Nervous Norvus

1950s Novelty Song Artist

Nervous Norvus, whose real name was Jimmy Drake was a Memphis native born March 24, 1912 and later moved to California where he lived until he passed away on July 24, 1968 at age 56 from cirrhosis of the liver. He was a truck driver who dreamed of becoming a songwriter. He took out an ad in a music paper offering to record songs for budding amateur songwriters. With a little home studio set up, he was able to supplement his truck driving income with his new music service. With the help of radio personality Red Blanchard, whom Drake had been sending tapes of his songs to, Drake recorded 'Transfusion' under the name Nervous Norvus for the Dot label in 1956. The successful single was followed up with another hit, "Ape Call". Drake declined an invitation to appear on the Ed Sullivan show to perform "Transfusion" due to his shyness. A third single "The Fang" flopped and Drake was subsequently dropped from the label and resumed his home based music service. More singles followed on various tiny indie labels, but nothing ever came of them. 2004 saw the release of a CD anthology collecting together 33 recordings Drake made under his own name, and as Nervous Norvus entitled "Stone Age Woo: The Zorch Sounds of Nervous Norvus" on the Norton label.