Deaths: The Shangri-Las Loved Him

SHADOW MORTON, 71

Died Feb. 14th.  Songwriter and producer from the 1960s.  Hey, that's my time era.  Wrote such greats as "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" for the Shangri-Las.  He played no instrument and couldn't read music, writing his songs in his head and is largely responsible for the success of the Shangri-Las.

He came up with the lyrics and music of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" in 22 minutes.  Went to #5 on Billboard.  Combines many elements in it, including narrative, quasi-operatic plot, spoken dialogue, chanting, unconventional sounds (sea gulls).

He co-wrote "Leader of the Pack" with Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry.  Then, "Give Him a Big Kiss" and "I Can Never Go Home" by himself.  Shadow was his nickname.

Also produced 14-year-old Janis Ian's "Society's Child" in 1965.  That was a whole different kind of song from the Shangri-Las.  Then, i was impressed to find out that he produced several albums for Vanilla Fudge and "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" for the Iron Butterfly.

This guy was tied up in a whole lot of my favorite music from the era.

And, I'd Never heard of him.