Remembering Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney was a native of Connecticut who dropped out of the Univeristy of Connecticut to pursue his muscial career. A few years before he died the folks at Connectitut Public Television recorded Pitney’s dinner club show at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. Pitney was backed by a full orchestra including a chorus with three singers from Minnesota, courtesy of Gary Rue, who sat in on acoustic guitar that night. In the clip below, Pitney performs “Backstage,” “Looking Through the Eyes of Love,” “It Hurts to Be In Love,” “Mecca,” and “If I Didn’t Have a Dime.” Gary Rue and company performed each of these songs beautifully in last Monday’s show at the Dakota that I discuss below.

Thanks to our readers who have taken up the cause over at Power Line Forum with their own selected highlights from Pitney and others here.