THE music world last night paid tribute to Gene Pitney after the American singer, who shot to fame in the 1960s with hits including 24 Hours from Tulsa, died while touring Britain.
Pitney, 65, had been due to play the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, and Usher Hall, Edinburgh, at the weekend. He was found dead in Cardiff where he had given a concert the previous night which won him a standing ovation.
The singer, who had a string of hit records as well as writing songs recorded by other stars, toured regularly throughout his long career and was in the middle of a 23-show tour of the UK, where he had a strong following.
It would have been his fourth visit to Glasgow in as many years.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Concert Hall said they had sold 1500 tickets. "We are pretty shocked by the news, " she said.
Pitney had his first success as a songwriter with Rubber Ball, which was a top 10 hit for Bobby Vee in 1961.
As a solo performer, he had achieved fame later that year with (I Wanna) Love My Life Away.
But it was Burt Bacharach and Hal David who provided the songs that put Pitney in the top 10 - (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance, Only Love Can Break a Heart and 24 Hours from Tulsa.
Pitney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Only Love Can Break a Heart was his biggest US hit, peaking at No 2 on the charts in 1962.
The No 1 song at the time was The Crystals' He's a Rebel, written by Pitney.
In1990, he had a British No1 when he rerecorded Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart with Marc Almond.
Almond said last night: "He was a great, unique singer of great, unique songs."
Colin Martin, BBC Radio 2 head of music, said Pitney was incredible. "He really spoke about teenage life in the early 1960s. There's nobody else on the music scene who has ever recaptured that."
James Kelly, Pitney's tour manager, was with the singer on Tuesday night and said he was stunned by his death.
"I've never seen him so well. He was absolutely buzzing and full of life."
He said Pitney had been found fully clothed on his hotel bed as if he had just lain down for a rest after the show.
"We don't have a cause of death at the moment but it looks like it was a very peaceful passing. It looks as if there was no pain whatsoever, which is nice."
Fans in Cardiff revealed the final song of Pitney's life was Town Without Pity.
Wendy Horton, a journalist, said: "He was absolutely brilliant last night. He did show a little discomfort on stage, which was well covered by the showman that he is. You could see a slight limp as he walked across the stage.
"He was on for one-and-ahalf hours, belting out hit after hit. The audience was singing along."
She added: "He had a standing ovation. He took the time to go across the front and shake everybody's hand. He signed autographs.
"He did not leave anybody out. The audience absolutely adored him."
In an interview at Christmas, Pitney spoke of his excitement at taking his show around the UK.
He denied it was a gruelling schedule, saying: "I take care of myself. I can finish up the tour, no problem whatsoever."
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