By ANDY SCHWARTZ
PITNEY B y ANDY SCHWARTZ OF ALL THE AMERICAN ROCK & ROLLERS TO EMERGE songwriter whose tunes were well received by hit- in the period between Elvis Presley’s induction into hungry New York music publishers. His first notable the army in 1958 and the arrival of the Beatles in cover, the Kalin Twins’ “Loneliness,” was soon fol 1964, Gene Pitney is one of the select few to have lowed by others from Steve Lawrence (“Tears From not just survived but also prospered into the Twen Heaven”), Tommy Edwards (“Blue Heartaches”), Billy ty-first Century. Bland (“Harmony”) and Roy Orbison (“Today’s At age sixty-one, the singer still performs to ador Teardrops”). In 1960 Pitney made a chart break ing audiences on four continents. In 1999-2000, for through when his song “Rubber Ball” reached the Top example, Pitney headlined sold-out tours of Aus Ten in both the United States and Great Britain, in tralia and the U.K., including the London Palladium; versions by Bobby Vee and Marty Wilde, respectively. taped a widely aired PBS concert special; mixed and Toward the end of 1960, Pitney entered a four- edited with his son, Todd, in his home studio, the CD track studio in midtown Manhattan and paid $30 to and DVD versions of the performance; and tended to cut a demo of a self-penned uptempo song titled “(I the administration of his impressive catalogue of Wanna) Love My Life Away.” Pitney sang seven vocals songs and other, extramusical investments. on the track; played piano, guitar and drums; and Gene Pitney was bom February 17,1941, in Hart deployed his extensive knowledge of electronics to ford, Connecticut, and grew up in the village of get the most out of the primitive mixing board.
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