A well-known session guitarist and Wrecking Crew member named Bill Pitman has passed away at the age of 102. According to The New York Times, Pitman passed away on August 11 at his home in La Quinta, California. His wife, Janet Pitman, told the magazine that he passed away in hospice care after suffering a spinal injury in a fall.
Pitman was raised in a musical family and was born on February 12th, 1920. His father was a bassist on the NBC programming staff. At the age of five, Bill Pitman started playing the piano, and throughout high school, he commuted from New Jersey to Manhattan to see jazz performances there.
Prior to going to Los Angeles, he had served in World War II. When Bill Pitman was 31 years old, he started playing in jazz clubs in Los Angeles. After gaining a regular position with Peggy Lee’s support band, he rose to fame.
Pitman then appeared frequently for three years on the radio program The Rusty Draper Program. Be My Baby and Good Vibrations by the Ronettes, Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan, and The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand are just a few of Pitman’s well-known recordings.
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head by BJ Thomas also features the ukulele intro. After learning of his passing, internet users paid their tributes to the legendary singer on Twitter.
In 1957, Bill Pitman started working as a studio musician
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In 1957, Pitman started working as a studio musician. Pitman was a member of Phil Spector’s studio ensemble. The list of the session musicians, who were all from Los Angeles, was constantly changing. The Wrecking Crew was given a new moniker in honor of Phil Spector’s 1958 song To Know Him Is To Love Him.
After releasing the song, Pitman was rapidly in demand by Capitol Records and other Los Angeles-based bands. Leon Russell, Glen Campbell, and Carol Kaye were some of his session partners at the time. Pitman collaborated with many musicians, such as Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, and The Beach Boys.
He also contributed to other movies, such as Blue Hawaii, an Elvis Presley feature from 1961, M*A*S*H, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Dirty Dancing, and Goodfellas (1988). (1990). Pitman talked about his collaboration with the loose-knit group of musicians in the 2008 documentary The Wrecking Crew. The documentary’s director is Denny Tedesco, a Wrecking Crew member, and Tommy Tedesco’s son.
On Facebook, Tedesco expressed admiration for Pitman by writing:
He played golf and the guitar with my father, according to the letter. “Until I was older, I didn’t know the impact he had on me.” Bill may be heard playing everything from “Good Vibrations” to “Mr. Tamborine Man” He was an excellent person.
He has provided music for several movies’ soundtracks, such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Goodfellas. The artist also went on tour with Vicki Carr and Burt Bacharach in the 1970s.
Additionally, Bill Pitman was a part of the MGM Grand Hotel’s main band. The musician kept on playing music in private as a hobby after retiring in 1989.
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