R.I.P. Gene Pitney

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Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

Yeah, you did say Johnnie, sorry.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Sorry, Magilla. I don't know him. I just listened to some 30 second clips on Amazon, and the songs don't ring a bell. I only have a passing acquaintence with this type of music, although I'm familiar with all the other artists you've listed and know at least a few of their songs. One of them had to fall through the cracks, I'm afraid.

(Er, I did say Johnnie.)
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Post by Big Magilla »

Actually, it's Johnnie, Not Johnny, Ray.

If you've really never heard him, I'm sure you can track down his songs. "Cry" is probably downloadable off some website. If you've never seen him, you can always check out There's No Business Like Show Business, in which he does a souldful rendition of If You Beleive. The film itself is an hilarious camp classic with Ray playing Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey's younger son who becomes a priest. Donald O'Connor is the older son who lusts after Marilyn Monroe. It's all done to a cornucopia of Irving Berlin standards including the over-indulged Alexander's Ragtime Band and Monroe's heat enducing version of Heat Wave.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Mister Tee wrote:My wife watches the BBC News on PBS, and she told me they did an extended feature on Pitney last night -- this while he didn't even rate a mention on the CBS Evening News (guess they were too busy promoting Katie!!!).

I would guess that Britain is where his legacy endured, more so than in America. BBC called him an "American Superstar". Now that's respect.

I really like Del and Dusty. I don't think I've even heard of Johnnie Ray.
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Post by Damien »

Mister Tee wrote:I don't know if any of my fellow Oscar obsesssives ever read the Films in Review Oscar show reviews written by N.C. Chalmers back in the 60s/early 70s. Chalmers was a dreary, right-wing old-Hollywood booster (his take on the 1971 best picture race was that Nicholas And Alexandra deserved to win), whose recaps of the show were always hilariously off-base. His description of Town Without Pity at the '61 Oscars has always stuck in my head -- he said "the song has less to do with the movie than the movie has to do with reality".
Tee, I've read every Oscar review contained in Films In Review, but they were all so out of touch with reality that they were pretty much useless for us with Inside Oscar.

We did, however, in our first draft quote Chalmers on Gene Pitney -- "performed like a Harlem hophead on dope" (not a direct quote although Harlem hophead is). Our editor thought it was too distasteful a remark, though, and she took it out.

Films In Review was a hilarioously reactionary little magazine (published by or at least in association with the National Board of Review) constantly railing against "excesses" and permissiveness in movies and in society.
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Post by FilmFan720 »

The story, as I have always heard it, was that after Town Without Pity, Pitney was hired to sing the theme for the movie. As they were recording the song, Pitney made some reference that it was going to be the theme song to a movie by the same name. One of the band members remarked that that was odd, considering he saw the film the night before. Pitney said that would be impossible, but looked out the window and saw the film showing at a theatre acros the street. Seems there had been some mix-up between the record producers and the film producers. In any case, it has become one of the quirkier movie song stories out there, although in my thought both are stronger for the song not appearing in the film.

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Post by Mister Tee »

My wife watches the BBC News on PBS, and she told me they did an extended feature on Pitney last night -- this while he didn't even rate a mention on the CBS Evening News (guess they were too busy promoting Katie!!!).

I'd agree Pitney's wildly emotional style is a borderline case -- I can't argue with anyone who hates it, but it works for me (kind of the way I hate broad stage acting, but have loved some of Harvey Fierstein's work -- shamelessness done with love can sometimes fly).

I also didn't realize he'd written He's A Rebel.

I saw Liberty Valance relatively late in life, and was surprised the song didn't turn up in the film. According to the Times obit today, it was written for the film, but (the story gets vague) somehow the film was released about the time it was being recorded. Anyone know the full story?

I first heard Town Without Pity on a Ferrante and Teicher movie themes album my parents had. You can imagine, in among instrumentals from The Apartment and The Big Country, how wild that sounded. (My parents did a "What the -- ?")

I don't know if any of my fellow Oscar obsesssives ever read the Films in Review Oscar show reviews written by N.C. Chalmers back in the 60s/early 70s. Chalmers was a dreary, right-wing old-Hollywood booster (his take on the 1971 best picture race was that Nicholas And Alexandra deserved to win), whose recaps of the show were always hilariously off-base. His description of Town Without Pity at the '61 Oscars has always stuck in my head -- he said "the song has less to do with the movie than the movie has to do with reality".
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Post by Big Magilla »

For my brother, who is as passionate about popular music as I am about movies, Gene Pitney was more than the missing link between Elvis and the Beatles. He sang his songs incessantly, especially Town Without Pity, perfectly mimicking Pitney when he was in his mid-teens, and still does a mean imitation of him today. He has all his records, as well as those of similar style such as Del Shannon, Roy Oribison, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Vee, the Righteous Brothers and Chris Isaak, but Pitney has remained his favorite.

Incidentally, Town Without Pity won the Golden Globe over Moon River, but it probably had more to with the Hollywood Foregin Press Association's love of Dimitri Tiomkin than it did their love of Gene Pitney. They did away with the song award for the next two years and when they gave it out again it went to Tiomkin once again for the Theme from Circus World. The Oscar went to Chim Chim Cher-Ee.
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Post by Damien »

Sonic Youth wrote:I'm sorry to say Pitney's singing style was a little too melodramatic for my taste . . .
And he wrote "He's a Rebel"??? Am I the only one who didn't know that?

Sonic, I understand how you can feel that way, although for me Pitney thrillingly skirted melodrama without indulging in it (much like his contemporary, Del Shannon). For pure musical melodrama, there's that 50s pop icon oddity Johnnie Ray.

I, too, didn't know Pitney had written "He's A Rebel" -- and I was around when it was a hit.

I remember hearing a radio interview with Pitney right after he was inducted into the R & R Hall of Fame. His joy, surprise and graciousness were wonderful.

Oh, and to make this thread more relevant to the Board, Pitney performed the nominated "Town Without Pity" at the 1961 Oscar ceremony. The song, of course, lost to "Moon River," which was performed on the show by Andy Williams.
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Post by Sonic Youth »

Here's a better article about Gene Pitney below.

I'm sorry to say Pitney's singing style was a little too melodramatic for my taste. But what an interesting career he had. He was a successful songwriter only when he wrote songs for other performers, and he was a successful performer only when he sang other people's songs.

And he wrote "He's a Rebel"??? Am I the only one who didn't know that?


Singer Gene Pitney Dies at 65

Apr 5, 8:24 AM (ET)



LONDON (AP) - Gene Pitney, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame whose hits included "Town Without Pity" and "Only Love Can Break a Heart," died Wednesday at a hotel in Wales after playing a show, his agent said. He was 65.

Pitney was found dead in his hotel room in Cardiff, Wales. Police said the death did not appear suspicious.

"We don't have a cause of death at the moment but looks like it was a very peaceful passing," said Pitney's tour manager, James Kelly.

"He was found fully clothed, on his back, as if he had gone for a lie down. It looks as if there was no pain whatsoever."

He added: "Last night was generally one of the happiest and most exuberant performances we've seen out of him. He was absolutely on top of his game and was really happy with the show."

Born in Hartford, Conn., on Feb. 17, 1941, Pitney had his first success as a songwriter with "Rubber Ball," a Top 10 hit for Bobby Vee in 1961. Later that year, Ricky Nelson had a hit with Pitney's "Hello Mary Lou."

As a performer, Pitney had his first success that same year with "Love My Life Away."

But Burt Bacharach and Hal David provided the songs that put Pitney in the Top 10: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and "Only Love Can Break a Heart."

"Only Love Can Break a Heart" was Pitney's biggest U.S. hit, peaking at No. 2 on the charts in 1962. The No. 1 song at the time was The Crystals' "He's a Rebel," written by Pitney.

He had more than a dozen Top 40 hits and even contributed to an early Rolling Stones recording session.

Pitney waited until 1990 for his first British No. 1 - he rerecorded "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" with Marc Almond.

Pitney also had some success as a country singer, pairing with George Jones to record "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night" and "Louisiana Man."

He recorded in Italian and Spanish, and twice took second place at the San Remo Song Festival in Italy. He also had a regional hit with "Nessuno Mi Puo' Giudicare."

Pitney was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
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Post by Damien »

Pitney was probably the greatest white pop singer in the transition period between the early rock 'n' rollers and the British Invasion. "Town WIthout Pity," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," and "The man Who Shot Liberty Valence" remain magnificent pop records more than 40 years later.
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Gene Pitney found dead in hotel
BBC News


American superstar Gene Pitney has been found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel.

Pitney - who found fame with Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa - was pronounced dead at the Hilton hotel at 1000 BST.

He was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness. The cause of death is not yet known but is not suspicious.

His biggest success was in the 1960s and he enjoyed a 1989 revival with his chart-topping duet, Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart, with Marc Almond.

Mark Howes of his management company In Touch Music said the singer was found in his bed.

Mr Howes told BBC Wales that everyone had been shocked by the death and there had been no signs that he was ill.

"He did a good show last night at St David's Hall and it was wonderful," he said.

"I've seen him quite a few times on this tour and he was fit and well. He said it was the best tour he had done for quite a few years."

Pitney has continually toured over the last 40 years.

He received a glowing local newspaper review for what proved to be his final concert in Cardiff.

He received a standing ovation at the end of his 90-minute performance on Tuesday night.

He had nine dates left on his 23-date UK tour and was due to appear at Bristol's Colston Hall on Wednesday.

Pitney's songs have been recorded by some of the world's biggest stars - Hello Mary Lou was released by Rick Nelson, Roy Orbison recorded Today's Teardrops as the B-side to his million-selling single, Blue Angel.

He is also credited with helping the Rolling Stones break the American market with his endorsement of the band.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote his hit That Girl Belongs to Yesterday which became the Stones duo's first composition to reach the American charts.


The son of a mill worker, Pitney said childhood ambitions of becoming a performer could not have been further from his mind.

He once recalled how his first solo performance at school degenerated into an embarrassing whimper as Pitney was petrified by the expectant audience.

Overcoming his nerves over the next few years, Pitney learned to play the guitar and piano and formed a schoolboy band.

It was during one of their gigs that his distinctive voice was discovered by the "the proverbial fat man with a cigar" who took him off to New York.

He is survived by his wife Lynne and three sons who live in his native Connecticut.
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