Girl Group US, les "Shangri-Las" ont été formé en 1963. Il comprenait: les soeurs Margie et Mary-Ann Ganser, Betty et Mary Weiss.
Along with
the Shirelles and
the Ronettes, the Shangri-Las were among the greatest girl groups; if judged
solely on the basis of attitude, they were the greatest of them all. They
combined an innocent adolescent charm with more than a hint of darkness, singing
about dead bikers, teenage runaways, and doomed love affairs as well as
ebullient high-school crushes. These could be delivered with either infectious,
handclapping harmonies or melodramatic, almost operatic recitatives that were
contrived but utterly effective. Tying it all together in the studio was Shadow
Morton, a mad genius of a producer who may have been second in eccentric
imagination only to Phil Spector in the mid-'60s.
Originally the Shangri-Las were comprised of two pairs of sisters from Queens,
NY (identical twins Marge and Mary Anne Ganser and siblings Mary and Betty
Weiss). They had already recorded a couple of obscure singles when they were
hired by George "Shadow" Morton to demo a song he had recently written, "Remember
(Walkin' in the Sand)." The haunting ballad, with its doomy "Moonlight Sonata"-like
piano riffs, wailing lead vocal, and thunderous background harmonies, seguing
into an a cappella chorus backed by nothing except handclaps and seagull cries,
made the Top Five in late 1964. It also began their association with Jerry
Leiber and Mike Stoller's Red Bird label, which would handle the group for the
bulk of their career.
The quality of Morton's work with the Shangri-Las on Red Bird (with assistance
from Jeff Barry and Artie Butler) was remarkable considering that he had
virtually no prior experience in the music business. The group's material, so
over-the-top emotionally that it sometimes bordered on camp, was lightened by
the first-class production, which embroidered the tracks with punchy brass,
weeping strings, and plenty of imaginative sound effects. Nowhere was this more
apparent than on "Leader of the Pack," with its periodic motorcycle roars and
crescendo of crashing glass. The death-rock classic became the Shangri-Las'
signature tune, reaching number one.
Several smaller hits followed in 1965 and 1966, many of them excellent. "Give
Him a Great Big Kiss" proved they could handle more conventionally, bubbly girl
group fare well; "I Can Never Go Home Anymore," a runaway tale that took their
patented pathos to the extreme, would be their third and final Top Ten hit.
These all show up on oldies collections, but lots of listeners remain unaware of
the other fine singles in their catalog, like the moody "Out in the Streets,"
the dense orchestral swamp of "He Cried" (which cuts Jay & the Americans'
original, "She Cried," to pieces), and another teen death tale, "Give Us Your
Blessings." Some of their best songs, in fact, were B-sides;
"Dressed in Black," yet another teen death drama, had a marvelously hushed and
damned atmosphere, and "Paradise" was co-written by a young Harry Nilsson. Their
most unusual single of all was "Past, Present and Future," which didn't feature
a single sung note, presenting a somber spoken monologue and occasional spoken
background chants over a classical piano track reminiscent of "Remember (Walking
in the Sand)." It was too unconventional to rise above the middle of the charts,
especially given that the narrative could quite possibly be construed as the
recollections of an assault/rape victim.
Unlike some girl groups, the Shangri-Las were dynamic on-stage
performers, choreographing their dance steps to their lyrics and wearing skin-tight
leather pants and boots that were quite daring for the time. Their real lives,
however, were not without elements of drama themselves. Their constant personnel
changes baffle historians; sometimes they are pictured as a trio, and sometimes
one of the members in the photos is clearly not one of the Weiss or Ganser
sisters. Worse, the Red Bird label ran into serious organizational difficulties
in the mid-'60s, and wound down its operations in 1966. The group moved to
Mercury for a couple of dispirited singles, but had split by the end of the
1960s. Shadow Morton went on to an interesting, erratic career that included
involvement with Janis Ian, the New York Dolls, and Mott the Hoople. Mary Anne
Ganser died in 1970; the cause has been a source of mystery but it was due to
either encephalitis, complications from a barbiturate overdose, or as the result
of a seizures. Her sister Marge died in 1996 of breast cancer.
Even today, the Shangri-Las' history remains somewhat murky and mysterious; the
original members have rarely reunited for oldies shows or talked to the press.
The situation was exacerbated by frustratingly substandard reissues of their Red
Bird work, which made it impossible to collect all of their fine sides without
buying numerous packages, many of which boasted shockingly shoddy sound quality.
Happily, the situation was rectified in the mid-'90s with excellent,
comprehensive compilations of the Red Bird material in both the U.K. and U.S.
http://www.history-of-rock.com/shangria-las.htm
Style musical : Girls Group, Doo Wop, Rock 'n' Roll, Brill Building Pop
LEADER OF THE PACK (1964)
THE DUM
DUM DITTY (1965)
|
|
Années en activité :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 | 10 |
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles & EP
| 1963 | SP SMASH 1866 (US) | . | Simon Says / Simon Speaks |
| 1964 | SP SPOKANE 4006 (US) | . | Wishing Well / Hate To Say I Told You So |
| 1964 | SP SCEPTER 1291 (US) | . | Wishing Well / Hate To Say I Told You So |
| 07/1964 | SP RED BIRD 008 (US) | . | Remember / It's Easier To Cry |
| 09/1964 | SP RED BIRD 014 (US) | . |
Leader Of The Pack
/ What Is Love ? |
| 12/1964 | SP RED BIRD 018 (US) | . | Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Twist And Shout |
| 12/1964 | SP RED BIRD 019 (US) | . | Maybe / Shout |
| 1964 | EP VOGUE / RED BIRD RBEV 28004 (F) |
 |
Remember / It's Easier To Cry / + BUTTERFLYS |
| 1964 | EP VOGUE / RED BIRD RBEV 28005 (F) |
 |
Leader Of The Pack
/ What Is Love / + JELLY BEANS |
| 04/1965 | SP RED BIRD 025 (US) | . | Out In The Streets / The Boy |
| 05/1965 | SP RED BIRD 030 (US) | . | Give Us Your Blessings / Only Heaven Knows |
| 10/1965 | SP RED BIRD 036 (US) | . | Right Now And Not Later / Train From Kansas City |
| 11/1965 | SP RED BIRD 043 (US) | . | I Can Never Go Home Anymore / Sophisticated Boom Boom |
| 12/1965 | SP RED BIRD 043 (US) | . | I Can Never Go Home Anymore / Bull Dog |
| 1965 | EP VOGUE / RED BIRD RBEV 28007 (F) |
 |
Maybe / Shout / Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Twist And Shout |
| 02/1966 | SP RED BIRD 048 (US) | . | Long Live Our Love / Sophisticated Boom Boom |
| 04/1966 | SP RED BIRD 053 (US) | . | He Cried / Dressed In Back |
| 06/1966 | SP RED BIRD 068 (US) | . | Past, Present And Future / Love You More Than Yesterday |
| 06/1966 | SP RED BIRD 068 (US) | . | Past, Present And Future / Paradise |
| 1966 | EP VOGUE / RED BIRD RBEV 28009 (F) |
 |
I Can Never Go Home Anymore / The Train From Kansas City / Bull Dog / Right Now And Not Later |
| 1966 | SP MERCURY 72645 (US) | . | I'll Never Leam / The Sweet Sounds Of Summer |
| 1967 | SP MERCURY 72670 (US) | . | Take The Time / Foosteps On The Roof |
| 1979 | EP CHARLY 109 (UK) |
 |
Remember /
Leader Of The Pack
/ Give Him A Great Big Kiss |
| 1983 | EP LINE 1094 (D) |
|
Leader Of The Pack
/ Remember / Give Him A Great Big Kiss |
Albums
| 01/1965 | LP 12" RED BIRD 20-101 (US) |
 |
LEADER OF THE PACK - Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Leader Of The Pack / Bull Dog / It's Easier To Cry / What Is Love / Remember / Twist And Shout / Maybe / So Much In Love / Shout / Good Night My Love Pleasant Dreams / You Can't Sit Down |
| 06/1965 | LP 12" RED BIRD 20-104 (US) |
|
THE SHANGRI-LAS-65 ! - Right Now And Not Later / Never Again / Give Us Your Blessings / Sophisticated Boom Boom / I'm Blue / Heaven Only Knows / The Train From Kansas City / Out In The Streets / What's A Girl Supposed To Do / The Dum Dum Ditty / You Cheated, You Lied / The Boy |
| 06/1965 | LP 12" RED BIRD 20-105 (US) |
|
I CAN NEVER GO HOME ANYMORE - Right Now And Not Later / Never Again / Give Us Your Blessings / Sophisticated Boom Boom / I'm Blue / Heaven Only Knows / The Train From Kansas City / Out In The Streets / What's A Girl Supposed To Do / The Dum Dum Ditty / You Cheated, You Lied / The Boy |
| 1966 | LP 12" MERCURY 1099 (US) |
|
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE - GOLDEN HITS OF THE SHANGRI-LAS - Past, Present And Future / Train From Kansas City / Heaven Only Knows / Remember / Out In The Streets / What Is Love / Leader Of The Pack / I Can Never Go Home Anymore / Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Long Live Our Love / Give Us Your Blessings / Sphisticated Boom Boom |
| 1966 | LP 12" PHILIPS 6336 215 (US) |
 |
GOLDEN HITS OF SHANGRI-LAS - Leader Of The Pack / Past Present And Future / Train From Kansas City / Heaven Only Knows / Remember (Walking In The Sand) / Out In The Streets / I Can Never Go Home Anymore / Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Long Live Our Love / Give Us Your Blessings / Sophisticated Boom Boom / What Is Love |
| 04/1980 | LP 12" CHARLY CRM 2005 (UK) |
|
TEEN ANGUISH, VOL. 2 - Leader Of The Pack / Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Train From Kansas City / Heaven Only Knows / I Can Never Go Home Anymore / What Is Love / Remember (Walking In The Sand) / Past Present And Future / Give Us Your Blessings / Long Live Our Love / Out In The Streets / Sophisticated Boom Boom |
| 03/1984 | LP 12" CHARLY CRM 2028 (UK) |
|
LEADER OF THE PACK - Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Leader Of The Pack / Bull Dog / It's Easier To Cry / What Is Love / Remember (Walking In The Sand) / Twist And Shout / Maybe / So Much In Love / Shout / Goodnight My Love, Pleasant Dreams / You Can't Sit Down |
| 03/1984 | LP 12" CHARLY CRM 2029 (UK) |
 |
SHANGRI-LAS 65 ! - Right Now And Not Later / Never Again / Give Us Your Blessing / Sophisticated Boom Boom / I'm Blue / Heaven Only Knows / The Train From Kansas City / Out In The Streets / What's A Girl Supposed To Do / The Dum Dum Ditty / You Cheated You Lied / The Boy |
| 1986 | CD CHARLY 38 (UK) |
 |
THE DIXIE CUPS MEET THE SHANGRI-LAS - (DIXIE CUPS & SHANGRI-LAS) - Remember (Walking In The Sand) / Train From Kansas City / Heaven Only Knows / Out In The Streets / Leader Of The Pack / I Can Never Go Home Anymore / Long Live Love / Give Him A Great Big Kiss / Give Us Your Blessings / What Is Love? / Sophisticated Boom Boom / Past, Present, And Future / + The DIXIE CUPS |
| 06/2000 | CD INTERCONTINENTAL 1228 (US) |
 |
BACK 2 BACK - SHIRELLES & SHANGRI-LAS |
© Rocky Productions 20/07/2012
