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An Interview and review (continued)
Vigilantes
C: You're not known as a country singer and unless
someone has followed your career they may not know Gene
Pitney recorded country albums, even though they were
very successful hitting in the top 25 or top 50 on the
charts. And you won an award for your country
collaboration with George Jones. All one has to do is
listen to those tunes and find you've become as country
as good old George is. I want to name a few of the country songs you've
recorded and you give me a statement or two of your
thoughts, memories or experiences on each, ok? V.C.: A) Don't Rob Another's Man's Castle - Gene P.: Great song to harmonize with because of the
way the melody flows. V.C.: B) I've Got A New Heartache - Gene P.: Not one of my favorites. V.C.: C) That's All It Took - Gene P.: My kind of song. - The long held notes and
with George doing his unique phrasing, I just followed. V.C.: D) My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You - Gene P.: Ok but again not a favorite. V.C.: E) Your Old Standby - Gene P.: Great song. We did some wonderful songs.
Sweeter than the Flowers, Wreck on the Highway, Being
Together are some of my favorites. Vigilantes C.:
You're pretty particular about your music, well maybe a
better choice of words would be a perfectionist
concerning your music. If I'm Gene Pitney looking to
choose a song, what factors am I looking for in choosing
a country song? What about lyrics and melody, what in
your opinion makes a good country song, in general and
for you in particular? Gene P.: Any song I sing has to have a strong melody
and lyric but more important I have to be able to get my
teeth into it. There are songs that are fine for other
people but don't suit me or my approach. I know it
immediately when I sit with guitar or piano and start to
put my identity on the song. Vigilantes C.: Of these elements: instrumentation,
lyrics, beat or a combination of, which helps put the
song into its classification..IE: pop, rock or country
etc.? Gene P.: Hard to define today. Country has blended
with pop and vice versa. Definitely the instrumentation
in the arrangement but there are C&W phrasings and
hooks that make a song automatically placed in the
C&W folder. Vigilantes C.: You made the statement "I think
C&W has lost it's soul without the unique talents
that it has abandoned. It's as sterile as the pop world
is now!" I couldn't agree with you more. Why do you
think this is the case? Are we losing the soul and value
of the talent and music for the love of the quick dollar?
What element did those "unique talents" have
that seems to be missing with today's artists? Gene P.: The record companies are totally to blame for
this and the radio went to bed with them very easily.
When the "New" country wave came in about 10
years ago it eclipsed country programming as we knew it.
I think it is more early rock based now than country. I
didn't mind them coming on so strong like that, it's just
that they threw out all the great artists that were the
mainstay of C&W. When people like George Jones can't
get any airplay on C&W stations something is wrong! George Jones and Gene Pitney, sings country together
on two LP's Vigilantes C.: Have you heard anyone currently in
country music whom you think may deserve that "set
up and take notice" attention or did your country
music interest end after your participation ended? Gene P.: I still listen to C&W but not with the
same interest. I recently bought a single recording on
iTunes that I found fascinating. It was Jerry Lee Lewis
singing "Middle Aged Crazy". I think Jerry had
a great country ability that was totally overshadowed by
his pop success. I think people today like Toby Keith are
interesting but I don't hear the heart and soul in
performances that used to be there. It's too shallow for
me now. Vigilantes C.: As a singer who has recorded in many
different music genres, do you think we are at (or will
we get to) a point in time where there isn't enough room
for all musical types or do you believe there is plenty
of room for all on the musical spectrum? I had to sadly shake
my head a bit the other day when I heard the old George
Jones song, "The Race Is On", played by Sawyer
Brown, come on the radio. The music industry today, can
take an "old country song" and re-release it by
a newer artist, but for some unknown reason, the industry
WILL NOT play the "older country artist"
singing it or a newer song. The balance of the justice
scale sure dips one way on this, doesn't it? No
understandable reason either...save maybe one...money? If you like the George Jones, the Hank Williams (Sr),
the Webb Pierces, etc. of the world, then it is our
responsibility, no, our duty, to keep the traditional
country music and traditional country artists in the
public eye otherwise the honesty of traditional country
music and it's artists will be sadly replaced by what
future generations will know only as what they are
hearing as country music of today. Do we really want to
risk that future? To keep up with what is going on with Gene Pitney,
visit his website at: www.gene-pitney.com
Gene P.: I would record more country in a minute.
Vigilantes C.: The "Country Side Of Gene
Pitney" is a 1966 Musicor release...a Gene
Pitney solo country project. Not a bad song on
the album. With songs like "Life To Go"
written by George Jones or Melba Montgomery who
co-wrote "The More I Saw Of Her (The Blinder
I Became)", the album has several
well-written songs. If "Blue Gene", in
my opinion, is your best pop album then "The
Country Side Of Gene Pitney" has to be your
best country effort. You co-produced the album,
How much of an input did you have in choosing all
the songs for this album?
Gene P.: I picked all the songs but did one thing
wrong. The LP was recorded in Nashville, Harmonies put on
in Los Angeles, and mastering done in New York. It should
have all been done in Nashville. You need to have country
people to produce quality country music.
Gene P.: I think there is definitely room for
all the different types of music but our
programming on radio limits all access unless
they want to go there. Germany is a great example
of open radio and air waves. They still play
bubblegum, disco, oom pah pah, classical, and on
and on. We probably have the worst limited and
repetitive programming in the world today and yet
it is still considered the biggest world market
for music. I feel the younger generation is
missing out on so much variety because they are
not given the option to hear it if they choose!
We certainly want to Thank Gene Pitney for taking the
time to answer our questions and giving us some insight
into his experiences in country music. He definitely
becomes country when called upon to do so, probably more
country than those on the radio today could ever be. One
of the reasons, Gene Pitney is a unique talent... when he
puts his "teeth around it" (a song) as he
mentioned...he does so without jeopardizing the honesty
of the song in both lyric and melody. Not a lot of this
going on in the world of country music today, is there?
He is right too, the youth of today as our future
generations will not know of some the best music ever
heard, if not ever exposed to it.
© (p) Vigilantes Country a division of The
Vigilantes....www.thevigilantes.com.