’ll find a way.”

“I sure hope so because I had this vision of presenting all three of you with your swag at Niagara Falls.”

“That’s so nice of you...” I continued talking to him, walking around the parking lot of my apartment complex, seeking the best reception. I kept passing other students from Purdue who lived at my complex and I thought, Look at all these people, passing me by, for them it's just another night. They have no idea that just a few feet away from them, I'm here on the phone with GLENN FREY in the parking lot of this crappy complex.

“You know, I don’t really do this kind of thing, but like I said I’ve been thinking about you girls and you seem like really sincere fans to me. I mean, you came all the way out to Pebble and stayed through all that rain and you came to Canada last time... and I didn’t get any stalker or ‘Fatal Attraction’ vibe off of you...”

“That’s good, because I was worried that you’d see us coming and think, ‘Uh-oh, here come the freaks!”

“No, no, I don’t think that at all!”

“I know, I guess if I really thought that I wouldn’t have come back the second year,” I lied. Actually, I had been completely nervous that he would think that!

“But like I said you seemed like really sincere fans. For instance, when you told me how much you liked my performance of I Love to Watch a Woman Dance... that meant a lot to me. Your dedication means a lot to me. I want to do something for you. And I promised you this swag and I want to give it to you.”

“That’s so sweet of you,” I gushed.

“I thought what we could do is meet up before the show, maybe for lunch or for a pre-show dinner Thursday or Friday, and I could give you the swag. I’m not sure exactly when we’ll do it, but I have your cell phone number and I can call you back to sort out the details.”

I remembered the trouble I’d had with my cell phone in Rama. “OK, but my cell phone might not get good reception in Canada, I had trouble at Casino Rama last time, so maybe I should give you our hotel...”

“I’ll just give you Tommy Nixon’s number and if you haven’t heard from me by noon Thursday, you can call it. The number is....”

“Wait, I’m outside, I’ve got to go back inside and get some paper,” I said hurriedly, practically running back inside and praying I didn’t lose reception once I did.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot you were outside,” he apologized. He is too sweet!

“No, don’t worry, it’s just my stupid cell phone has such crappy reception,” I explained. Then I was back in my apartment. The first paper I saw was my MapQuest printout for the Buffalo Airport. I grabbed it. “OK, I’ve got a pencil and paper now.”

“OK. The number for Tommy is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Just tell him you’re one of my friends from Pebble Beach and he’ll know who you are.”

“OK, great, thanks,” I stammered again. "This is so cool - I can't thank you enough..."

"Well, I just wanted to do something special for you girls.... I just want to give you three girls your swag. I think you’re going like it. It’s ‘underground swag’.... a little something extra.”

“Thank you,” I stammered again.

“Well, I guess I’d better go now, I’ve got to get up in the morning at 4:00 to catch a flight out to Niagara. Again, I’m sorry I called you so late.”

“Oh, I’ve got news for you, it isn’t that late for me,” I tried to joke, but he didn’t laugh, so I moved on and said, “Before you go, tell me exactly what you want me to say to Lissa.”

“Tell her that if it’s just a matter of money that I can buy her a coach ticket, and that I really hope she can make it because I really want you two to be there. But I don't want to cause her any trouble...”

“You let us worry about that, OK?" I was starting to freak. "This is SO COOL!” I repeated, unable to think of something more eloquent to say.

“OK. Goodnight, Nancy. Sweet dreams after you calm yourself down,” he chuckled.

“Goodnight, Glenn,” I said, swallowing hard, thinking how freaking AWESOME it was that I was on the phone saying goodnight to freaking GLENN FREY.

My mind was practically in a frenzy. I immediately dialed Lissa’s number and was told she wasn’t home, but was at cheer with her daughter. I debated... call her at cheer? Would she make a scene?

Instead of calling her then, I quickly called Kay, practically hyperventilating, and told her that Glenn Frey had called. After convincing her that I was for real, it occurred to her that Glenn might have been the “blocked call”! I then hung up with her to call Lissa back, unable to wait any longer, and she checked her message from the “blocked call” – her message from Glenn Frey.

I finally reached Lissa as well. She was driving when I told her the news and practically wrecked her car. She had to pull over. And no matter what, she was going to make that plane.



====== TO BE CONTINUED ============

[sodascouts]

The next day, Glenn called Kay's cell phone again and told her that he'd decided to do a couple new songs for the concert and they needed time to rehearse before the show, so our lunch was off. Instead, he wanted us to meet him about a half hour after the show was over. He told us what his hotel suite was.

The show was great. You can read all about it here.

After the show, Kay, Lissa, and I ran up to our hotel room and tried our best to look as cute as possible. Back then, I was still chubby (as you can see from my avatar, which came from that night) but I did my best to minimize the fat. Lucky for me, Glenn wasn't asking us up there because we were hotties. He was rewarding us for being true fans.

The time finally came.

When we got to his floor, there were these two ladies there. They said “You must be the golf girls.” I joked to them about Putt-Putt and windmills. They said, “He’s waiting for you.” (HOLY CRAP)

We went to knock on the door. I found myself alone in front of it as Kay and Lissa stood to the side – for once, I was the brave one! I said “You girls better get over here and stand by me. I’m not going to be the only one standing at this door when he opens it.”

Once they moved closer, I knocked. Almost immediately, the door was opened – I think it was opened by Tommy. I remember surveying the room – seeing Taylor look up from her drawing, Glenn coming over... and he hugged me! I’m not sure if he hugged me first, but I think so, just because I was so surprised. We hugged really tightly, then I pulled away and I think at that point said hello to Taylor.

I know I tried to get Tommy’s name because I wasn’t sure who he was and I didn’t want to be rude. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?” I asked him.

He said “Tommy Nixon."

“Oh yes!” I nodded because I recognized his name. I knew exactly who he was. “You’re the...” I trailed off because he looked a little surprised. “I’m so hardcore I know who everybody is without being introduced,” I tried to joke. I'm not sure he got it.

Glenn introduced me as “Nancy from Livermore,” which I quickly corrected – “I’m from Indiana.” VINDICATION, I thought, because I had said I’d never be scared to tell him where I was from in my fan letter, but I had chickened out at Pebble Beach. Now I had finally been honest.

As we came in, I remember Kay saying that Taylor looked like her mom, to which Glenn quickly asked, “Where have you seen photos of her mom?” Lissa mentioned the photo spread in Town and Country. Glenn said “Oh yes, the house in Palm Springs.”

I said, “Actually, you did two. Town and Country and Home and Garden.” I realized I was sounding a little TOO knowledgeable.

Luckily Taylor chimed in at that point. “That’s right, we did two, one when I was like five and one when I was like eight.”

I think at that point Lissa or Kay asked when she was starting school, and Kay asked if she was working on homework, to which she replied that she was drawing. Glenn added that she loved to draw. I think this is also when Glenn commented that Lissa reminded him of Jean Schmit. Taylor popped her head up at the mention of Tim’s wife with “Aw, Timothy!”

I think it was then he asked us if we wanted anything to drink. He listed drinks “water, Coke, Diet Coke...” as well as “Jordan.” I figured Jordan must be the wine, and I was going to ask for it, but Lissa and Kay were getting soft drinks and water, and I didn’t want to look like the lush of the group. I hesitated. “Nancy?” Glenn prompted. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“Um... what’s Jordan?” I asked hesitantly.

“Oh, Jordan is a good wine,” Glenn reassured me, as if I needed to be told that Glenn was drinking good wine, lol. At that same moment, Tommy showed me the year on the bottle and echoed Glenn’s assessment. I finally said “Jordan, please,” and was relieved when Kay asked for a glass as well.


Note: I just realized how crazily detailed this is. You probably don't need to know every single piece of dialogue, even though I wrote down everything I could remember at the time, because I didn't want to forget a word! Still, I'll move on to the highlight reel.


=== TO BE CONTINUED ======

[UndertheWire]

The detail is great. I should be sleeping but this is a good bedtime story. And you don't look chubby in your avatars.

[sodascouts]

Glenn, Taylor, and Tommy were all so friendly. We talked and talked and talked about all sorts of things. Some memorable moments:

- Kay and Lissa talked to him about Lissa’s son being in the Navy and how Kay liked the new instrumental ("I Dreamed There Was No War"; he had played it for the first time publicly that night). Kay couldn’t remember the name and I wanted to shout it out to her because I had written it down and therefore knew it, but by then Glenn had told her what it was. He seemed pleased that we liked it. We felt so privileged to be among the first to hear it publicly.


- Glenn called his suite “the West Covina Suite.”


- I got out my cell phone and proudly declared to Glenn that I had “Call on Me” as my ringtone and I’d made it myself. He didn’t look too impressed, lol, but he didn't look pissed off either. I'll take it!


- Glenn knew I was working on my PhD and wanted to know more about my dissertation (can you believe it?!) I told him my area of concentration was the British Renaissance. Before beginning, I asked, “Do you really want to hear about it? Because I’m not sure how far I can get before people lose consciousness.”

“In a nutshell."

I TRIED to quickly summarize it. Glenn and Taylor were nodding and it turns out Taylor was into Shakespeare, too. I was so freaking glad Taylor was there because she was easy to talk to and I didn't feel so nervous with her there. Glenn asked me about authors from the Renaissance... we talked a bit about Shakespeare, Milton... Tommy asked Glenn jokingly if he really understood what I was talking about or was just pretending. It seemed like he got it to me, though. Those Freys are sharp cookies.

I admitted to Glenn that writing the dissertation was going more slowly than I'd hoped. I joked that “the release date of my dissertation has been pushed back.” He laughed at that.

When they continued to express interest in what my dissertation was about, I tried to keep it short, but I went on and on and on, gesturing wildly in my hyper way. I was starting to lose everyone and was garnering looks of boredom, confusion, even mild alarm... except for Taylor. Thank God for Taylor! Afterwards, I sat back and said “It sounds feminist but it’s really just a pattern I saw.” I got concerned because I was talking about feminine empowerment and control over the male in Renaissance literature and I didn't want to scare anyone, lol. Happily, everybody seemed fine!


- Tommy said that he would like to go to a Renaissance Fair and I said that I used to go to one in Texas when I lived there. He mentioned the storms in Texas, then he asked where the fair was and I said I wasn’t sure – that it was out in the middle of nowhere, near Cut’n’Shoot, north of Houston. He kept asking me “It’s in between Houston and Austin?” over and over, and I kept saying “I don’t know” because I’m so directionally impaired I wasn’t sure! “I just drove north for an hour and a half and got there!” Tommy looked at me with disbelief – it was like he couldn’t believe I was really that stupid, not to know even that much geography of my home state. Glenn joked that it might be next to “Knife’n’Kill.”


- Glenn knew from Pebble Beach that we'd bought some of his old yearbooks off of Ebay, and while he didn't blame us for buying them, he didn't seem too thrilled that people would sell his stuff. Kay told him that she'd bought an essay he'd written as a kid and offered to mail it to him, but he said she didn't have to. It was so nice that he didn't think we were weird for buying it, which I had been worried about.


- Those of you who've met me in person know that when I get excited, I can talk and talk and talk and talk. Well, I was doing this now... Glenn was smiling, he seemed cool with it and happy to be able to chill and not do all the talking. At least, that's what I was telling myself! After a while, though, he had something to say. “Let me hold court for a second,” he said, kindly but with authority. I think he thought that while I was a bit talkative, I wasn't all that bad. Silence fell as we waited; he had become intense all of the sudden. He told us that he was going to give us some special gifts and that if he ever saw them on Ebay we would be in the "penalty box for life." We must never share them, copy them, sell them...

“So this is all supposed to be a big secret?” I questioned. He never answered me, but I guess silence is a “yes” here. [This is why I've never talked about it before now.]

“What I’m about to give you must remain between us. It’s...”

“The cure for AIDS!” Taylor said mock-seriously.

Glenn didn’t laugh, but instead echoed, “Yes, the cure for AIDS." Great straight delivery. "No, but seriously, what I’m about to give you must NEVER be shared or copied or sold” etc. etc.

To this day, none of us have shared them, and we never will. Suffice it to say it was indeed some pretty special stuff, and I'll treasure it all my life.


- at one point, I told him, pointing at him to catch his attention, “You know the Eagles released the single ‘How Long’ today...” He nodded, looking a bit wary, like he didn’t want to talk about the Eagles. I said “I have this video of you doing that song in 1972 and...” I turned to Taylor “he has on this shirt that says “teen king’ on it! haha!” She laughed. “Teen King?” Me making it into a joke rather than a convo about the Eagles seemed to please him. “Teens dug me,” he said, a little proudly. “You know, Linda Ronstadt gave me that name. She just looked at me one day and said, ‘You know, you’re just a teen king.’” This got some laughs.

I said we had heard the song on the Eagles’ MySpace. Taylor said “The Eagles have a MySpace?” She turned to Glenn. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He said, “You know me, I don’t know about those things – myspace, yourspace, whatever.”


- he refilled our wineglasses, at which point I thought "YES! He's not tired of us yet!"


- some fans who'd found out his hotel room number came up and knocked on the door. Tommy enlisted Kay to deal with it. They answered the door pretending to be a couple and told the fans "You've got the wrong room." It was hilarious.


- I was standing and pacing a bit for some reason and was told to sit down. Once I did, I said I was a bit hyper, and someone said “We noticed.” I said I had a tendency to talk too quickly when I get nervous, and that Kay and Lissa gave me a hard time about it at Pebble Beach. I admitted that I knew I was talking too fast at Pebble Beach because sometimes I would say something to Glenn and he would just look at me with this confused, uncomprehending look on his face. Taylor said to me, “He always looks like that” and then we both looked at him and I had to laugh, because at that moment he DID have a confused and uncomprehending look on his face (apparently not clearly hearing what I had just said). He knew Taylor and I must have been talking about him though, because he was like "What?"


- Glenn called me “Nance” several times, which I loved, because almost no one calls me that and I liked having a nickname.


- Glenn talked about calling us up. He said that he’d thought he’d had our numbers and was really surprised when he pulled out the paper and it was just our addresses. He said he dialed me up first and asked for “Nancy K**** from Lafayette” and that the phone had just rung and rung and rung. I said that he had called the number I don’t give to friends and that I don’t usually answer that number. Kay chimed in that we had been talking on the phone at that time. Then he said – I believe as he was getting up because I seem to remember him being standing when he said this – that I should get better at voice recognition. I said that I had been afraid to believe it was true, while Glenn was just shaking his head and saying that I should have known it was him. I said “Well, see, the thing is, if it hadn’t had been you, a) I would have felt stupid, and b) My heart would have been...” I was going to say ‘broken’ but I thought it might have sounded melodramatic, so I just trailed off and instead looked over at Tommy and said “You guys just have no concept of out ‘out there’ it is for me to receive a call from Glenn Frey.”


- at the end, Glenn yawned, at which Tommy immediately said “It’s getting late...” which we all took as our cue to get up and go. I quickly asked him for an autograph for timfan, who was also in Niagara Falls. Not only did he oblige, he gave us some stuff for her, too.


- I asked if we could have a photo with Glenn. I needed some photographic evidence that this had really happened and I hadn't dreamed it. He wasn’t too keen on it, but finally agreed. I then made a puppy dog face at him and said “I really can’t post this online?” pleadingly. He paused for a second as if reconsidering his earlier edict, then shook his head and pointed at me saying “Aw, that’s evil!” as he got up out of the chair. At first I thought he meant putting stuff online was ‘evil’ but as I thought about the way he said it, I think he meant it was ‘evil’ of me to try to make him change his mind by making that puppy dog face. Taylor took the photo for us and while I look fat, I still treasure it! Perhaps it's naughty of me to even have it as a little avatar but it reminds me of the good times, the best times.

After a bit more chatting, off we went... and that was it!



I always dreamed that one day, we'd get another invite. I kept that Indiana cell phone number - still have it to this day - because Glenn had called it and I always hoped he'd call it again. (Yes, we had his number too, but he told us not to call it after that weekend so... we obeyed. I still have it in my phone, though!) Although he talked to us again after the show at the Roxy later in the year, introduced us to Cindy and Deacon, chatted with us and gave us a ride to our car at Pebble Beach, and occasionally gave us shout-outs or waves from the stage, we never had another night like that.

I'll never forget it.


Thank you, Glenn, for giving me one of the most memorable nights of my life. You treated me like a friend, and that was the greatest gift of all. There will never be anyone else like you. You will always be in my heart.

[Prettymaid]

Soda - DON'T SKIP ONE FREAKING DETAIL!!!

I'm so happy that you're ready to tell this story.

[Tori]

I can't stop smiling!!! This is an AWESOME story, Nancy. How absolutely mind-blowing that you got to spend that precious time with Glenn and Taylor. I can only dream of such a thing ever happening to me. I thought your Pebble Beach escapades were amazing... then this story comes along! You, Kay and Lissa are some of the luckiest people in the world, and I continue to be surprised every day by how great of a man Glenn Frey was.

[sodascouts]

Soda - DON'T SKIP ONE FREAKING DETAIL!!!

Well, I did get pretty detailed, lol. I left out some of the more private stuff, things he shared about his family. They weren't exactly state secrets but even though he's gone now, there's still a few things I want to keep offline!

However, I wanted to put this here to show how amazing this man was. I mean, how many rock stars do this kind of thing???

[buffyfan145]

Thanks Soda for posting. Wow, that is amazing he did that and such a great story and memory for you, Kay, and Lissa.

[LuvTim]

Well, I did get pretty detailed, lol. I left out some of the more private stuff, things he shared about his family. They weren't exactly state secrets but even though he's gone now, there's still a few things I want to keep offline!

However, I wanted to put this here to show how amazing this man was. I mean, how many rock stars do this kind of thing???

Soda, this was a very sweet and moving story. No wonder his fans have been so devoted to Glenn and now to his memory. Thanks for sharing this special experience.

[Elizasong]

Soda what a TRULY great memorable experience you've had. I would never believe that was him on the phone. I didn't read the Pebble Beach story but I"m assuming you gave him all your details there.

Thanks so much for sharing all the details. I felt like I was standing right next to you in the parking lot and then in the hotel hanging out!!

You are a very good writer.