Gene Pitney was born 17 February 1940 and died 5 April 2006. Biography here.
Pitney was something of a melodramatic crooner in such hits as Town Without Pity, but he also penned upbeat chartbusters like Hello Mary Lou for Rick Nelson when he was called Ricky and He's a Rebel for the Crystals. The latter, featuring Phil Spector's wall-of-sound production job, has that oddly stirring quality common to many of Spector's productions.
Bobby Vee's Rubber Ball is a Pitney composition.
Only Love Can Break a Heart, 1962. One of the great torch songs of the 1960s.
24 Hours From Tulsa, 1963
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Crying. But the Big O does it best with a little help from K D Lang.