Vale Gene Pitney

[MagpieScouser]

sad to hear the death tonight of this musical great,i wouldnt say i was a big fan but i do like the song'24 hours from Tulsa'

Anyone have any memories of gene and his music?

 

[materamagic]

Toured Australia regularly in his later years. Sung "Who Killed Liberty Valance" Was in good shape for his age and performed right until the end. Had a great voice and will be missed. Like alot of veteran acts now is the time we all recall how great he was only to forget his cause a few weeks after the death, pity. It will create a resurgance of interest that is for sure. I have been a fan for many years

 

[Adrian Shelton]

Loved his duet with Marc Almond "Somethin's Got A Hold Of My Heart"

 

[ShepBoy]

Absolute legend and talent.

Here is the BBC website obit for him.

Obituary: Gene Pitney

Pitney's career spanned five decades
Gene Pitney went from being a successful songwriter for other acts to become a major international pop star in his own right.
He enjoyed more than 20 hits, including songs like 24 Hours from Tulsa and Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart.


With an unmistakeable singing voice, at once plaintive and melodramatic, Gene Pitney had hits on both sides of the Atlantic.

A friend of The Rolling Stones, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach, Pitney was also a noted songwriter.

He was born on 17 February 1941 in Hartford Connecticut and soon gained a reputation as a musician while studying at the nearby Rockville High School, where he earned the nickname the Rockville Rocket.


But his early flirtation as a performer initially failed to lead to anything bigger. Undaunted, Pitney moved to New York, where he worked as a songwriter at the fabled Brill Building alongside titans like Carole King, Gerry Goffin and Doc Pomus.

Success was not slow to come, and he was soon penning hits like Rubber Ball for Bobby Vee and Ricky Nelson's Hello Mary Lou.


By 1961, when The Crystals' He's a Rebel gave Pitney his first US No 1 hit as a writer, he was a star in his own right.


But Pitney's career was anything if predictable. After his own successful 1961 single, (I Wanna) Love My Life Away, he was approached by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.


They co-wrote three of his best known hits, Only Love Can Break a Heart, (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance and the classic 24 Hours from Tulsa.


Duetting with Marc Almond in 1989

Together with songs like Town Without Pity and Half Heaven-Half Heartache, they constituted a formidable range of work.


Pitney also enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with country music legend George Jones, with whom he recorded an album of duets.


And, in 1964, he met The Rolling Stones, whose then manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, was his publicist - and recorded the Jagger-Richards composition That Girl Belongs to Yesterday


Always more popular in the UK than America, Pitney also made his mark in Italy, Spain and Germany.


More recently, he could be found duetting with Marc Almond on an 1989 version of Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart which gave him his only UK No 1 hit.


Pitney later reflected: "Musically I got along perfect with Marc. The video in the middle of the desert, with me in the white tux and him in the leather, that was great."

 

[ssreid]

I am in absolute shock what a legend.R.I.P

 

[The Hippie]

Blue Angel and Trans Canada Highway were a couple more of his lesser known hits, but favourites of mine.

RIP Gene.

 

[cats56]

Had a phone call regarding this, this morning. Was quite shocked to find out he was only 65.

Personally not a fan of MOR but no doubt he made a significant contribution to music.

Interestingly, the lead singer of Los Bravos "Black is Black" fame sounded a dead ringer for Gene.

 

[CURVE]

My younger brother is a Gene Pitney fan. About 6 months ago he drove through the ANU campus playing "24 Hours" at full volume, windows down, 'head banging' and singing as loud as he could. One of my friends saw him and thought it was funniest thing she had ever seen. His '74 Corolla was rockin' that day.

Anyway, it was sad to hear as there were a number of his songs that I liked. He had a unusual voice, which perfectly suited his songs. "Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is probably my favourite.

 

[Contra Mundum]

My younger brother is a Gene Pitney fan. About 6 months ago he drove through the ANU campus playing "24 Hours" at full volume, windows down, 'head banging' and singing as loud as he could. One of my friends saw him and thought it was funniest thing she had ever seen. His '74 Corolla was rockin' that day.

Anyway, it was sad to hear as there were a number of his songs that I liked. He had a unusual voice, which perfectly suited his songs. "Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is probably my favourite.

Half Heaven/Half Heart Ache is probably one of the greatest power ballads in the history of Western Pop - no-one has ever covered it because no one else could