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Gene
Pitney
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b. 17 February 1941, Hartford,
Connecticut, USA.
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Although Pitney began recording in
1959 ('Classical Rock 'N' Roll' was recorded with Ginny
Mazarro
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as Jamie And Jane), his initial
success came as a songwriter, providing the Kalin Twins with
'Loneliness',
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Roy Orbison with 'Today's
Teardrops' and Bobby Vee with 'Rubber Ball'. His solo recording career took
off in
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1961 with the multi-tracked 'I
Wanna Love My Life Away' and the dramatic film themes 'Town Without
Pity'
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and 'The Man Who Shot Liberty
Valance'. Throughout this period, he was still writing for other artists,
creating
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big hits for Ricky Nelson ('Hello
Mary Lou') and the Crystals ('He's A Rebel'). In 1963, Pitney toured Britain
where his
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'Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa'
reached the Top 10. After meeting the Rolling Stones, he recorded Mick
Jagger
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and Keith Richards' 'That Girl
Belongs To Yesterday'. Despite the onslaught of the beat groups, Pitney's
extraordinarily
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impassioned big ballads remained
popular in the USA and especially in the UK. Among his hits from this era
were
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Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill 's
'I'm Gonna Be Strong' (1964), 'I Must Be Seeing Things' (1965), 'Looking
Through
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The Eyes Of Love' (1965),
'Princess In Rags' (1965), 'Backstage' (1966), Randy Newman 's 'Nobody
Needs
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Your Love' (1966), 'Just One
Smile' (1966) and 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart'
(1967).
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The controversial 'Somewhere In
The Country' (about an unmarried mother) was less
successful.
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In addition, Pitney recorded
albums in Italian and Spanish, with one of his songs, 'Nessuno Mi Puo
Guidicare'
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coming second in the 1966 San Remo
Song Festival. There were also country music albums with George
Jones
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and Melba Montgomery. By the late
60s, his popularity in America had waned but he continued to tour in
Europe,
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having the occasional hit like
'Maria Elena' (1969), 'Shady Lady' (1970) and 'Blue Angel'
(1974).
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In 1988 he had unexpected success
when he sang on a revival of 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My
Heart'
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with Marc Almond, which topped the
UK charts. Pitney will be remembered for his impassioned
vocals
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and his almost faultless choice of
material.
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1966 Photograph of Gene Pitney by
John Robert Rowlands.
