Guest post by Nathan Arizona
If somebody had told me Gene Pitney was not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I’d have believed it but I wouldn’t have been happy about it. Maybe I’d start one of those fierce little fan groups that lobby for an overlooked favorite to finally get his due.
Turns out there was no need for that. Pitney was inducted in 2002. Maybe he’s in the Underrated Wing. Even the Hall called him “unsung.”
But then you look back at Pitney’s career and wonder how there was ever a doubt. He had a string of classic hits in the early ’60s. He was Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s go-to guy early in their career. Hits with them included “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” and “Only Love Can Break a Heart.”
Pitney, in turn, wrote hits for others. The Crystals’ recording of “He’s a Rebel” topped the charts in 1962, keeping his own recording of “Only Love Can Break a Heart” from the top spot at No. 2.
Pitney was in the studio with the Rolling Stones when they were putting together their first album. Pitney played some piano for them and then altered and recorded the Stones’ “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday,” which gave the Jagger-Richards songwriting duo their first Top 10 hit in England. If you find the Rolling Stones connection surprising, consider that Pitney also made two albums with country music legend George Jones.
“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” was the perfect theme for the 1962 western by the great director John Ford, except the song wasn’t in it. Pitney recorded it for the film, but apparently Ford wasn’t so great at judging music. He didn’t like it and nixed it for the movie.
The film is nonetheless a classic. It starred three icons of the genre, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin. Marvin was Liberty, a bad guy who like to hurt people with his whip. It was the first time Wayne called somebody “Pilgrim.”
Here’s the song, with pictures it should have gone with.
Bacharach and David were also in a “western” mood when they wrote the Pitney hit “24 Hours From Tulsa.” It might have been influenced by Marty Robbins’ “El Paso.”
“Town Without Pity” was a Pitney movie theme that actually made it into the movie. Not Bacharach-David, but pretty good credits. The composer was classical conductor and musician Dimitri Tiomkin, the lyricist Ned Washington, who penned many Disney classics.
Yes, Gene Pitney is in the Hall of Fame. But he’s still underappreciated.