Gene Pitney Is “Looking Through the Eyes of Love” On New RPM Two-Fers

After a long hiatus, Cherry Red’s RPM label is continuing its series of reissues dedicated to the late Gene Pitney (“Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa,” “Town Without Pity,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”).  The singer’s long out-of-print albums for Aaron Schroeder’s Musicor label were reissued on CD in a series of two-fers by Sequel Records in the late 1990s, but upon their deletion from the catalogue, they began commanding high prices on the second-hand market. Since then, the Pitney discography has been marked by an inordinate number of budget releases, making it difficult for a new fan or even a longtime collector to know where to start. RPM stepped in and began reissuing the Sequel two-fers in new editions featuring updated liner notes by Roger Dopson as well as redesigned artwork. 2010 brought Pitney’s first two albums, The Many Sides of Gene Pitney and Only Love Can Break a Heart, as RETRO 881, and in 2011, RPM delivered Sings Just for You and Sings World-Wide Winners as RETRO 887.  After a hiatus, the series returns with Blue Gene and Meets the Fair Young Ladies of Folkland (RETRO 926) as well as I’m Gonna Be Strong and Looking Through the Eyes of Love (RETRO 927).

The punningly-named Blue Gene (Musicor 3006/United Artists 1061) continued a busy 1963 for the singer.  Its opening track was also its indisputable highlight.  Pitney delivered a soaring vocal for Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa,” one of the duo’s most truly cinematic story songs.  Pitney perfectly captured the unfaithful character swept away by a beautiful stranger in a roadside café just one day of travel away from his “dearest, darling” girl back home.  Pitney, Bacharach and David had taken listeners on a sly and seductive journey culminating in the singer’s (rueful?) realization that he could “never, never, never go home again.”  But “Twenty-Four Hours,” a No. 5 U.K./No. 17 U.S. hit, was just one of 12 persuasive tracks on Blue Gene.  Chip Taylor played on Pitney’s image as the heartbroken (or heartbreaking) balladeer with his title song.  Ellie Greenwich teamed with Tony Powers and Elmo Glick for “Keep Tellin’ Yourself,” and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were tapped for “Take It Like a Man.”  Pitney even tackled a couple of standards via “Autumn Leaves” and “I’ll Be Seeing You.”  In the U.S., the album included Lee Pockriss and Fred Tobias’ “House Without Windows.”  Though it was dropped for the U.K. release (replaced by the Leiber/Stoller song), it’s included as a bonus track.

Blue Gene is joined on one CD by Meets the Fair Young Ladies of Folkland (Musicor 3007/United Artists 1063).  This unusual album was issued just one month after Blue Gene, and rather than building on Pitney’s pop successes, it consisted of banjo-strummed, folk-flavored songs dedicated to young ladies: “Those Eyes of Liza Jane,” “Brandy is My True Love’s Name,” “Little Nell,” “The Ballad of Aura Mae,” et cetera.  Though it was soon repackaged as Dedicated to My Teen Queens, with a hipper cover than the original image of Gene and his girls on a bale of hay, the low-key, acoustic album remained destined for obscurity.  Pitney’s commercial fortunes were still riding high thanks to Blue Gene, though, as well as a new single released in January 1964.  “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday” was a Mick Jagger/Keith Richards song shaped by Gene as he hung out with the Rolling Stones in England.  Though it didn’t fare well in the U.S., “Yesterday” hit No. 7 in the U.K., and its original single version has been appended here as a bonus track.  A re-recording of the song appeared on Pitney’s next album, which kicks off the second of RPM’s new two-fers.

After the jump, we’ll explore the next two-fer!  Plus, you’ll find order links and full track listings with discography!

Where The Hits Are: Sedaka and Greenfield Profiled in “Songwriters” Series

Doo doo doo down doo be do down down/Come a come a down doo be do down down…

One year before “Da Doo Ron Ron,” eleven before “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” and eighteen before “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield taught the world that “Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do” with their immortal wordless refrain.  Sedaka went on to become the king of the “Tra-la-las” and “shoo-be-doos” with his early rock-and-roll records, and the Juilliard-trained musician was one of the relatively rare few rockers of his generation equally adept at both performing and songwriting.  As active members of Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music stable (which could also claim Carole King and Gerry Goffin as well as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil!), Sedaka and his frequent lyricist Howard Greenfield turned out one tune after another for a great number of famous artists.  Following in the footsteps of its compilations devoted to other Brill Building greats like Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Goffin and King and Mann and Weil, Ace devotes the latest installment of its Songwriters and Producers series to the team of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield.  Where the Boys Are will be available on September 6 in the U.K. and features 25 tracks, 17 of which were written by the team and a further eight penned by one member with an outside collaborator.

Where the Boys Are spans a remarkably prolific 15-year period from 1956 until 1971, at which time Sedaka began in earnest to rekindle his solo career.  (1974’s Sedaka’s Back sealed the deal.)  His last hit in the U.S. had come in 1965, and he’d tried to make it over the next few years almost exclusively as a songwriter in an era when the Brill Building was waning and singer/songwriters were becoming the norm.  (It was lost on many that Sedaka had been writing his own material since he was a teenager.)  He had a great amount of success even after RCA Victor dumped his recording contract in 1966, and his songs, with and without Greenfield, were recorded by The Monkees, The 5^th Dimension, The Cyrkle, Frankie Valli and more.  Ace’s, well, ace producers Mick Patrick and Tony Rounce tell that story from its very beginning.

Hit the jump for a look into the Brill Building hits of Sedaka and Greenfield!

The Man Who Sang “Liberty Valance”: RPM Continues Gene Pitney Reissues

With one of the most resonant and recognizable voices in rock and roll, Gene Pitney (1940-2006) was the rare American talent to be able to withstand the British Invasion and continue to thrive. He collaborated with Phil Spector and The Rolling Stones, wrote hit songs for Roy Orbison, Bobby Vee, Ricky Nelson and the Crystals, and brought to life the songs of others, too. Among the recipients of the Pitney treatment were Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and even (two-time Oscar winner) Randy Newman. He popularized Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington’s “Town Without Pity,” an Oscar-nominated song from 1961, and had even greater success with “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance.” While it was an “exploitation” song not actually in the 1962 film of the same name, it became a signature song for Pitney.

His long out-of-print albums for Aaron Schroeder’s Musicor label were reissued in a series of two-fers by Sequel Records in the late 1990s. Upon their deletion, they began commanding high prices on the second-hand market. Pitney’s catalogue has since been marked by an inordinate number of budget releases, making it difficult for a new fan or even a longtime collector to know where to start. Thankfully, RPM (another arm of Cherry Red) is ready to reintroduce Pitney’s original album classics to a new generation. The label has begun reissuing the Sequel two-fers in new editions featuring updated liner notes by Roger Dopson as well as redesigned artwork. Last year brought Pitney’s first two albums, The Many Sides of Gene Pitney and Only Love Can Break a Heart, as RETRO 881, and just last week, RPM delivered Sings Just for You and Sings World-Wide Winners as RETRO 887. Hit the jump for stories behind both albums, plus track listings and discographical information!