Guitarist Bill Pitman died on Thursday, August 11, 2022, at the age of 102 at his home in La Quinta, California.
His death was announced to The New York Times by his wife Janet Pitman, who told the outlet her husband died after four weeks of hospice care following a fall that fractured his spine.
Born on February 12, 1920, in Belleville, New Jersey, Pitman developed an interest in music at a young age. His father played bass guitar for NBC Radio in Rockefeller Center and his mother danced on Broadway.
While in high school, Pitman would travel to 52nd Street in Manhattan to listen to jazz artists such as Charlie Parker. Pitman was then influenced by guitarists Charlie Christian and Eddie Lang, and soon befriended Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, and Eddie Bert, with whom he spent countless hours playing music.
In 1951, he was hired as a guitarist for Peggy Lee and within a couple of years was an in-demand session musician, playing with Mel Torme, Buddy Rich and others. It was after meeting producer Phil Spector that he became part of a group of players who would become known as the Wrecking Crew.
He recorded with the likes of Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys and the Byrds, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand and others from the late 1950s to the ’70s. His work appeared in countless films and TV shows over the years.
Pitman retired in 1989, having quit studio session work some 16 years earlier.
After moving to Las Vegas in the 1970s, he played for headliners at the MGM Grand Hotel for more than a decade.
Pitman appeared as himself in Denny Tedesco’s 2008 documentary The Wrecking Crew.
According to reports, Bill Pitman is survived by his son Dale; daughters Donna Simpson, Jean Langdon and Rosemary Pitman; and extended family.