Person

Drake, Ervin

1919-2015

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.