The Collection 1959-1962

Gene Pitney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. His citation read, in part: ‘His dramatic tenor, given to piercing climaxes, was among the more remarkable voices of the age. He could deliver a rocker with panache…but he was best at putting across songs with a smouldering emotional core.’ It spotlights ‘Pitney’s brilliant third single, “Every Breath I Take”, written by Gary Goffin and Carole King and produced by Phil Spector in one of the earliest and best examples of his heralded “Wall of Sound.”’ Gene was, the citation concluded, ‘One of the unsung heroes of the rock and roll era.’

This compilation of Pitney’s early work is just the first chapter of a fascinating musical journey from Hartford, Connecticut, via Rockville, to Cardiff, where Gene Pitney took his final bow in April 2006. He received a glowing review for the South Wales Echo, who praised his ‘non-stop enthusiastic performance’ during what proved to be his last concert. He was 65, and it was exactly 45 years since his first hit with ‘I Wanna Love My Life Away’. Remember him this way.