I Must Be Seeing Things

Album: Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart (1965)
Charted: 6 31
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Songfacts®:

  • This song was written by Bob Brass, Al Kooper, and Irwin Levine during their early freelance careers. The songwriting team of Brass-Kooper-Levine had just had their first #1 hit with Gary Lewis & the Playboys' "This Diamond Ring." Gene Pitney himself was a very accomplished songwriter whose credits include The Crystals' "He's A Rebel," Ricky Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou," Roy Orbison's "Today's Teardrops," and Bobby Vee's "Rubber Ball."
  • Producer Aaron Schroeder kept a convenient business setup for himself; he both managed and produced Pitney, owned the record company, and could record songs he'd already published. Al Kooper cites the advantage that this gave them in getting songs on the track to success.

    Schroeder was also a highly accomplished songwriter. He wrote over 1500 songs, including songs for Roy Orbison, Duane Eddy, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Pat Boone, and Elvis Presley. His Presley hits include "A Big Hunk o' Love," "Good Luck Charm," "I Got Stung," "Stuck on You," and "It's Now Or Never."

    In Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards, Al Kooper relates: "When other artists were not 'appreciating' our songs, it was always Pitney who'd take one of our teen traumas and tack it onto an album or make it the flip side of a single, just so's we could eat. When 'I Must Be Seeing Things' hit the charts, it felt good to be doing something to repay Gene's kindness."

Comments: 1

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 21st 1965, "I Must Be Seeing Things" by Gene Pitney entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #78; and exactly one month later on March 21st, 1965 it peaked at #31 {for 2 weeks} and spent 7 weeks on the Top 100...
    As stated above, it reached #6 in the United Kingdom, and it also reached #6 on the Canadian RPM Singles chart...
    Between 1961 and 1969 he had twenty-three Top 100 hits; four reached the Top 10, with "Only Love Can Break A Heart" being his biggest hit, it peaked #2* for one week in 1962...
    While on tour in Wales, Gene Pitney passed away on April 5th, 2006 at the age of 66 {heart disease)…
    May he R.I.P.
    * The week "Only Love Can Break A Heart" peaked at #2; he was kept out of the top spot by a song that he had composed, "He's A Rebel" by the Crystals.
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