Irving Taylor (April 8, 1914 – December 3, 1983) was an American composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.

Biography

He was born Irving Goldberg in 1914 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. A member of ASCAP (

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) since he was a teenager, he enlisted in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

the day after the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. While in uniform, he and

Vic Mizzy Victor Mizzy (January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009) was an American composer for television and movies and musician whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms '' Green Acres'' and ''The Addams Family''. Mizzy also wrote ...

wrote entertainments for personnel stationed at the Staten Island Navy Yard, and he later served as a quartermaster on an LST involved in African and European invasions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He married Katharine Snell, an American dancer, model and actress, on 20 September 1942 and they had two children. He had changed his last name by 1936 from Goldberg to Taylor. He lived and worked in New York City until enlisting in the Navy. After the war ended, he began writing and producing for television (''The Carmen Cavallero Show'', '' The Freddy Martin Show'', and several situation comedies), and maintained homes in both

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, until finally settling in Los Angeles around 1956. In the late 1950s, Taylor wrote words and music for a series of novelty albums which were released on the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. The first was ''Terribly Sophisticated Songs,'' which parodied various genres of the popular music of the time, and featured "Pachalafaka," which was covered by

Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television serie ...

and broke into the Top 40 of the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in 1958. The following year saw ''The Garbage Collector in Beverly Hills,'' which parodied work songs "for the odd job holder." This was followed by ''Drink Along With Irving,'' which parodied songs about alcohol such as "

You Go To My Head "You Go to My Head" is a 1938 popular song composed by J. Fred Coots with lyrics by Haven Gillespie. Numerous versions of the song have been recorded, and it has since become a pop and jazz standard. Melody and lyrics Alec Wilder terms Coots' me ...

" and " The Whiffenpoof Song." In 1959, Warner Bros. released ''The Whimsical World of Irving Taylor,'' a compilation of the most popular of the numbers from the preceding albums. Many of the arrangements for all of the Warner Bros. albums were written by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

. Taylor formed a publishing company, Kiss Music Co., in the late 1950s. Also a member of ASCAP, "Kiss" was an anagram made from the first letters of Taylor's wife and children's first names. Kiss Music Co. now does business in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where Taylor's son Stephen resides. His daughter Suzanna died on January 5, 1995, in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

, where her children continue to reside. Taylor died on December 3, 1983 at the age of 69, in

Westlake Village Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. He is buried at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in

. His wife Katharine died on 21 August 2001 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Partial list of songs (lyrics unless otherwise noted)

* "Swing, Mr. Charlie" (1936) with Harry Brooks and

J. Russel Robinson Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Career Robinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his teen ...

* "There's a Faraway Look in Your Eyes" (1938) * "My Heart Is a Violin" with Emery Deutsch and

* "Three Little Sisters" (1942) with

* "Take It Easy" (1943) with Albert De Bru and

* "One-zy Two-zy" (1946) with Dave Franklin * "

Everybody Loves Somebody "Everybody Loves Somebody" is a song written in 1947 by Irving Taylor and pianist Ken Lane, and made famous by Dean Martin who recorded and released his version in 1964. History Although written almost 20 years earlier, by 1964 the song had al ...

" (1947) with music by

Ken Lane Kermit "Ken" Lane (December 20, 1912 – November 23, 1996) was an American musician from Brooklyn, New York. He was best known to audiences as Dean Martin's pianist on ''The Dean Martin Show'' in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was already ...

. Recorded by several artists, most successfully by

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

in 1964. * "Caramba! It's the Samba " (1947) with

Edward Pola Edward Pola (June 23, 1907 – November 3, 1995)Passenger list, S.S. ''Transylvania'', port of New York, 20 August 1931. was an actor, radio producer, radio/television producer, and songwriter. Pola was born Sidney Edward Pollacsek in New York City ...

and

George Wyle George Wyle (born Bernard Weissman; March 22, 1916 – May 2, 2003) was an American orchestra leader and composer best known for having written the theme song to 1960s television sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. He is the grandfather of musici ...

* "So Dear to My Heart" (1947) with music by Ticker Freeman * " Quicksilver" (1949) with George Wyle and Eddie Pola * " (Everybody's Waitin' for) The Man with the Bag (1950) with

Dudley Brooks Dudley Brooks (December 22, 1913 – July 17, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. Biography Brooks was born on December 22, 1913, in Los Angeles, California.

and Hal Stanley * "Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own" (1950) * "Wandering Swallow" (1951) with Harold Stevens, a Baião, the English version of the Brazilian song "Juazeiro" by

Luiz Gonzaga Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento (standard orthography 'Luís'; ; Exu, December 13, 1912 – Recife, August 2, 1989) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, musician and poet and one of the most influential figures of Brazilian popular music in the twen ...

and

Humberto Teixeira Humberto Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Teixeira (5 January 1915 – 3 October 1979) was a Brazilian lawyer, politician, musician, and composer, mostly known for his partnership with musician Luiz Gonzaga. Together, they wrote one of the most impor ...

* " Am I a Toy or a Treasure" (1954) with Arthur Altman and Louis C. Singer * " Give Me Your Word" (1955) with George Wyle * "Pachalafaka" (1958), words and music * "

Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" is a song written by Irving Taylor and performed by Edward Byrnes and Connie Stevens. The single was produced by Karl Engemann and arranged by Don Ralke, and was featured on Byrnes' 1959 album, ''Kookie Sta ...

" (1959) words and music * "A Christmas Toast" with Ken Lane

Discography

*''Terribly Sophisticated Songs: A Collection of Unpopular Songs for Popular People'', arrangements by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

B-1210 (1958)

Movies

* "Three Little Sisters" (1944) lyricist; eponymous song also appeared in ''

Memoirs of a Geisha ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and wo ...

'' (2005) * "So Dear to My Heart" (1948) lyricist * "Sudden Fear " (1952) lyricist * "Walk the Dark Street " (1956) writer * "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (1957) writer * "The Lord Don't Play Favorites" (TV) (1956) writer

Television

* ''

Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psy ...

'' (1961–1962) writer * ''

The Dean Martin Show ''The Dean Martin Show'', not to be confused with the ''Dean Martin Variety Show'' (1959–1960), is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the s ...

'' (1965) composer * ''

F Troop ''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and c ...

'' (1965) lyricist, with

William Lava William "Bill" Benjamin Lava (March 18, 1911 – February 20, 1971) was a composer and arranger who composed and conducted music for feature films as well as that for the Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' animated carto ...

* ''Jonathan Winters Show'' (1967–1969) writer * ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'' (1976) composer

References

Notes

# Some sources, such a
The Big Bands Database
record his birth as August 4, 1914, but census, passport and family records all confirm April 8 as the correct date.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Irving 1914 births 1983 deaths People from Brooklyn Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) American male composers American male screenwriters Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery ASCAP composers and authors 20th-century American composers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews American male songwriters