Haven Gillespie

James Lamont "Haven" Gillespie (born February 6, 1888 in Covington (KY), died March 14, 1975) was a Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of the classic Christmas song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" as well as "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Breezin' Along With The Breeze, "Beautiful Love", "Drifting and Dreaming", and "Louisiana Fairy Tale" (which was used as the first theme song in the PBS Production of "This Old House"), each song in collaboration with other talented people such as Beasley Smith, Ervin R. Schmidt, Wayne King, and Loyal Curtis.

Gillespie left High school at the age of 16 and became a typesetter at the Cincinnati Times Star. He left for New York and became a journalist and composer of songs for vaudeville shows. He first gained notice in 1925 with "Breezin Along With The Breeze", in collaboration with Egbert Van Alstyne, Ervin R. Schmidt, and Loyal Curtis, which was recorded by Josephine Baker among many others.

Gillespie worked in collaboration with many other artists including:
*J. Fred Coots
*Mitchell Parish
*Henry Marshall
*Henry Tobias
*Charles Tobias
*Neil Moret
*Peter DeRose
*Egbert Van Alsyne
*Victor Young
*Jack Little
*Richard Whiting
*Peter Wendling
*Seymour Simons
*Byron Gay
*Rudy Vallée
*Larry Shay
*Lee David
*Earl Edmonds

He also wrote songs for:
*Dean Martin
*Frank Sinatra
*Michael Jackson
*Louis Armstrong
*Sarah Vaughn
*Margaret Whiting
*Bruce Springsteen
*George Straight

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.

References

* [http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_bio.asp?exhibitId=260 Songwriters Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0318939/ IMDB entry]