Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney, 1967

Gene Pitney (born February 17, 1940 in Hartford , Connecticut , USA, † April 5, 2006 in Cardiff , Wales , Great Britain ) was an American singer and songwriter .

Musical career

At the beginning of his musical career Pitney appeared under various pseudonyms , so in 1958 with Ginny Arnell as Jamie & Jane and in 1959 solo as Billy Bryan. He has written hits for other artists, including Today's Teardrops for Roy Orbison , Hello Mary Lou for Ricky Nelson , Rubber Ball (sung by Bobby Vee , among others ) and He's a Rebel for The Crystals . Pitney was a tenor with a distinctive voice and therefore a high recognition value.

In 1961 he had his first hit in the USA with (I Wanna) Love My Life Away . Another hit single that year, Every Breath I Take , was produced by Phil Spector . With the title song Town Without Pity the film of the same name (dt .: Town Without Pity ) finally achieved his breakthrough. This song won the Golden Globe Award for Best Song in a Motion Picture and was nominated for an Oscar , Pitney also recorded a German version of the song: Stay with me . A little later he worked with the songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David . So the hits came (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance , the same Western , Only Love Can Break a Heart (1962), True Love Never Runs Smooth and Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa (1963). Also worth mentioning are his country recordings during those years. So released albums with George Jones and Melba Montgomery , among others .

In the early 1960s, Gene Pitney had many more hits, but was unable to counter the so-called British Invasion after 1964 in the USA . However, it remained quite successful in England and the rest of Europe . With Nessuno mi può giudicare and Caterina Caselli he finished second at the Sanremo Festival in 1966 and sold 500,000 of them in Italy alone. His last American hit was She's a Heartbreaker (1968), while his last and greatest success in the British charts was Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart (1989). The duet with Marc Almond was a new recording of his solo hit from 1967. The single took first places in the charts in Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Belgium; in Great Britain and Germany the title was awarded a gold record .

In 2002 Pitney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Pitney had given a concert on April 4th, 2006 at St. David's Hall in Cardiff. The next morning he was found dead in the hotel. According to his tour manager James Kelly, Pitney lay fully dressed on his bed and apparently fell asleep peacefully.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1962	Only Love Can Break a Heart	-	-	US48 (15 weeks) US
1963	Gene Pitney Sings Just for You	-	-	US85 (7 weeks) US
	(Gene Pitney Sings) World-Wide Winners	-	-	US41 (31 weeks) US	Compilation with three new songs
	Blue genes	-	UK7 (11 weeks) UK	US105 (6 weeks) US
1964	It Hurts to Be in Love / I'm Gonna Be Strong (UK)	-	UK15 (2 weeks) UK	US42 (17 weeks) US
1965	George Jones & Gene Pitney	-	-	US141 (4 weeks) US	with George Jones
	I Must Be Seeing Things	-	-	US112 (9 weeks) US
	Looking Through the Eyes of Love	-	UK15 (5 weeks) UK	US43 (24 weeks) US
1966	Nobody Needs Your Love	-	UK13 (7 weeks) UK	-
1967	Young Warm and Wonderful	-	UK39 (1 week) UK	-
1968	She's a heartbreaker	-	-	US193 (3 weeks) US	UK album title: Pitney Today

More albums

1962: The Many Sides of Gene Pitney 1963: Gene Pitney 1964: Meets the Fair Young Ladies of Folkland 1964: Pitney Italiano 1965: It's Country Time Again! (with George Jones ) 1965: Famous Country Duets (with George Jones and Melba Montgomery ) 1965: Gene Pitney Sings the Great Songs of Our Time 1966: Backstage 1966: Being Together (with Melba Montgomery) 1966: The Country Side of Gene Pitney 1966: Espanol 1967: Just One Smile 1968: Gene Pitney Sings Burt Bacharach

1968: Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart 1968: The Gene Pitney Story (2 LPs) 1969: This Is Gene Pitney Singing the Platters' Golden Platters 1971: Super Star 1971: Ten Years Later 1972: New Sounds of Gene Pitney 1975: Pitney '75 1977: The Fabulous Gene Pitney 1981: Golden Greats Gene Pitney 1985: 24 Hours from Tulsa 1989: Walkin 'in the Sun 1995: The Great Recordings (2 CDs)

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1964	Gene Pitney's Big Sixteen	-	UK12 (7 weeks) UK	US87 (9 weeks) US
1966	Gene Pitney's Big Sixteen, Vol. 3	-	-	US123 (8 weeks) US
1967	Greatest Hits of All Times	-	-	US61 (51 weeks) US
1969	Best of	-	UK8 (9 weeks) UK	-
1976	His 20 Greatest Hits	-	UK6th gold (14 weeks)UK	-
1990	Backstage - The Greatest Hits and More	-	UK17th silver (7 weeks)UK	-
2001	Looking Through Gene Pitney - The Ultimate Collection	-	UK40 (3 weeks) UK	-	Double CD
2020	gold	-	UK30 (... weeks) UK	-

More compilations

1962: Spotlight On (with The Newcastle Trio) 1964: Gene Italiano 1965: Gene Pitney's Big Sixteen, Vol. 2 (also as Gene Pitney's More Big Sixteen ) 1965: Roger Miller Meets Johnny Rivers and Gene Pitney (with Roger Miller and Johnny Rivers ) 1965: The Hit Album of Gene Pitney 1966: This Is Gene Pitney (2 LPs) 1969: The Greatest Hits of Gene Pitney 1972: Golden Hour of Gene Pitney's Greatest Hits 1972: Golden Hour of Gene Pitney - Volume Two 1973: The Golden Hits Of 1974: 24 Hours from Tulsa (Greatest Hits Series Vol. 1) (UK:silver) 1975: All Time Greatest Hits 1975: The Fabulous Gene Pitney 1975: 20 golden greats 1976: Collection (UK:silver) 1977: The Best of Gene Pitney 1978: 100% rock 'n' roll 1980: The Songs of Burt Bacharach (with Dionne Warwick , BJ Thomas and The Shirelles ) 1981: Gene Pitney 1981: The Best of Gene Pitney 1981: 20 greatest hits 1982: 16 evergreens 1982: Half Heaven Half Heartache (2 LPs) 1984: Anthology 1961-1968 1984: The Gene Pitney Collection (2 LPs) 1985: The Very Best of Gene Pitney 1986: Emotions 1988: The Best of Gene Pitney

1989: Greatest Hits 1990: Only Love Can Break a Heart (2 LPs) 1990: The Collection 1991: The EP Collection 1991: Greatest Hits 1992: The Very Best of Gene Pitney: I'm Gonna Be Strong 1992: Mr Hitmaker 1993: Hits and Misses 1993: gold 1993: The Great Gene Pitney 1994: 24 Hours from Tulsa - The Best of Gene Pitney 1994: The Very Best of Gene Pitney 1994: Legends 1994: The Best of Gene Pitney 1995: Ultimate Anthology 1997: The Very Best Of (UK:silver) 1999: His Greatest Hits 1999: 25 all-time greatest hits 1999: The Definitive Collection (2 CDs) 2000: The Story (CD + CD-ROM ) 2001: The Great Pretender 2001: The Best Of 2003: Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart (2 CDs) 2004: The Complete '60s Duets (with George Jones ) 2004: Gene Pitney's Big 20: All the UK Top 40 Hits 1961-1973 2005: Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart - The Collection (2 CDs) 2007: Portrait Collection (2 CDs) 2008: Legend 2008: The Best of Gene Pitney 1958-1961

EPs

1963: 3 canzoni 1963: Quando vendrai la mia ragazza 1963: La Meca 1964: I'm Gonna Be Strong 1964: I Must Be Seeing Things

1965: Canta en Italiano 1965: Gene Italiano 1966: San Remo Winners and Others 1966: Backstage 1966: Gene Pitney

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1961	I Wanna Love My Life Away The Many Sides of Gene Pitney	-	UK26 (11 weeks) UK	US39 (8 weeks) US
	Every Breath I Take The Many Sides of Gene Pitney	-	-	US42 (8 weeks) US
	Town Without Pity The Many Sides of Gene Pitney	-	UK32 (6 weeks) UK	US13 (19 weeks) US
1962	(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance Only Love Can Break a Heart	-	-	US4 (13 weeks) US
	If I Didn't Have a Dime (To Play the Jukebox) Gene Pitney Sings World-Wide Winners	-	-	US58 (7 weeks) US
	Only Love Can Break a Heart Only Love Can Break a Heart	-	-	US2 (14 weeks) US
	Half Heaven - Half Heartache Gene Pitney Sings World-Wide Winners	-	-	US12 (12 weeks) US
1963	Mecca Gene Pitney Sings Just for You	-	-	US12 (11 weeks) US
	True Love Never Runs Smooth Only Love Can Break a Heart	-	-	US21 (11 weeks) US
	Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa Blue Gene	-	UK5 (19 weeks) UK	US17 (11 weeks) US
1964	That Girl Belongs to Yesterday It Hurts to Be in Love	-	UK7 (12 weeks) UK	US49 (7 weeks) US
	Yesterday's Hero Blue Gene	-	-	US64 (5 weeks) US
	It Hurts to Be in Love It Hurts to Be in Love	-	UK36 (4 weeks) UK	US7 (16 weeks) US
	I'm Gonna Be Strong It Hurts to Be in Love	-	UK2 (14 weeks) UK	US9 (12 weeks) US
1965	I Must Be Seeing Things I Must Be Seeing Things	-	UK6 (10 weeks) UK	US31 (7 weeks) US
	I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night George Jones and Gene Pitney	-	-	US99 (1 week) US	with George Jones
	Last Chance to Turn Around The Hit Album of Gene Pitney	-	-	US13 (10 weeks) US
	Looking Through the Eyes of Love Looking Through the Eyes of Love	-	UK3 (12 weeks) UK	US28 (8 weeks) US
	Princess in Rags Gene Pitney's Big Sixteen, Vol. 3	-	UK9 (12 weeks) UK	US37 (8 weeks) US
1966	Backstage Backstage	-	UK4 (10 weeks) UK	US25 (8 weeks) US
	Nobody Needs Your Love Backstage	-	UK2 (13 weeks) UK	-
	Just One Smile Just One Smile	-	UK8 (12 weeks) UK	US64 (6 weeks) US
1967	Cold Light of Day Just One Smile	-	UK38 (6 weeks) UK	-
	Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart Pitney Today	-	UK5 (13 weeks) UK	-
1968	Somewhere in the Country Pitney Today	DE39 (½ month) DE	UK19 (9 weeks) UK	-
	She's a Heartbreaker Pitney Today	-	-	US16 (13 weeks) US
	Billy You're My Friend The Greatest Hits of Gene Pitney	-	-	US92 (3 weeks) US
	Yours Until Tomorrow Pitney Today	-	UK34 (7 weeks) UK	-
1969	Maria Elena Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart	-	UK25 (6 weeks) UK	-
	She Lets Her Hair Down (Early in the Morning) Super Star	-	-	US89 (5 weeks) US
1970	A Street Called Hope Ten Years Later	-	UK37 (5 weeks) UK	-
	Shady Lady Ten Years Later	-	UK29 (8 weeks) UK	-
1973	24 Sycamore The Gene Pitney Story	-	UK34 (7 weeks) UK	-
1974	Blue Angel Pitney '75	-	UK39 (4 weeks) UK	-

More singles

1961: Please Come Back 1961: Take Me Tonight 1963: Resta Semper Accanto a Me 1963: Ritorna 1963: Un Soldino / Non Lasciamoci / Only Love Can Break a Heart 1964: E se domani ... 1964: Cornflower Blue 1964: E quando viene la notte 1964: Not Responsible 1964: Town Without Pity 1964: I'm Gonna Find Myself a Girl 1965: Wreck On the Highway ( George & Gene) 1965: Louisiana Man (George & Gene) 1965: Y'all Come (George & Gene) 1965: Nessuno mi può giudicare 1965: I tuoi anni piu belli 1965: Amici miei 1965: Amici miei / I tuoi anni piu belli (Gene Pitney at the Sanremo Festival ) 1965: La spia 1966: Quella che sa piangere 1966: Verrò 1967: Animal Crackers (In Cellophane Boxes)

1967: I'm Gonna Listen to Me 1967: Guardati alle spalle 1967: Tremblin ' 1968: Yours Until Tomorrow 1968: Love Grows 1969: Baby, You're My Kind of Woman 1969: Summertime Dreaming 1971: Stand by the One Who Loves Me 1971: All the Young Women 1971: It's Not That I Don't Love You 1971: Gene Are You There 1971: Run Run Roadrunner 1972: Baby I Need Your Lovin ' 1972: I Just Can't Help Myself 1975: Train of Thought 1975: Trans Canada Highway 1976: Hold On 1977: It's Over 1977: Sandman 1980: Helmet Boy 1990: In My Life 1990: Let the Heartaches Begin

Contribution as a guest musician

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1989	Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart The Stars We Are	DE1 gold (20 weeks)DE	AT2 (4 months) AT	CH1 (14 weeks) CH	UK1 gold (12 weeks)UK	-	Marc Almond feat. Gene Pitney

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Germany (BVMI)	-	gold1	-	250,000	musikindustrie.de
United Kingdom (BPI)	4 × silver4th	2 × gold2	-	740,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	4 × silver4th	3 × gold3	-

literature

• Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd revised edition. St. Martin's Press, New York City 1989, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 , pp. 524 f.

swell

1. ↑ Birthdays and deaths
2. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Gene Pitney in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: Singles Albums Billboard 200 UK / Marc Almond feat. Gene Pitney
4. ^ Joel Whitburn : The Billboard Albums . 6th edition. Record Research, 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

• Works by and about Gene Pitney in the catalog of the German National Library
• Gene Pitney in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Gene Pitney at Allmusic (English)
• Gene Pitney at Discogs (English)
• Biography and Discography