Shadow Morton

George "Shadow" Morton
Birth name	George Francis Morton
Born	(1940-09-03)September 3, 1940 Richmond, Virginia, US
Died	February 14, 2013(2013-02-14) (aged 72) Laguna Beach, California, US
Occupations	Songwriter, record producer
Years active	1964-1990s
Associated acts	The Shangri-Las Janis Ian Vanilla Fudge The New York Dolls

George Francis "Shadow" Morton (September 3, 1940 – February 14, 2013) was an American record producer and songwriter best known for his influential work in the 1960s. In particular, he was noted for writing and producing "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Leader of the Pack", and other hits for girl group The Shangri-Las.

Biography

He was born in Richmond, Virginia but grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and then Hicksville, Long Island, where he formed a doo-wop group, the Marquees, at school. He became friendly with Ellie Greenwich, and did drop-in visits to her and her writing partner (later husband) Jeff Barry when they were working at the Brill Building.

According to a Biography episode on various 1960s Brill Building pop songwriters, including retrospective interviews with Greenwich, Barry and Morton among others, Barry said that at the time he was suspicious of Morton's overt attention to Greenwich. Disbelieving Morton was really the songwriter he claimed to be, Barry challenged Morton to prove his legitimacy and bring in samples of his recent work (expecting never to hear again from an embarrassed Morton). Morton stated in his interview that, with an empty song portfolio at the time, he felt sufficiently challenged by Barry, whereupon he left the Brill Building and drove his automobile to a Long Island Beach. Full of inspiration and desperation, Morton spent the evening writing his first song, while sitting in the dark in his parked car. Entitled "Remember (Walking In The Sand)", Morton then 'rolled the dice' and recorded a demo of his song with a long-shot, unknown girl-group local club act that he admired, The Shangri-Las (according to Morton, with the then-unknown Billy Joel on piano in the demo recording), and offered the demo recording to Jerry Leiber, who was then setting up Red Bird Records. The recording "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" by the Shangri-Las reached #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. Considering the scope of this accomplishment, Morton was transformed overnight from a credential-less industry 'wannabe' into a teen recording songwriter and recording producer. According to Steve Kurutz at Allmusic, "Morton's production work, which included brilliant sound effects and inventive percussion, carried the Shangri-Las to girl-group history."

Morton signed as a staff producer for Red Bird Records. He was nicknamed "Shadow" by record company executive George Goldner because his whereabouts could never be pinned down. He was a key architect in creating the girl group sound of the mid-1960s, by continuing to write and produce hit teen melodramas for the Shangri-Las, including "Leader of the Pack", "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", and "Give Him A Great Big Kiss". These juxtaposed teen lyrics against a mixture of pop and R&B, with sound effects and inventive percussion.

In 1967, his successes continued after the collapse of Red Bird when his production of Janis Ian's, "Society's Child", became a hit record. The same year, he discovered a group called the Pidgeons, who became Vanilla Fudge, and produced their first three albums, which included their hit version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On," followed by a foray into aural collage called The Beat Goes On. The experimentation was largely Morton's idea, resisted by the band, and poorly received by critics, though it reached #17 in the US Billboard Top 200 based on sales.

In 1970 Morton produced the psychedelic heavy rock band, Haystacks Balboa, a New York City based quintet who toured nationally as support for Rod Stewart, Ten Years After and Jethro Tull. Later in the 1970s, he worked with Iron Butterfly; the group gave an interview to Mix Magazine crediting Morton with producing the hit track "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". Morton told film producer Larry Schweikart in 2009 that the band was too tight to get the song down, so he faked an equipment malfunction on the soundboard and told them to practice. In fact, he was rolling tape, and he kept giving them the "keep it up" sign, resulting in the long solos and the famous drum solo. He also produced all-girl group Isis, and worked with The New York Dolls, producing their second album Too Much Too Soon. Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders would later cover his composition "Great Big Kiss" on his 1979 solo album So Alone. In 1972, Shadow produced the Boston comedy band Gross National Productions' album P-Flaps and Low Blows.

Morton then disappeared from the music industry for several years, and was treated for alcoholism in the 1980s before attempting a comeback. He later lost a lawsuit with Polygram Records for what he claimed was the unauthorised use of his music in the 1990 film Goodfellas.

He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006. In 2009, Morton appeared in the documentary, Rockin' the Wall, about music's part in bringing down the Iron Curtain, along with former Vanilla Fudge members Mark Stein and Vinny Martell, as well as David Paich of Toto, Rudy Sarzo of Quiet Riot, and Robby Krieger of the Doors.

Shadow Morton died on February 14, 2013 in Laguna Beach, California after a long battle with cancer.

External links

• Comprehensive 1991 interview with Morton
• Documentary on Shangri-Las including interview with Morton
• Rockinthewall.com