Haven Gillespie

James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975), known under the pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Breezin' Along With The Breeze", "Right or Wrong," "Beautiful Love", "Drifting and Dreaming", and "Louisiana Fairy Tale" (Fats Waller's recording of which was used as the first theme song in the PBS Production of This Old House), each song in collaboration with other people such as Beasley Smith, Ervin R. Schmidt, Richard A. Whiting, Wayne King, and Loyal Curtis. He also wrote the seasonal standard "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town".

Birth and Death Data: Born Covington (city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States), Died March 14, 1975 (Las Vegas (City of Clark County, and largest city in state of Nevada, United States) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1919 - 1950

Roles Represented in DAHR: lyricist, songwriter, composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 101-125 of 210 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia W148197 10-in. 4/9/1929 Honey Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Columbia W148410 10-in. 5/3/1929 Honey Oscar Grogan Male vocal solo, with instrumental quartet lyricist  
Columbia [W]148435 10-in. 4/12/1929 Honey The Four Aces Male vocal quartet, with guitar and steel guitar lyricist  
Columbia 148522 10-in. 5/14/1929 Honey Jim Andrews ; Barney Trimble and his Oklahomans [Harmonians] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W149712 10-in. 12/11/1929 Do ya love me? (Just a tiny bit, do ya?) Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W149819 10-in. 2/20/1930 Love is like that Cafe Ray West Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with mixed vocal trio lyricist  
Columbia 150124 10-in. 3/26/1930 Kiss me with your eyes Sam Lanin Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W150485 10-in. 4/21/1930 Kiss me with your eyes Ben Selvin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W150625 10-in. 7/8/1930 Right or wrong Jim Andrews ; Louisiana Collegians [Lloyd Keating and his Music] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Columbia W150920 10-in. 10/31/1930 Drifting and dreaming Joe Green's Marimba Band Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W151263 10-in. 2/2/1931 The Sleepy Town Express California Ramblers Jazz/dance band composer  
Columbia W151554 10-in. 5/15/1931 Beautiful love James Melton Male vocal solo, with orchestra lyricist  
Columbia W152034 10-in. 12/9/1931 By the sycamore tree Dorsey Brothers Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W152189 10-in. 5/5/1932 So sweet Log Cabin Four Male vocal quartet, with guitar songwriter  
Columbia 76811 12-in. approximately March 1920 I'm getting tired of playing second fiddle London Dance Orchestra ; Corelli Windeatt Orchestra composer  
Columbia DAL860 10-in. 6/19/1939 Kentucky, sure as you're born Roy Newman and his Boys String band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia C1503 10-in. 9/30/1936 Right or wrong Texas Playboys ; Bob Wills String band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W351080 10-in. 7/24/1931 Beautiful love Frank Ferera's Hawaiian Trio Instrumental trio (Hawaiian), with male vocal solo lyricist  
Columbia W351140 10-in. 12/7/1931 By the sycamore tree Selvin’s Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo lyricist  
OKeh 567 10-in. approximately January 1919 Liberty Bell ring on! Royal Dadmun Male vocal solo, with orchestra lyricist  
OKeh S-7746 10-in. February 1921 Some little bird Rega Dance Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
OKeh S-70955 10-in. Oct. 1922 Old Kentucky moonlight Crescent Mixed Trio Mixed vocal trio, with orchestra lyricist  
OKeh S-72097 10-in. Nov. 1923 Sure as you're born Vernon Dalhart Male vocal solo, with orchestra lyricist  
OKeh S-72303 10-in. Jan. 1924 Until tomorrow Helen Clark ; Lewis James Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra lyricist  
OKeh S-72827 10-in. Sept. 1924 That's Georgia Earl Rickard Male vocal solo, with orchestra lyricist  
(Results 101-125 of 210 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Gillespie, Haven," accessed January 7, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106488.

Gillespie, Haven. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 7, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106488.

"Gillespie, Haven." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 7 January 2026.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106488

External Sources

Wikipedia: Haven Gillespie

Discogs: Haven Gillespie

Allmusic: Haven Gillespie

IMSLP: Haven Gillespie

IMDb: Haven Gillespie

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Gillespie, Haven, 1888-1975 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n92014471

Wikidata: Haven Gillespie - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3783706

VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/61815541

MusicBrainz: Haven Gillespie - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d0693759-d13d-4661-871d-0eb8500acecc

Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/299198 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/299198

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