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The first full-length history of the Shangri-Las, one of the most significant-and most misunderstood-pop groups of the 1960s.
Sisters Mary and Betty Weiss, together with twins Mary Ann and Marguerite Ganser, were schoolgirls when they formed the Shangri-Las in 1963, and had a meteoric rise to fame with songs like "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)." Their career was cut short for reasons largely beyond their control, derailed by the machinations of Mafia-linked record executives, and heartbreak and tragedy followed. Historian Lisa MacKinney marshals an impressive array of new evidence to tell the Shangri-Las' story, dispelling many myths and long-standing mysteries along the way.
Equally importantly, Dressed in Black radically rewrites the accepted narrative of the Shangri-Las' place in rock history. As young women, they were permitted little agency within a male-dominated industry that viewed teenagers as fodder to be manipulat-ed and exploited by producers, songwriters, and label owners. For decades, this has served as an excuse for critics to deny the musical input of the group members, to trivialize the Shangri-Las as a "girl group," and to assign their work a lesser rank in the canon of "authentic" rock and roll. MacKinney's great achievement here is to foreground the Shangri-Las' considerable abilities and musicality, and establish the centrality of their performance of their songs to the group's underappreciated artistic achievement.
This is not to deny the critical role in the group's success of professional songwriters (including Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) and writer/producer George 'Shadow' Morton, a pioneering and eccentric figure whose self-mythologizing has generated a level of obfuscation that rivals that of the Shangri-Las themselves. MacKinney's clear-sighted account reveals Morton in a completely new light-and as part of a complex ecosystem of musical relationships. Morton wrote and produced highly emotional material specifically for the Shangri-Las because he knew they had the skills to make his mini-operas not only believable, but enthralling. The group members, particularly Mary Weiss, channeled personal anguish into their extraordinary performances, which are central to the songs' impact-no less so than for such classic singers as Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Presley, who also relied on producers and songwriters for their body of work. The Shangri-Las' impassioned delivery elicited a massive response from their audience of fellow teenagers at the time and has continued to connect profoundly with audiences ever since. MacKinney backs up these arguments with in-depth analysis of key Shangri-Las' recordings, and makes a powerful case that their achievements warrant a far more prominent place for the Shangri-Las in the history of popular music.
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The first full-length history of the Shangri-Las, one of the most significant-and most misunderstood-pop groups of the 1960s.
Sisters Mary and Betty Weiss, together with twins Mary Ann and Marguerite Ganser, were schoolgirls when they formed the Shangri-Las in 1963, and had a meteoric rise to fame with songs like "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)." Their career was cut short for reasons largely beyond their control, derailed by the machinations of Mafia-linked record executives, and heartbreak and tragedy followed. Historian Lisa MacKinney marshals an impressive array of new evidence to tell the Shangri-Las' story, dispelling many myths and long-standing mysteries along the way.
Equally importantly, Dressed in Black radically rewrites the accepted narrative of the Shangri-Las' place in rock history. As young women, they were permitted little agency within a male-dominated industry that viewed teenagers as fodder to be manipulat-ed and exploited by producers, songwriters, and label owners. For decades, this has served as an excuse for critics to deny the musical input of the group members, to trivialize the Shangri-Las as a "girl group," and to assign their work a lesser rank in the canon of "authentic" rock and roll. MacKinney's great achievement here is to foreground the Shangri-Las' considerable abilities and musicality, and establish the centrality of their performance of their songs to the group's underappreciated artistic achievement.
This is not to deny the critical role in the group's success of professional songwriters (including Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) and writer/producer George 'Shadow' Morton, a pioneering and eccentric figure whose self-mythologizing has generated a level of obfuscation that rivals that of the Shangri-Las themselves. MacKinney's clear-sighted account reveals Morton in a completely new light-and as part of a complex ecosystem of musical relationships. Morton wrote and produced highly emotional material specifically for the Shangri-Las because he knew they had the skills to make his mini-operas not only believable, but enthralling. The group members, particularly Mary Weiss, channeled personal anguish into their extraordinary performances, which are central to the songs' impact-no less so than for such classic singers as Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Presley, who also relied on producers and songwriters for their body of work. The Shangri-Las' impassioned delivery elicited a massive response from their audience of fellow teenagers at the time and has continued to connect profoundly with audiences ever since. MacKinney backs up these arguments with in-depth analysis of key Shangri-Las' recordings, and makes a powerful case that their achievements warrant a far more prominent place for the Shangri-Las in the history of popular music.
The Shangri-Las were an American group of the 1960s, consisting of Mary Weiss, her sister Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Weiss and twin sisters Marguerite ‘Marge’ Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser. They met at high school and began singing in their early teens. After a few early records had been released to little acclaim, they met George ‘Shadow’ Morton.
Morton wrote and produced their most famous songs, such as ‘Remember (Walking in the Sand)’ and ‘Leader of the Pack’. The girls became the voices of the emerging teen explosion and played shows with the Beatles, the Stones and James Brown.
Lisa MacKinney has written an enthralling history of the group, the times and the supporting cast of characters. She is very clear that when the Shangri-Las were performing there was no such thing as a ‘Girl Group’, any more than there were ‘Boy Bands’. She argues that the use of those terms is not only lazy, but also another way to denigrate and diminish the achievements of all the so-called girl groups like the Shirelles, the Crystals, and so on.
MacKinney depicts, at times with excruciating and hair-raising detail, the characters that populated the music scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Gangsters such as Morris Levy have appeared in many books before, but in this one they are fully realised, and you can feel their menace.
The deep research achieved by the author is truly impressive and her writing is deeply engaging and assured. Most of the information in this book had, until now, been kept secret and reading the travails of these girls is sad and a testament to the judgement and skill of MacKinney, who never descends into prurience.
This is the best biography I have read since Plugger! The Tony Lockett Story.
Music biography & memoir
Discover the lives of iconic musicians with these insightful reflections and thrilling tell-alls.
