Evelyn Danzig Levine (January 16, 1902 – July 26, 1996) was an American

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

songwriter, who was best known for co-writing the music for the folk style ballad

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

" Scarlet Ribbons", published in 1949, with lyrics by her collaborator

Jack Segal Jack Segal (October 19, 1918 – February 10, 2005) was an American pianist and composer of popular American songs, known for writing the lyrics to '' Scarlet Ribbons''. His composition '' May I Come In?'' was the title track for a Blossom Dea ...

Biography

Danzig, the youngest of six children born to Ethel and Morris Danzig (from Danzig), was born in

Waco Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 population of 146,608, making i ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, the sister of

Allison Danzig Allison "Al" Danzig (February 27, 1898 – January 27, 1987) was an American sportswriter who specialized in writing about tennis, but also covered college football, squash, many Olympic Games, and rowing. Danzig was the only American sportswri ...

, a noted sports writer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' from 1923 through 1967. She studied at the Academy of Holy Name Conservatory at

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, then piano and composition in New York under the tutorship of Sigismund Stojowski. She became a professional pianist and played on many radio stations – in the 1930s, she had her own radio program out of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

called ''Treble and Clef'' – and she composed music for theatrical purposes. "Scarlet Ribbons" was written in only 15 minutes in 1949 at Danzig's home in Port Washington

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

after she invited lyricist Segal to hear her music.https://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/02/18/jack_segal_86_song_lyricist/ Obituary – ''The Boston Globe'' Recordings of the song by Juanita Hall and

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

made no great impression but in 1952

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, at his third session for

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, covered the song with an arrangement using only a guitar and male vocal group, and made the song a hit in concert. The four-year-old recording finally became a major success in 1956. In 1959,

the Browns The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristi ...

recorded a top 20 hit version of the song, that peaked at Number 13 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), ...

chart. Joan Baez, a huge fan of Belafonte, included the hit on her demo "San Francisco" album in 1964. The song was both writers' most successful. Segal had other hits such as " When Sunny Gets Blue", which became popular when originally recorded by

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

,with

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...

and His Orchestra, but further collaborations with Levine, including "Where I May Live With My Love", "The Wonder of Wonderful You", "When a Warmhearted Women Loves a Cold-hearted Man" and "Midnight in Manhattan", did not have outstanding success.

Personal life

Danzig was married to Manuel W. Levine, who was the

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a suburban County (United States), county located on Long Island, immediately to the east of New York City, bordering the Long Island Sound on the north and the open Atlantic Ocean to the south. As of the 2020 United St ...

from 1959 to 1963, before beginning service as a

State Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

judge in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the county seat of Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 20,800 at the time of the 2020 United Stat ...

. Evelyn Levine died in 1996 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

References

Sources

* Claghorn, Charles Eugene. ''Women Composers and Songwriters. A Concise Biographical Dictionary'', Scarecrow Press, 1996. * Grattan, Virginia L. ''American Women Songwriters. A Biographical Dictionary'', Greenwood Press, 1993. * Larkin, Colin. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', 3rd edition, Macmillan, 1998.

External links

Obituary: Evelyn Danzig

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, August 8, 1996 (retrieved January 29, 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Danzig, Evelyn Songwriters from New York (state) People from Waco, Texas People from Port Washington, New York 20th-century American songwriters 20th-century American pianists 1902 births 1996 deaths