(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance

"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance"
Single by Gene Pitney
from the album Only Love Can Break a Heart
B-side "Take It Like a Man"
Released 1962
Format Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Genre Country pop
Length 2:49
Label Musicor
Writer(s) Burt Bacharach & Hal David
Gene Pitney singles chronology
"Town Without Pity"
(1961)		 "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance"
(1962)		 "Only Love Can Break a Heart"
(1962)

"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which was released by Gene Pitney in 1962. The song spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 4,[1] while reaching No. 2 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade,[2] and No. 4 on New Zealand's "Lever Hit Parade".[3]

Although the song never appeared in the film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, there is disagreement about whether the song had been intended to appear in it.[4] Nevertheless, Pitney has stated that the song's recording session was paid for by Paramount, and that it was midway through the song's recording session that he found out that the song was not going to be included in the film, when one of the orchestra members told him that the film had been released.[4]

The song was ranked No. 36 in the Western Writers of America's list of the top 100 Western songs of all time, as compiled from a survey of its members.[5]

James Taylor released a cover of the song on his 1985 album; "That's Why I'm Here".

Chart performance

Chart (1962) Peak
position
Australia - Music Maker[6] 9
Canada - CHUM Hit Parade 2
New Zealand - Lever Hit Parade 4
US Billboard Hot 100 4

References

  1. ↑ Gene Pitney - Chart History - The Hot 100, Billboard.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  2. ↑ 1050 CHUM - CHUM Charts at the Wayback Machine (archived June 3, 2006). Chart No. 271, June 04, 1962. CHUM. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Lever Hit Parade" 12-Jul-1962, Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Dominic, Serene (2003). Burt Bacharach, Song by Song: The Ultimate Burt Bacharach Reference for Fans, Serious Record Collectors, and Music Critics, Music Sales Group. p. 75. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Billboard Music Week Hits of the World", Billboard, July 28, 1962. p. 16. Retrieved October 13, 2016.


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