Tribute To A Legend: January 2010

Gene Francis Alan Pitney

Born: February 17th 1940
Hartford Connecticut
Died: April 5th 2006 in Cardiff Wales

Gene Pitney has one of the most distinctive voices in music. Whether you like it or not you know when it is Gene.
Gene's first foray into the music scene was as part of a duet with Ginny Arnell, their first song being 1959's "Classical Rock & Roll".
Gene moved on quickly though and his first solo song came with "Cradle of My Arms" albeit under the name Billy Bryan. With limited success as an artist, Gene began to find more success as a songwriter.
Gene's career as an artist in his own right began with the self-penned "I Wanna Love My Life Away" which he recorded for $30 at a small recording studio in New York.
The real breakthrough for Gene came with the song "Town Without Pity" which was the title song to the movie of the same name. The song received a Golden Globe Award, reached the US top 20 and Gene also performed it at the Academy Awards. He was the first pop singer to ever perform at the Oscar's and it helped to significantly raise his profile in the US.

In 2002 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a fitting honour and a long overdue recognition of his talent.

In April 2006, he was in the middle of a tour of the UK when he died in his hotel room following a concert in Cardiff.

For me, I grew up listening to Gene. I spend many hours in my room listening to the one and only album I had. I now have just about every album he has made and have looked worldwide for them and still do.

Gene will always remain #1 with me. He may have passed away but his music will live on forever.

RIP Gene.

HELP REQUIRED

I have created a full list of songs recorded by Gene Pitney. (See My Links on the left)

I will be looking for your help to provide me with the names of any songs that I have not listed and also your help to obtain the songs we do not have.

I had hope to provide all the songs on a CD free to all Pitney fans, however, due to legal reasons this is not possible.

I will continue to try and find a legal method to somehow make all the songs available to all fans.

Any idea's and suggestions will be greatly received.

I will update the progress on this as it occurs. (Feb 09, 2010)