On Jan 20, 11:44*am, RicodJour wrote:
Two nights ago I went to a performance by Christine Lavin at our local
public library. *She was funny as hell, poignant and read from her
recent memoir (subtitled Mem-Wha??). *I love her music and, a rarity
in today's world, she sounded exactly like her albums.

At the beginning of the show she introduced a guy in the front row, an
elderly chap, as a great songwriter - Irv Drake. *Actually it's Erv,
but I didn't know it at the time, and I didn't recognize the name
anyway, but I clapped dutifully.

A bit later in the show she read an excerpt from her book about Erv
Drake. *A truly amazing story about getting his heartbroken at an
early age and writing a song about it, Good Morning Heartache. *Say
what? *The guy sitting three seats away from me was that guy? *The guy
that wrote Billie Holiday's song, the jazz standard covered by nearly
everyone with vocal cords? *Wow!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk1IKHd_0fk

She then asked him to get up on the stage and play something. *Like I
said, he was elderly, 91 as it turns out, and as he sat down and
started to play my jaw dropped. *It kept dropping until the floor
stopped it. *He was playing It Was A Very Good Year. *Holy crap - this
was the guy that wrote one of Sinatra's signature songs!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ervin_Drake

Then he played I Believe, Frankie Laine's #1 hit.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qklmcYa1PhM

Like I said, Mr. Drake is songwriting royalty, and he's a really
charming guy. *Here's an article that tells a little bit more about
him:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123862611987180187.html
One thing that came out at the show that differs from that article -
he didn't withdraw from Edith's life (the girl that broke his heart),
she booted him on the spot when he proposed. *Read the article for the
outcome. (spoiler alert: the outcome at the bottom of the post)

Needless to say, I stuck around afterwards and thanked everyone for
everything. *It really was a magical evening, and it was at the local
library for free.

R

SPOILER: *They held hands the entire show. *Before I knew who he was I
noticed it and it warmed my heart.

That had to be cool....