Bill Pitman (1920 - 2022)

[1finemrg]

Legendary Wrecking Crew session guitarist Bill Pitman died August 11 at the age of 102. He had been in a rehab facility for 4 weeks after fracturing his spine due to a fall. He was under hospice care in his La Quinta, California home at the time of his passing.

"Be My Baby", "Mr. Tambourine Man", "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", and "Good Vibrations" are four of the hundreds of recordings that featured Bill Pitman's work.

He was held in high regard by Phil Spector. The flip side of "Be My Baby" was a jam session titled "Tedesco and Pitman", Phil's favorite guitarists.

Obituary

[caseyfan100]

Bill Pitman also played on many t.v. theme songs including The Wild Wild West from the 60's.

[1finemrg]

Aug 12, 2022 20:46:26 GMT -5 caseyfan100 said:

Bill Pitman also played on many t.v. theme songs including The Wild Wild West from the 60's.

Absolutely. In addition to the hundred of music recordings that featured Bill Pitman, below is a filmography of his contributions.

Filmography

Features

Blue Hawaii (1961)
Torn Curtain (1966)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
Paint Your Wagon (1969)
M*A*S*H (1970)
The Omega Man (1971)
The Parallax View (1974)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Goodfellas (1990)

Television

Bonanza (1959)
The Deputy (1959)
The Wild Wild West (1965)
The Roger Miller Show (1966)
Ironside (1967)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968)
Adam-12 (1968)
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969)
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971)

He was an avid fan of jazz, but felt his rock and roll contributions were nothing special. Producers joked that the more Bill thought a session was terrible, the likelier the song would be a hit.

[mrjukebox]

Never heard of Bill Pitman-He was obviously a talented musician.