Only Love Can Break a Heart

by Gene Pitney

Only Love Can Break a Heart cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: March 1963
  • Label: Musicor
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 31:03
  • Community rating: 3.91/5 from 3 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Defined by its legendary, emotionally devastating title track written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, this album is a masterpiece of Brill Building melodrama. Gene Pitney utilizes his piercing, highly theatrical tenor voice to navigate sweeping, string-heavy orchestrations, establishing a slightly darker, more dramatic alternative to standard teen pop. The record solidified his status as a premier interpreter of sophisticated pop balladry.

Genres

Descriptors: orchestral, ballad, vocal, wall of sound, breakup

Tracklist

  1. True Love Never Runs Smooth (2:24)
  2. Cry Your Eyes Out (2:04)
  3. Only Love Can Break a Heart (2:48)
  4. Donna Means Heartbreak (2:23)
  5. I Should Try to Forget (2:12)
  6. My Heart, Your Heart (2:23)
  7. Half Heaven – Half Heartache (2:42)
  8. Tower-Tall (3:20)
  9. (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valence (2:57)
  10. Little Betty Falling Star (2:21)
  11. If I Didn't Have a Dime (2:31)
  12. Going to Church On Sunday (2:52)

Credits

  • Alan Lorber - arranged by, conductor
  • Burt Bacharach - arranged by, conductor, written-by
  • Chuck Sagle - arranged by, conductor
  • Norman Weiser - artwork [liner]
  • Sam Feldman - lacquer cut by
  • Bacharach And David - written-by
  • Ben Raleigh - written-by
  • John Gluck Jr. - written-by

More from Gene Pitney: full discography