Gene Pitney had a string of Top Ten hits in the early 60’s: “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance”, “Only Love Can Break a Heart”, “Mecca”, “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa”, “It Hurts to Be in Love” and “I’m Gonna Be Strong” are among the most memorable. I interviewed Gene in Vancouver in 1986 for a CBC-TV series that never aired, and it’s featured on my YouTube channel Red Robinson’s Legends.

Gene Pitney’s longtime friend David McGrath has a new book about “The Rockville Rocket”. Gene was best man at David’s wedding, and McGrath was a pallbearer at Gene’s funeral in 2006.David says, “Pitney was, without a doubt, the Frank Sinatra of his generation. Hit after hit after hit. Screaming female fans. Sold out concerts in the U.S. and overseas. He did not just sing the songwriters’ songs; he interpreted them. He brought them to life — giving them context and essence that the writers never imagined. When one of his hits blared out of a transistor radio in the 1960s, there was no doubt who was singing.”

“Gene Pitney: The Singer, The Songs, The Songwriters” is available now from Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. More at genepitneybook.com