Thursday, October 24, 2019

When a Shangri-La Emerged From the Shadows

The other day our pal Drew had a fun read on finding a Red Bird comp in the most unlikely of places... and on vinyl to boot. That, of course, got me listening to the Shangri-Las and then on to one of my favorite albums from this century. With the exception of a couple of very brief on-stage reunions, Mary Weiss had been out of the spotlight since the Shangri-Las called it quits in 1968.

In 2007, seemingly out of nowhere, Mary teamed up with Memphis garage rockers Reigning Sound for 'Dangerous Game.' The album's best songs were composed by uber fan and Reigning Sound frontman Greg Cartwright, and he turned out to be the perfect partner to bring Mary back to us. Here were the two singles... a blend of organ-heavy mid-'60s power pop, drama and modern flourishes. As for Mary, she was in great voice. A dozen years later, I'm still hoping for another comeback.

Don't Come Back
Stop and Think It Over

While we're here, how about something from the Shangri-Las? Written and produced by the legendary Shadow Morton and appearing on the iconic Red Bird label, here's a No. 18 hit from 1964 that appeared on 'Leader of the Pack.'

Give Him a Great Big Kiss

3 comments:

George said...

3 splendid tracks, Brian, much enjoyed this morning.

The Swede said...

Those Mary Weiss tracks are an absolute revelation and started me daydreaming about other dream collaborations I would like to have heard - Dusty backed by The Ramones comes fairly high on my fantasy list, although Janis Joplin duetting with Mark Lanegan is also a curiously appealing thought.

Rol said...

That bears further investigation too!