| TRIVIA: (updated November 17, 2007) 1.
Gene's demo of his composition, "I Wanna Love My Life Away", was written for
other singers. When Aaron Schroeder heard the song, he convinced Gene to release it
himself. The 45 was Gene's first release for Musicor and a top-40 hit. Gene made the demo
for $30. He sang the lead, backup, and beat sounds; played piano, drums, and guitar. He
only needed to pay a bass guitarist to fill in the rest. With all the singing, backup,
beat sounds, guitar, piano, drums, and bass guitar; Gene needed to dub and overdub the
sounds to create his song. He mixed "I Wanna Love My Life Away" using only four
tracks.
2. Although Gene's second 45 for Musicor did not
chart, "Louisiana Mama" became a big hit in Japan. "Louisiana Mama"
sells in Japan to this day.
3. "Every Breath I Take" was directed
by Phil Specter using his famous "wall of sound". Phil was so driven, the
recording session lasted for hours. Near the end of the session, guitar players' fingers
were bleeding. Gene's voice was virtually gone. In the final take, Gene lost his full
voice toward the end of the song, forcing him to end using a high-pitched falcetto. This
take was what Phil wanted. The recording session cost $13,000, resulting in a hit slightly
less successful than Gene's $30 hit, "I Wanna Love My Life Away".
4. Probably the first step toward the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, Gene recorded "Town Without Pity" under especially tough
circumstances. He sang the song for hours. Finally, with Gene's voice gone, he gave
whatever he had left. Raspy, guttural, and rough, that final take impressed the director.
To paraphrase Gene comments, "If they wanted me to sing like I was exhausted, why
didn't they say so at the beginning of the session." In the US Gene ends his music
concert with this signature song.
5. Gene Pitney sang "Town Without Pity"
to the nation on television in 1962. Nominated for an academy award for music, "Town
Without Pity" lost to another fabulous tune. The Oscar went to Andy Williams
masterpiece, "Moon River."
6. As most fans know, "The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valence" did not appear in the John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart movie even though it
was commissioned to do so. "Liberty Valence", Gene's second highest US rated
single, became the last "new" release that he sang at a Rockville area venue - a
grammar school sock hop. Gene would not appear in Connecticut again until 1987, when he
sang at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut.
7. For the solo fiddle introduction
and later solo fiddle playing on "Liberty Valence," Burt Bacharach used a
concert violinist. To obtain the feel and sound of a western "fiddle player," he
made the track slightly off key in comparison to the singing and play of all other
instruments.
8. Who wrote "Rubber
Band" ("Rubber Ball" made popular by Bobby Vee)? According to Gene, he
wrote the song but under the pseudonym "Ann Orlowski," his mother's maiden name.
According to Gene, his mother was Ann. According to Gene's younger brother, Dennis, their
mother signed her name Anne or Ann. According to Gene's sisters, Nancy and Shirley, their
mother's name was Anna. Who is right? Technically speaking, according to the Rockville
city directories, town records, and the name on her tombstone, Gene's mother was born Anna
Agnes Orlowski in Seymour, Connecticut, to parents born in Poland. The Gene Pitney book
should initially identify Gene's mother as Anna "Ann" Orlowski Pitney. Anne was
used more frequently in later years. Since Gene always knew his mother as Ann, all other
mentions should read "Ann." That's the nickname Gene remembers.
9. Until 2003, Gene Pitney was
listed in most biographies as attending the University of Connecticut. Gene went to Ward
School of Electronics and did not realized Ward had become a college in the University of
Hartford (correction). When asked where he went to college, Gene replied,
"I went to a university in Connecticut." Soon the people interviewing Gene for
an article on his biography changed university in Connecticut to University of
Connecticut. Gene's son graduated from the University of Connecticut and the school sends
both Gene and his son alumnae papers. The University of Connecticut believes Gene is a
graduate of their school even though he did not attend the University of Connecticut.
10. In high school, Gene's nickname was
"Pits."
11. All students that appeared in Gene's high
school yearbook had a motto. Gene's motto was, "Life without music is not life."
12. When Gene started work at Musicor, he
drove from Rockville to Hartford, left his car, and took the train to and from New York
City. For a very short time in the summer of 1960, Gene and two room-mates moved to a
cottage on Crystal Lake in Ellington. Gene started his trek from there instead. In
addition to writing and singing music, Gene loved to fish and water ski.
13. "It Hurts To Be In Love" was sung
and pressed as an acetate by Neil Sedaka and probably would have been his come-back hit.
He was hired to a different label who did not want Neil to release the song. Gene was so
impressed with the acetate that he recorded the song the same way it was arranged for
Neil. "It Hurts To Be In Love" peaked at #7 for Gene in the U.S., making
"It Hurts To Be In Love" Gene's third highest American song.
14. The Blossoms (not The Crystals) recorded
Gene Pitney's composition "He's A Rebel" for Phil Spector. Phil was in Los
Angeles and The Crystals were in New York at the time of the recording. The Blossoms
included three female singers: Darlene Love, Famita Jones, and Gracia Nitzschke.
15. Until 1989, Gene Pitney's highest rated UK
songs peaked at #2. He had two #2 songs: "I'm Gonna Be Strong" in 1964, composed
by B. Mann and C. Weil; and "Nobody Needs Your Love" in 1966, composed by R.
Newman.
16. Since Gene was 19 years old in 1959, all articles,
announcements, and flyers have mistakenly announced Gene's birthdate as February 17, 1940.
In 2002, I found the proof that Gene was born February 17, 1940 (in the March 10, 1940
Hartford Courant birth announcements). Gene's friends and family had already told me that
Gene was born in 1940. I have known the truth since 2001. In my final phone interview with
Gene, he stated that it was OK to make the announcement. I wish I had recorded that
interview.
17. During Gene's 1964 tour of Europe to promote "24 Hours from Tulsa," Andrew Loog Oldham phoned Gene in Paris. Andrew wanted to introduce Gene to a fledgling band called the Rolling Stones. Gene went with Phil Specter to England where the Rolling Stones were recording. Gene played the piano and Phil played fake maracas. Specter's maracus was an empty cogniac bottle that Phil tapped with an American fifty cent coin. Gene and Phil appear in the background of the Rolling Stones' song "Little By Little."
18. Gene returned from his 1964 tour of Europe with the first Mick Jagger/Keith Richards composition to be released in the states. "That Girl Belongs To Yesterday" kept Gene's string of hits going. For the price of the Rolling Stones air fare, Gene could have been the Rolling Stones' manager in the U.S. At that time Gene was too busy and too "hot" as a recording star. In retrospect, Gene should have taken the offer.
19. Gene Pitney first played with the Genials at Rockville's Palace Theater on March 9, 1958. According to Brian Frederick's research in Gene Pitney's archives, "285 people were in the audience."
20. Russ Johndrow said he talked to the president of the Nite-Winders. They gave Gene's band , the Genials , their first paying performance. According to Russ, "the band received $15 for the entire night." This performance took place at the Kosciuczko Club in Rockville, Connecticut on March 28, 1958.
21. Hall of Fame DJ Joey Reynolds interviewed the author from 3 am to 4 am August 10, 2007 on the 710 AM WOR New York City broadcast. During the interview, Joey verified that he coined Gene's alter ego: THE ROCKVILLE ROCKET. Use your search engine to find Joey Reynolds WOR and ask for the station to make available a pod cast of the interview. Joey Reynolds knew Gene well and featured Gene on the WDRC concerts at Hartford's Bushnell Theatre in the 1960s.
22. When Gene Pitney was introduced to Aaron Schroeder, Gene brought acetates of ten of the songs he wrote and recorded. None of these songs had been issued on 45s. No songs from his 1958 sessions were included. Aaron loved all the songs Gene wrote and recorded and hired Gene during that meeting. |
