George 'Shadow' Morton obituary

music producer and songwriter behind the leader Shangri-Las' 1960 hit of the girl group the Pack

"Are you really going out with him?" Is spoken introduction to the Leader of the Pack by the Shangri-Las, one of the most evocative of the "girl group" music genre 1960s pop. producer and co-author of this album and other hits Shangri-Las was George "Shadow" Morton, who died at age 72 of cancer. Among other productions children controversial shot Janis Ian Morton and Company records great rock bands Vanilla Fudge and Iron Butterfly, and punk pioneers the New York Dolls.

Leader of the Pack, published in the United States in 1964, was the most notable successes of the "Shangri-Las, a love story of a young girl in the middle class, as the leader of a biker gang that ends in a fatal accident. Morton said the sound of a motorcycle for voice recording and singer Mary Weiss regret become No. 1 hit in the United States. The success of a parody, a leading laundry detergents in 1965 sealed the status of the classic song.

In Britain, recent riots Mods and Rockers shy caused stations to ban the track. Despite - or because of - this, Leader of the Pack was a success in the United Kingdom in 1965, and again in 1972 and 1976. Leader of the pack has also been used in a number of films, including Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, where Morton vainly demanded payment.

Morton was born in Richmond, Virginia, but grew up in Brooklyn. As a teenager her parents decided to move to the outskirts of healthy Hicksville, Long Island. His first love was jazz (a phrase from a song Modern Jazz Quartet echo in his first hit Shangri-Las), but in high school, he joined a vocal group of doo-wop. After leaving education was on the fringes of the music industry, recording a few singles with Markys dark.

In 1964, it was discovered that the knowledge of Long Island, Ellie Greenwich, had become a successful composer. Greenwich visit in his office in the Brill Building on Broadway, Morton asked what he had done to her husband and writing partner, Jeff Barry. Bravely answered untruthfully he wrote songs. Barry, who was giving him the nickname "Shadow" because of his habit of quietly disappearing from the social environment, the challenge of returning with some examples and Morton hastily assembled a recording session with the Shangri-Las . The result was a seven-minute theme entitled Remember (Walking in the Sand), with sound effects and seagull cries long passages recitatives. After Barry and Greenwich Morton helped to edit and re-record the song, which was broadcast on the Red Bird label and became a top 20 hit.

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As leader of the pack, Morton and the Shangri-Las had several successes in other U.S. over the next two years, including I Can Never Go Home Anymore, Great Big kiss and '. Past, Present and Future

• Early, Morton acquired and cultivated a reputation for eccentricity and unpredictability. As a teenager, the pianist and singer Billy Joel plays the recording of the first demo Remember (Walking in the Sand) and Morton pointed out that "in a very theatrical production, but used a layer in the studio and it was very intimidating for a young man like me. "Weiss has described as" colorful, unique and talented, but very difficult to get a room at a scheduled time. "

When the company folded in 1966 Morton Red Bird took the Shangri-Las in the Mercury label, which have been less successful. At that time, Morton became the producer Janis Ian 15 years. A chosen society for children, a story of a doomed romance interracial, as his first single. However, as Ian says in his autobiography, Morton tried to persuade her to censor the letter, saying: ".. I can guarantee you a note # 1 if you change a word just change" black "something else" Ian refused and the album was a success, but not an ornament graphic. Morton went on to produce two albums Ian first.

soon produced the first album by the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, who played rock music with classical instruments and included future film composer Michael Kamen. Morton went to work with a rock band called Doves New York specializing in long and heavy versions of recent successes. After his name was changed to Vanilla Fudge, Shadow Morton succeeded You Keep Me Hanging On, a barely recognizable variation in the recording of a Supremes, "which was a top 10 hit in the U.S. in 1968.

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