Owning The Song: Gene Pitney
Birthday tribute to a powerful and unique vocalist & songwriter
Happy heavenly birthday to the consummate vocalist and song-smith Gene Pitney. As a singer, he had a manly bravado on par with Frankie Laine and old school “saloon singers” (as Frank Sinatra called the crooners of his day), but Gene also had a soulful rock’n’roll delivery that fit between Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger.
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As a songwriter, Gene created stirring but simple pop songs, crafting choice cuts for Rick Nelson, Roy Orbison, Bobby Vee, and (famously) “He’s a Rebel” for The Crystals.
Like Bryan Ferry, Gene had a powerful and unique vocal technique that seized ownership of any song or style. He was equally comfortable with country, pop, rock’n’roll, soundtracks, and funky r’n’b.
I also compare Gene to Harry Nilsson because they were branded as songwriters but sang on their own hit records from songs they didn’t write. Case in point was the Brill Building creation, “It Hurts to be in Love,” a song circulated to Neil Sedaka and others, but Gene’s 1964 version is the definitive take, copied almost verbatim, years later, by The Durocs and Dan Hartman.
Gene’s popular arc in the USA ran from 1961-68, but he continued to draw international audiences, particularly for his Italian language records. I’m a big fan of “Lei Mei Espatta”
His career intersected with Marc Almond, Burt Bacharach, George Jones, The Rolling Stones, Phil Spector, and other eclectic notables, and he kept touring literally till the day he died in 2006.
Please enjoy my cover of Gene’s “Every Breath I Take” (written by Goffin/King).
Another GP “deep cut” I recommend is “Somewhere in the Country,” a densely orchestrated goth-folk-pop track akin to early Bee Gees.
Meanwhile, thank you Gene for your stellar example of singing and spreading joy.
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