Gene Pitney and George Jones

by Pa Rock

Music Fan 

Gene Pitney did not shoot the fictional old west bad man, Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), but he did sing about the man who did (Jimmy Stewart . . . er . . . uh . . . John Wayne).  Pitney, a pop singer from the 1950's and 1960's with a strong and unique tenor voice sang several songs that resonated across the pop music charts both in the United States and Great Britain.  A few of his best remembered hits include "A Town without Pity," "24  Hours from Tulsa," "Only Love Can Break a Heart," and "Hello, Mary Lou" which he wrote for Ricky Nelson.

Having come of age in the 50's and 60's, I have an appreciation for the music of that era with  pop music (it was called 'rock and roll' back then) being my strong suit.   As life pulled me along the road to oblivion, I gradually began being comfortable with country music, too.

Yesterday, as I was sitting in front of the living room window typing away at the computer as I do every damned day of the week, I had a sudden urge to listen to some music, and Gene Pitney's name jumped into my head.  With Gene I would basically be hearing songs that I knew by heart and would not be distracted by trying to follow the lyrics.  I asked Alexa to play some Gene, and she graciously complied.

And for awhile I typed away with "Town Without Pity" and "24 Hours from Tulsa" tripping mindlessly in the background, but then I suddenly realized that my afternoon soundtrack had morphed into honkey-tonk music, a duet by a couple of well-matched, male, country voices.  (Sometimes Alexa will change artists when she gets bored, but it is usually to someone who is very similar to the one to whom I had been listening.)  Oh well, I thought, Alexa must have a blip in her algorithm, but I'm sure it will pass - and it did.  The next song was a Gene Pitney standard from my miserably mundane youth.

But after another song or two, we were back in the honkey-tonk.  Did Alexa have gas?  "Alexa," I asked, growing concerned,"who's singing that?" 

"George Jones," she informed me, "and Gene Pitney."

As the afternoon played out she coughed up several more numbers by the same pair of singers, and by the time I shut down the computer in the late afternoon, I had become a fan of the country duo.  They sound really good together.   This morning I asked Alexa to play Gene Pitney and George Jones, and an hour later she is still pumping them out.  They have an extensive catalogue of music.

Pa Rock may be too old to ever appreciate "Rap," but he has quickly learned to enjoy Gene and George!

Never stop learning - or being open to new experiences.