Yes, Ricky Nelson had a big hit with “Hello Mary Lou” - Gene Pitney wrote the song.
There is a YouTube video of a GP concert and he sings songs he wrote but others had hits with them.
Another GP fun fact....his big hit “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” was never in the movie of the same name. Excellent song, though written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David.
Oh - didn’t realize that about the Liberty Valance song - very interesting - thanks for sharing. You must be a big GP fan - you’re a wealth of info on him! :-)