GENE PITNEY – She's a Heartbreaker | WHAT FRANK IS LISTENING TO

Check my other comments for biographical details on Gene Pitney.

I have said this about him before: “Gene was a consummate (if occasionally melodramatic) vocalist. What he did do was take any song and not always make it his but certainly imprint it so you can’t mistake it for someone else. His operatic pop ballads are "classics" of the genre and define a lot of 60s pop. Having said that, operatic pop up-tempo ballads weren't novel (think Elvis' "It’s Now or Never" from 1960 or "Surrender" from 1961) but Gene made a career out of it. The emotion is worn on his sleeve and he created some of the most divine pop tunes of the 1960s. And as I have said before (elsewhere) if you are going to do pop you can’t look for a better era than the 60s”.

By the late 1960s the 50s rockers and early 60s pop stars were finding the going hard. Many turned to more contemporary sounds and/or started writing their own confessional material to find their place in the music world.

It is perhaps surprising that Pitney (from the records I heard) didn’t really move into the singer songwriter style because he was quite adept at writing songs and started his career as a songwriter. He wrote “Hello Mary Lou” (for Ricky Nelson), “He’s a Rebel” (for The Crystals), "Today's Teardrops" (for Roy Orbison) and “Rubber Ball” (for Bobby Vee) to name a few.

What held him back, I suspect, was his voice.

And, by that I mean his voice was too good.

The guy could sing like a bird.

And when you can sing that well there is little impetus to concentrate on song writing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah ….I know there are exceptions.

But you can’t deny that there seems to be some inverse relationship between the quality of a singing voice and the number of songs written.

Anyway, Gene, at a time when anyone that can write is writing decided to put out an album like this.

To his credit, though, he is exploring new sounds as he was always quite musically inventive. His music may be pop but he was forever pushing it into new areas – recording albums in Italian and Spanish, songs in German, duet albums with country stars like George Jones, and throwing in folk, Broadway and standards to see how they would work.

The guy clearly had a keen musical mind.

Here, he is enamoured with blue eyed soul (white soul).

And, it’s heavily orchestrated blue eyed soul.

This type of heavily orchestrated blue eyed soul was popular in Vegas and especially in Europe so, perhaps, it’s not surprising that Gene tackles it, as he was incredibly popular in Europe.

And, anyway, the roots of the music had its origins, partially, in Gene’s early 60s music.

Gone is the teen angst which has been replaced with adult angst and, by and large, it works. It’s not perfect because it’s a slippery slide from here to English cabaret but what we do have is Gene’s great, expressive voice.

Tracks (best in italics)

She's a Heartbreaker – (C. Foxx-J.Williams) – quite a funky soul song not usually associated with Gene. He positively screeches. Of course his screech sounds like a person who can sing screeching as opposed to a non-singer screeching, and that’s a big difference, if you know what I mean.
Hate -(J. Williams-L.Harrison-B.Coley-C.Foxx)- This is the Gene Pitney we recognise.
(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count The Days– (Y.Williams-C.Foxx-B.O'Dell) – Pure pop …a familiar variation on “Mystery Train”, if you don’t believe I'm leaving you can count the days I'm gone. Still, with the count off this is catchy
Run Run Roadrunner – (J. Williams) – a vocal tour de force. None too subtle but powerful. Originally done by Jerry Williams on the same label.
Small Town Bring Down – (V. Poncia Jr-P.Andreoli) – a "big" song about "small town" and small minded people …a curious country cabaret sound is introduced. Originally by Tony Bruno (1968).
Yours Until Tomorrow – (J. Goffin-C.King) – typical Goffin & King – which means it's typically a cut above other material of the same nature. Originally by Dee Dee Warwick (1966) but done by Engelbert Humperdinck (1966), Alan Price Set (1966), The Monkees (1967), Florence Ballard (1968), Cher (1969) and many others.
Somewhere In The Country – (G.Tobin-J.Cymbal)- slightly haunting but partially forgettable.
Love Grows – (R.Cook-T.Greenaway) – a great power ballad not the same as the Edison Lighthouse song from 1970 despite the same authors (!).
Heaven Held -(T.Powers-N.Sheppard) – euro pop balladry- naff. I’m not sure who did it first but Paul Slade, and The Cowsills all did it in 1968 also.
If I Only Had Time – (F.Delano-P.Delano) – written by French brothers(?). It’s cute Euro pop balladry but ….

And …

The album starts off well, with the first side being particularly strong, but the second side slips a little. It has more to do with the style and song selections than Gene’s voice. The European cabaret aspects are dated but….it's Gene, so I'm keeping it.

Chart Action
US
Singles
1968 She's A Heartbreaker The Billboard Hot 100 #16

Album
1968 #193

England
Singles
1968 Somewhere In The Country #19
1968 Yours Until Tomorrow #34

Album
—

Sounds

She's a Heartbreaker
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nuEAOufC6o

Hate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2rDAJvO-B8

(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count The Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z280G2n4oo
mp3 attached

Gene Pitney – Count the Days

Run Run Roadrunner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfqLYgVdpAk

Small Town Bring Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxhaPP_T-Q

Yours Until Tomorrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU31Wthv0Qw

Somewhere In The Country
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTvx5-Fl4iw

Love Grows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMkjZWr9-q0