Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney
Born	Gene Francis Alan Pitney
Other names	Gene Pitney
Years active	1960s – 2006
Height	5ft 8in He quoted this himelf.

Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter. He was also a guitarist, pianist, drummer, and sound engineer. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic. As a performer, his singles charted 16 Top 40 times in the U.S., four in the Top Ten. In the UK he had 22 Top 40 hits and 11 Top Tens. He wrote the early 1960s hits "He's a Rebel", by The Crystals, and "Hello Mary Lou", by Rick Nelson.

Pitney was among a small group of early 1960s American such as Roy Orbison, Bobby Vinton, The Four Seasons, Jan and Dean, Jay and the Americans, The Beach Boys, and The Supremes who continued to enjoy hits after the British Invasion in the U.S. in 1964.

Biography

Early years

Pitney was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He grew up in Rockville, now part of Vernon. His early influences were Clyde McPhatter and doo-wop groups like The Crows. He attended Rockville High School, at which he was named "the Rockville Rocket," and where he formed his first band, Gene & the Genials. He made records as part of a duo called Jamie and Jane with Ginny Arnell (who later had a solo hit , DumbHead), and in 1959 made a single as Billy Bryan. The first of the two Decca 45s as Jamie and Jane was "Snuggle Up, Baby", a cover of a song Charlie Gracie recorded at Cameo 1957 or early 1958 which remained unreleased until London Records released Gracie's original version in Europe in 1978.

Rise to fame (1961-1964)

Signed to songwriter Aaron Schroeder's newly formed Musicor label in 1961, Pitney scored his first chart single, "(I Wanna) Love My Life Away". For this song, he played several instruments and multi-tracked the vocals. This was followed that same year by his first hit, "Town Without Pity". This song, from the film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, won a Golden Globe Award for best movie song and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Pitney was the first pop singer to perform at the Oscars ceremony, singing "Town Without Pity" on 9 April 1962. The song lost the Academy Award to "Moon River".

Pitney wrote songs for others. Notable examples are "He's a Rebel" for The Crystals, Vikki Carr, and Elkie Brooks, "Today's Teardrops" for Roy Orbison, "Rubber Ball" for [[Bobby Vee] and also for [[Marty Wilde], and "Hello Mary Lou" for Ricky Nelson. The Crystals' "He's A Rebel" kept Pitney's highest peaking Hot 100 record, "Only Love Can Break a Heart", from top of that chart on 3November 1962.

Pitney is remembered for "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", which was associated with the 1962 John Ford film of the same name starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles and Lee Marvin. Pitney gave a strong performance of the song, which was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Although it was peaked at 4 on the Billboard pop charts, it was never used in the movie because of a publishing dispute between Famous Music and Paramount Pictures.

His 1963 hit, "Mecca", is a precursor to psychedelia in its use of Indian music three years before The Beatles. Exotic instruments became a Pitney trademark, such as the mariachi trumpets in "Lonely Drifter", the ukuleles in "Hawaii", and the gypsy fiddle in "Golden Earrings".

His popularity in the UK market was ensured by the success of "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa", by Bacharach-David, at the end of 1963. It reached number 4 at the start of 1964. It was also a hit in the U.S.

Involvement with The Rolling Stones (1964)

Pitney was present with Phil Spector at some of the Rolling Stones' early recording sessions in London, including "Little by Little" and other tracks for their debut album; he played piano, though the extent is uncertain.

The Jagger/Richards song "That Girl Belongs to Yesterday" was a UK hit for Pitney in 1964; it was the first tune composed by the Rolling Stones' to become a top-10 hit in the UK. In the U.S. the single stalled at #49, and ending a run of seven Top 40 for Pitney as a performer.

Maintaining popularity at the height of The British Invasion (1964-1966)

After another low-charting single (1964's "Yesterday's Hero"), Pitney had another string of hit singles in the mid-1960s, with the song of unrequited love, "It Hurts To Be in Love" (U.S. 7) and "I'm Gonna Be Strong" (U.S. 9) in 1964, and "Nobody Needs Your Love" in 1966 (the first two were top 10 in the U.S.; the last two at number two in the UK). "It Hurts To Be in Love" was planned for Neil Sedaka but RCA refused to sell it because he had recorded it outside RCA Victor in violation of his contract. The writers, Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller, presented the song to Pitney. Miller replaced Sedaka's voice with Pitney's.

In 1965, Pitney recorded two successful albums with George Jones They were voted the most promising country-and-western duo of the year. Pitney also recorded songs in Italian, Spanish and German, and twice finished second in the Sanremo Music Festival, where his strong vibrato reminded older listeners of the Italian tenor Caruso. He had a regional hit with Nessuno Mi Puo' Giudicare.

UK, Australian and European stardom (1966-1970s)

Pitney's career in the U.S. took a downturn after mid-1966, when "Backstage" ended another run of top 40 hits. He returned one last time to the top 40 with "She's a Heartbreaker" in mid-1968 and had a few hits in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 after that, but by 1970 he was no longer a hit-maker in the U.S.

Pitney maintained a successful career in Britain and the rest of Europe into the 1970s, appearing regularly on UK charts as late as 1974. In Australia, after a fallow period in the early 1970s, Pitney returned to the top 40 charts in 1974, as both Blue Angel (#2) and Trans-Canada Highway (#14 - production by David Mackay) were substantial hits. Pitney continued to place records in the Australian charts through 1976.

In the early 70s, Pitney decided to spend only six months each year on the road.

Later career

Pitney's last hit the UK charts in 1989, after an absence of 15 years, was a duet with Marc Almond. It was a version of "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" by British writers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. It had been a number five for Pitney in 1967. This brought him his first UK number 1 in late January 1989, staying four weeks. It went to No. 1 elsewhere in Europe. The two appeared on the Terry Wogan television show in Britain, Almond dressed in leather, Pitney in a white tuxedo.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds had recorded "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" on their cover album, Kicking Against the Pricks, in 1986. But it never had the success of Pitney-Almond.

On 26 February 1993, Pitney performed at Carnegie Hall in New York on the day of the first World Trade Center18 bombing. On 18 March 2002 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Death

Pitney died on 5 April 2006, aged 66. His tour manager found him dead in the Hilton Hotel, in Cardiff, Wales, in the middle of a UK tour. His final show at Cardiff's St. David's Hall was a success, with a standing ovation, ending the show with "Town Without Pity". An autopsy confirmed heart disease, brought on by hardening of the arteries. He was survived by his wife, Lynn, and three sons.

Posthumous tributes

In tribute, Marc Almond recorded "Backstage (I'm Lonely)" for his 2007 covers album Stardom Road.

On 20 September 2007, a plaque to Pitney was unveiled at the town hall in his hometown of Rockville, Connecticut. Members of the family attended. The Gene Pitney Commemorative Committee established a music scholarship in Pitney's name. It is awarded annually to Rockville High School. In October 2008, an international fan convention was held in Rockville.

Discography

Singles

Note that release dates refer to initial release. Pitney's early singles generally appeared one to four months later in the UK/Australia. Many of his later releases are UK/Australia/NZ only.

Sources include Joel Whitburn's Record Research material for the U.S. Top 100, "Bubbling Under" and U.S. Country charts; Tim Rice et al., Guinness Book of Hit Singles for the UK; CHUM Chart for Canada prior to mid-1964, and the Canadian RPM charts thereafter; and The Kent Report for Australia

Release date	Title	Chart positions
		Australia	Canada	UK	U.S Hot 100	U.S. C&W
1959?	Jamie & Jane (Gene Pitney and Ginny Arnell): Snuggle Up Baby
1959?	Jamie & Jane (Gene Pitney and Ginny Arnell): Classical Rock And Roll
1960	as Billy Bryan: Cradle Of My Arms
1960	Please Come Back
January 1961	(I Wanna) Love My Life Away	29	23	26	39
April 1961	Louisiana Mama
July 1961	Every Breath I Take				42
October 1961	Town Without Pity	31	10	32	13
April 1962	(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance	3	2		4
August 1962	Only Love Can Break a Heart (A-Side)	4	11		2
"	If I Didn't Have A Dime (To Play The Jukebox) (B-Side)	4	42		58
December 1962	Half Heaven - Half Heartache	11	4		12
March 1963	Mecca (A-Side)	7	2		12
"	Teardrop by Teardrop (B-Side)				130
June 1963	True Love Never Runs Smooth	18	17		21
October 1963	Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa	3	6	5	17
January 1964	That Girl Belongs To Yesterday (A-Side)	9	41	7	49
"	Who Needs It (B-Side)	9	41		131
April 1964	Yesterday's Hero (A-Side)	18	36		64
April 1964	Cornflower Blue (B-Side)	18
July 1964	It Hurts To Be In Love	6	2	36	7
July 1964	Lips Are Redder On You Australian release only	83
October 1964	I'm Gonna Be Strong	5	3	2	9
February 1965	I Must Be Seeing Things (A-Side)	12	6	6	31
February 1965	Marianne (B-Side)	12
April 1965	George & Gene (George Jones & Gene Pitney): I've Got Five Dollars And It's Saturday Night	65			99	16
May 1965	Last Chance To Turn Around	13	4		13
June 1965	George & Gene (George Jones & Gene Pitney): Louisiana Man (A-Side)					25
June 1965	George & Gene (George Jones & Gene Pitney): I'm A Fool To Care (B-Side)				115
July 1965	Looking Through The Eyes Of Love	34	3	3	28
November 1965	Princess In Rags	13	2	9	37
November 1965	George & Gene (George Jones & Gene Pitney): Big Job					50
January 1966	Gene Pitney and Melba Montgomery: Baby Ain't That Fine					15
March 1966	Nessuno Mi Puo' Guidcare	30			115
April 1966	Backstage	29	2	4	25
May 1966	George & Gene (George Jones & Gene Pitney): That's All It Took					47
June 1966	Nobody Needs Your Love European release only			2
July? 1966	Gene Pitney and Melba Montgomery: Being Together
September 1966	(In The) Cold Light Of Day (A-Side)	19		38	115
September 1966	The Boss's Daughter (B-Side)	19
December 1966	Just One Smile (A-Side)	55		8	64
December 1966	Innamorata (B-Side)	55
March 1967	I'm Gonna Listen To Me
March 1967	Animal Crackers (In Cellophane Boxes)	87			106
April 1967	Tremblin'
September 1967	Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart	69		5	130
March 1968	The More I Saw Of Her
March 1968	Somewhere In The Country European release only			19
April 1968	She's A Heartbreaker	39	13		16
October 1968	Billy, You're My Friend	31	92		92
November 1968	Yours Until Tomorrow European release only			34
March 1969	Maria Elena European release only			25
August 1969	Playing Games of Love Australian release only	85
December 1969	She Lets Her Hair Down (Early In The Morning)		88		89
March 1970	A Street Called Hope			37
October 1970	Shady Lady			29
1971	Higher And Higher
1971	Gene Are You There?
1972	I Just Can't Help Myself
1972	Summertime Dreamin'
April 1973	24 Sycamore European release only			34
October 1974	Blue Angel European/Australian release only	2		39
March 1975	Trans-Canada Highway European/Australian release only	14
1977	It's Over, It's Over
1977	Dedication
January 1989	Marc Almond & Gene Pitney: Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart European release only	24		1

External links

• Gene Pitney bio
• A site created to honor Gene in his hometown of Rockville, CT
• "Wild" Wayne - Ct. based nationally known Oldies Radio DJ & friend of Gene Pitney
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Report of Pitney's death from BBC News
• BBC Obituary
• Obituary from the The Guardian
• Fan's Final Chat with Gene Pitney
• Interview with Gene Pitney in International Songwriters Association's "Songwriter Magazine", concentrating on his songwriting career

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