Gene Pitney - Greatest Hits [Curb]

Gene Pitney | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Curb Special Markets
• ASIN: B000000DCE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,329 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Only Love Can Break a Heart

2. (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance

3. It Hurts to Be in Love

4. Town Without Pity

5. (I Wanna) Love My Life Away

6. I'm Gonna Be Strong

7. Half Heaven, Half Heartache

8. Every Breath I Take

9. Mecca

10. Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Pitney Collections Out There!, July 17, 2004

By 

K. Brown "El Rudo Lucky Pierre!" (Walnut, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gene Pitney - Greatest Hits [Curb] (Audio CD)

If you want a quick earful of Gene Pitney, the songs here are good. That said, there are much better compilations of Gene Pitney's work on CD. This may be a good budget-buy CD, but you miss out on such great tunes like "Something's Got a Hold Of My Heart" or "That Girl Belongs To Yesterday."

The ultimate Gene Pitney collection, in my opinion, is the 2 CD compilation "Looking Through." Not only do you get the abovementioned songs, but you get scores of Pitney's lesser known tunes like "Billy You're My Friend." Even cooler, it contains Pitney singing several of his hits in Italian, and also includes his duet with Marc Almond.

This CD is OK for the price, but the extra cost in buying a more thorough Gene Pitney collection is well worth it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, Music -- Great Value, January 6, 2006

By 

Frank Holmes (Huntsville, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gene Pitney - Greatest Hits [Curb] (Audio CD)

For the money, it is tough to beat Gene Pitney's Greatest hits issued by Curb Records. Pitney was a successful song writer in addition to recording his own hits. Only Love Can Break a Heart, Town Without Pity, and Half Heaven Half Heartache are outstanding ballads. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Twenty-four Hours From Tulsa show off Pitney's energy and outstanding voice and vocal range. Yes, there are a ton of other Pitney songs not on this CD. But, what do you expect for this kind of money?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite Your Typical Curb Production, September 7, 2007

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gene Pitney - Greatest Hits [Curb] (Audio CD)

Curb is infamous for putting out "greatest hits" CDs containing re-makes or "live" versions and not telling you so on the front or back of sealed products [see their Bobby Darin CD as a classic example], and for providing no liner notes whatsoever.

This one is different in two respects. All ten selections are the original renditions, and they tell you so in big, bold letters. And the sound is very good to boot.

It does not, however, have any liner notes. Also, you might think that, for a guy with 24 charted hit singles, by limiting the CD to ten and calling it "Gene Pitney Greatest Hits" they would have at least included the TEN BEST. Instead they give us eight of his best and two - (I Wanna) Love My Life Away [# 39 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in early 1961] and Every Breath I Take [# 42 Hot 100 in August 1961].

True, those two were his first and second charted hits, but even so, in the overall scheme of things they were marginal hits in relation to, say, True Love Never Runs Smooth, which scored at # 5 on the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts and # 21 Hot 100 in late summer 1963, and Last Chance To Turn Around< which topped out at a solid # 13 Hot 100 in June 1965.

That may appear to be, on the surface, a minor quibble, especially for a CD that doesn't cost all that much to begin with. But where is "truth in advertising?"

If you're only looking for a specific Pitney song or two, and they happen to be in this CD, don't be afraid to get it. As I say, they are the original hits. Otherwise, you'd be better off spending a few bucks more by going to one of the bigger, more professional compilations which contain liner note background details and discographies.