Renowned for his Motown song writing, Lamont Dozier was born in Detroit and grew up in that city’s Black Bottom neighborhood. He didn’t read music but could play the piano by ear, and he became a successful songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote and produced 14 US Billboard No. 1 hits, including ten for the Supremes, and 54 BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) No. 1 hits. From singing in the local Baptist Gospel choir, he went on to join singing groups like the Romeos and the Voice Masters in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A janitorial job at Anna Records led to meeting Anna’s brother, Berry Gordy, whose Tamla Records, started in 1959, became Motown Record Corp. in 1960, and to a collaboration with the Holland brothers, Brian and Eddie. Starting in 1962, the Holland-Dozier-Holland team at Motown churned out one hit after another for the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Four Tops, and the Isley Brothers. A royalty dispute with Gordy led to the team leaving Motown and starting a couple of companies of their own, Invictus Records and Hot Wax records, which continued to produce hits for them. Dozier decided to go solo in 1972 and moved to California where he signed with ABC Dunhill in 1973 and began to record as a performer, writing much of his own material. His 1974 single “Trying to Hold on to My Woman” made it to No. 4 on the Rhythm and Blues chart and No. 14 on the Pop chart. In 1980, he moved to England and continued his successful career there. His song “Two Hearts”, co-written with Phil Collins for the soundtrack of the film “Buster”, earned a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Oscar nomination. He later taught as an artist-in-residence at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Honors poured in for him and his co-writers: induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1988) and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1990, with the Holland brothers), the BMI Icon award (2003), the British Special International Ivor Novello Award (2004), the Thornton School’s Legacy Award (2007), the Johnny Mercer award of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame (2009) for lifetime achievement.
Songwriter Ervin Drake, the New York City-born son of Jewish Romanian immigrants, had no formal musical training until he attended the Juilliard School of Music in the mid-1960s, yet he published his first song at the age of 12. At City College of New York, where he studied social studies and graphic design, he wrote student shows, but songwriting was to be his forte. In 1942 he penned English lyrics for a Brazilian instrumental piece, “Tico-Tico,” by Zequinha Abreu; he followed this in 1945 with the words and music for “Rickety Rickshaw Man” which sold over a million copies. The next year, he co-wrote the lyrics in 1946 for “Good Morning, Heartache,” sung by Billie Holiday. By 1948 he had launched himself on a television career, composing and producing around 700 prime-time shows by 1962, including some 40 special shows for celebrities from Ethel Merman to Gene Kelly. Songwriting was still a major preoccupation, however. The religious song, “I Believe,” co-written with three others (including Jimmy Shirl, with whom he often collaborated), sold 20 million copies in various recordings. His other best-known work, for which he wrote both the words and the music, was “It Was a Very Good Year” sung by Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio in 1961; Frank Sinatra covered this in 1965 for his comeback album, “September of My Years,” and won a 1966 Grammy for it. Drake also composed and wrote lyrics for several musicals on Broadway: “What Makes Sammy Run?” (1964) and “Her First Roman” (1968). He was founder and president (1973-1982) of the American Guild of Authors and Composers (now known as the Songwriters Guild of America) and was an activist on behalf of songwriters. He successfully campaigned for the 1976 Copyright Law. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.
Harriet Drake was born to William Drummond Wilson and Elizabeth Isabel Cronyn on March 8, 1872, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Upon the death of her mother, she was adopted by John Drake of Bay City, Michigan. Harriet returned to Canada, the country of her parents' birth, in 1904 to train as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital School of Nursing. She graduated in 1907. During World War I, she spent time overseas with the Canadian Army Medical Corps from McGill. After the war, she became superintendent of nurses at the Norwegian Hospital, Brooklyn, New York. She died in Kingston, Ontario, in 1973.
