Gene Pitney
| Gene Pitney | |
|---|---|
Pitney in 1966
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gene Francis Alan Pitney |
| Also known as | Billy Bryan |
| Born |
February 17, 1940 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S |
| Origin | Rockville, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | April 5, 2006 (aged 66) Cardiff, Wales, UK |
| Genres | Pop music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, piano, drums |
| Years active | 1961–2006 |
| Labels | Musicor, Columbia |
Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and sound engineer.
Pitney charted 16 Top-40 hits in the U.S., four in the Top 10. In the UK he had 22 Top-40 hits, and 11 singles in the Top Ten. He also wrote the early 1960s hits "Rubber Ball" recorded by Bobby Vee, "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals, and "Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Pitney was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and grew up in Rockville, now part of Vernon, Connecticut. His early influences were Clyde McPhatter, country-blues singer Moon Mullican and doo-wop groups like the Crows. He attended Rockville High School, at which he was named "the Rockville Rocket," and where he formed his first band, Gene & the Genials. Pitney was an avid doo wop singer and sang with a group called the Embers. He made records as part of a duo called Jamie and Jane with Ginny Arnell (who in late 1963 had a solo hit, "Dumb Head,") and in 1959 recorded a single as Billy Bryan.
Signed to songwriter Aaron Schroeder's newly formed Musicor label in 1961, Pitney scored his first chart single, which made the Top 40, the self-penned "(I Wanna) Love My Life Away," on which he played several instruments and multi-tracked the vocals. He followed that same year with his first Top 20 single, the title song from the film Town Without Pity starring Kirk Douglas. Written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, the song won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, but lost the award to "Moon River." Pitney performed the song at the Oscars ceremony on 9 April 1962 (honoring the film year of 1961).
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