Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney (born Gene Francis Alan Pitney in Hartford, Connecticut, USA on 17 February 1940 - died 5 April 2006 (Cardiff, Wales). After a successful singing career spanning five decades, at the age of 66, he was found dead of natural causes, while in the middle of a sellout UK tour.
Pitney, a pop rock pioneer, had his greatest success overall in Britain, first travelling there after his first self penned hit in 1961. "I Wanna Love My Life Away" hit #26 on the UK singles chart & just broke into the top 40 in the US. Read Full BioGene Pitney (born Gene Francis Alan Pitney in Hartford, Connecticut, USA on 17 February 1940 - died 5 April 2006 (Cardiff, Wales). After a successful singing career spanning five decades, at the age of 66, he was found dead of natural causes, while in the middle of a sellout UK tour.
Pitney, a pop rock pioneer, had his greatest success overall in Britain, first travelling there after his first self penned hit in 1961. "I Wanna Love My Life Away" hit #26 on the UK singles chart & just broke into the top 40 in the US.
His early music recorded for the "musicor" label was romantic, lonely and dramatic, fitting in alongside contemporaries like Buddy Holly, Neil Sedaka, Roy Orbison & serves as an audio time capsule of a more innocent time.
Gene Pitney - Yesterday's Hero...
Gene was a Brill Building songwriter who even before his singing career took off, had written one of Ricky Nelson's biggest hits "Hello Mary Lou". He had been helped out initially in his career by Burt Bacharach & Hal David, and later recorded some of their songs which became big hits like "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and the classic "Only Love Can Break A Heart". At the time his "Only Love..." recording was a #2 chart hit, he had written the number 1 song that week; "He's A Rebel" (A Phil Spector production recorded by The Crystals). All in all Pitney himself recorded 16 top 40 songs in the US from 1961 to 1968.
Gene's biggest popularity was in England, where he used the Rolling Stones publicist Andrew Loog Oldham to get his fame established, which lasted there to the day of his death. In the UK, Gene had 40 top-40 charting hits through 1974. He finally hit #1 in the UK in 1990, performing a duet with Marc Almond of Soft Cell. Pitney died April 5 on tour in 2006. He was found by his tour manager fully clothed on his bed at a Hilton Hotel in Cardiff , shortly after performing a concert.
Pitney, a pop rock pioneer, had his greatest success overall in Britain, first travelling there after his first self penned hit in 1961. "I Wanna Love My Life Away" hit #26 on the UK singles chart & just broke into the top 40 in the US. Read Full BioGene Pitney (born Gene Francis Alan Pitney in Hartford, Connecticut, USA on 17 February 1940 - died 5 April 2006 (Cardiff, Wales). After a successful singing career spanning five decades, at the age of 66, he was found dead of natural causes, while in the middle of a sellout UK tour.
Pitney, a pop rock pioneer, had his greatest success overall in Britain, first travelling there after his first self penned hit in 1961. "I Wanna Love My Life Away" hit #26 on the UK singles chart & just broke into the top 40 in the US.
His early music recorded for the "musicor" label was romantic, lonely and dramatic, fitting in alongside contemporaries like Buddy Holly, Neil Sedaka, Roy Orbison & serves as an audio time capsule of a more innocent time.
Gene Pitney - Yesterday's Hero...
Gene was a Brill Building songwriter who even before his singing career took off, had written one of Ricky Nelson's biggest hits "Hello Mary Lou". He had been helped out initially in his career by Burt Bacharach & Hal David, and later recorded some of their songs which became big hits like "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and the classic "Only Love Can Break A Heart". At the time his "Only Love..." recording was a #2 chart hit, he had written the number 1 song that week; "He's A Rebel" (A Phil Spector production recorded by The Crystals). All in all Pitney himself recorded 16 top 40 songs in the US from 1961 to 1968.
Gene's biggest popularity was in England, where he used the Rolling Stones publicist Andrew Loog Oldham to get his fame established, which lasted there to the day of his death. In the UK, Gene had 40 top-40 charting hits through 1974. He finally hit #1 in the UK in 1990, performing a duet with Marc Almond of Soft Cell. Pitney died April 5 on tour in 2006. He was found by his tour manager fully clothed on his bed at a Hilton Hotel in Cardiff , shortly after performing a concert.
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Town Without Pity
Gene Pitney Lyrics
When you're young and so in love as we
And bewildered by the world we see
Why do people hurt us so?
Only those in love would know
What a town without pity can do
If we stop to gaze upon a star
People talk about how bad we are
Ours is not an easy age
We're like tigers in a cage
What a town without pity can do
The young have problems, many problems
We need an understanding heart
Why don't they help us, try to help us
Before this clay and granite planet falls apart
Take these eager lips and hold me fast
I'm afraid this kind of joy can't last
How can we keep love alive
How can anything survive
When these little minds tear you in two?
What a town without pity can do
How can we keep love alive
How can anything survive
When these little minds tear you in two?
What a town without pity can do
No, it isn't very pretty what a town without pity can do
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: DIMITRI TIOMKIN, NED WASHINGTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
flashtheoriginal
Once in a while, a singer comes along with a totally unique voice. No-one else sounds like Orbison, or Bassey, or Jones, or Pitney, or Presley. Gene Pitney was, is and will always be a superstar
Joann Ancira
Awsome
Basil Marasco
Yes, Gene had a certain, very appealing "edge" to his voice that set him apart.
Basil Marasco
@flashtheoriginal Yes, I remember Matt Monro. He sounded just a little bit like Frank Sinatra.
Gary Francis
Alex Jones
Martin Carman
...and Jon Anderson.
PuffKitty
I was nine when this song came out in 1961. It twisted my heart all up then and it still does fifty-nine years later. A truly unforgettable song for me.
Beverly Shane
I was 10 and have always been a fan of his.
Karen Farragher
@Juan Cruz tþ55tt5
biomedlib
I was 10 when this song came out. Those were the days.