Haven Gillespie, best known for writing the lyrics to the holiday standard "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (1934) and "You Go to My Head" (1938), was more than a two-hit wonder. A consistent songwriter, Gillespie wrote more than a thousand songs, eventually securing a place in the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. An uneducated, untrained risk taker with the ability to play music by ear, the tenacious and prolific Gillespie once likened his career to trying to beat gambling odds. "A songwriter is like a race horse," he said. "If they bet on you once and you lose, they won't bet on you again." His persistence and enduring talent enabled him to live and die a professional songwriter whose music is still being recorded.

James Haven Gillespie was born to William and Anna (Riley) Gillespie on 6 February 1888 in Covington, Kentucky--a river town neighboring Cincinnati, Ohio. One of nine children, Haven...