Sophisticated Boom Boom: The Shadow Morton Story

by N/A

Overview

Shadow Morton is one of the legendary cult figures of rock & roll, a mad genius who existed in, well, the shadows. He was one of the great girl group producers, best known for his cinematic work for the Shangri-Las, and he was one of the only Brill Building-related musicians to successfully transition from pop to psychedelia and acid rock, helming Janis Ian's breakthrough 1966 single "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking) before producing heavy hits for Vanilla Fudge ("You Keep Me Hanging On") and Iron Butterfly ("In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"). The curtain on Shadow's golden era closed with Too Much Too Soon, the second album by the New York Dolls, the melodramatic proto-punkers who were destined to work with Morton (they lifted the opening of the Shangri-Las' "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" for "Looking for a Kiss," after all), after which he returned to the murky shadows from whence he came. Sophisticated Boom Boom: The Shadow Morton Story, a 2013 compilation that's part of Ace's ongoing Producers series and arrives, sadly, just a few months after Morton's death, shines a light on those shadows, both from his '60s peak and in the decades afterward. Mick Patrick's excellent liner notes reveal the extent to which alcohol was responsible for the long gaps of silence at his commercial peak and his retirement, with Morton himself frankly admitting to his reliance on the bottle, but much of his mysteriousness was a witty contrivance: Billy Joel, who played piano on Morton's career-making "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)," recalls Shadow "wearing this big cape and dark glasses...he's waving his arms in the air saying, 'Give me more purple!'" This love of the dramatic infused all of Shadow Morton's work, whether he was cobbling together "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for a Fab Four cash-in called "Only Seventeen" by the Beattle-ettes, or barely restraining the chaos of a Mott the Hoople session. All this and more is evident on Sophisticated Boom Boom, but that doesn't mean that it has everything of note Morton did. Most egregiously, "Leader of the Pack" has been left behind, as have several other mini-masterworks Morton made for the Shangri-Las, but it's a testament to the strength of his vision, as well as the work of compiler Patrick, that the 24-track compilation tells a vivid, compelling story anyway. Cut over the course of 16 years, this collection begins with Morton as a Hicksville hustler, knocking out hot rod knock-offs before blagging his way into the Brill Building, where he reunited with old school friend Ellie Greenwich and then carved out his own histrionic, theatrical sound within the confines of the Brill Building. His showmanship served him well whether he was shepherding the sensitive Ian, expanding the horizons of the Blues Project, or delving into the heavy, acid-fried rock of Vanilla Fudge and the Vagrants. In this context, the New York Dolls do seem like a career-capping masterwork, drawing upon everything else Morton tried in the previous decade and a half, but Sophisticated Boom Boom shows that in between the Shangri-Las and the Dolls, Morton created a wild, wooly, visionary body of work that retains its mystique to this very day. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/02/2013
Label:	Ace
UPC:	0029667054621
Rank:	89450

Tracks

1. Hot Rod  - Eddie Heller  -  Mar-Keys  - Joe Monaco  - George "Shadow" Morton
2. I Want My Girl  -  Lonely Ones  - Joe Monaco  - George "Shadow" Morton
3. Only Seventeen  -  Beattle-ettes  - Joe Monaco  - George "Shadow" Morton
4. Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)  - Jeff Barry  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Artie Ripp  -  Shangri-Las
5. Give Him a Great Big Kiss  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton  -  Shangri-Las
6. Sophisticated Boom Boom  -  Goodies  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton
7. Baby  - Jeff Barry  - Ellie Greenwich  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton
8. You Don't Know  - Jeff Barry  - Ellie Greenwich  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton
9. Past, Present and Future  - Artie Butler  - Jerry Leiber  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton  -  Shangri-Las
10. Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)  - Janis Ian  - Shadow Morton
11. So Soft, So Warm  - Vinny Gormann  - Tony Michaels  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton  -  Nu Luvs
12. Take My Advice  -  Nu Luvs  - Gloria Palmisano
13. Lost in the Shuffle  -  Blues Project  - Jack McDuffy  - Shadow Morton  - Joel OBrien  - Jerry Schoenbaum
14. Stop the Clock  - Vinny Gormann  - Tony Michaels  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton  -  Shaggy Boys
15. I'll Never Learn  - Sandy Hurwitz  - Shadow Morton  -  Shangri-Las
16. Too Old to Go 'Way Little Girl  - Janis Ian  - Artie Kaplan  - Jerry Schoenbaum
17. You Keep Me Hangin' On  - Lamont Dozier  -  Guys  - Brian Holland  - Eddie Holland  - Shadow Morton  -  Vanilla Fudge
18. And When It's Over  - Shadow Morton  - Bert Sommer  -  Vagrants
19. Season of the Witch, Pt. 2  - Sandy Hurwitz  - Donovan Leitch  - Shadow Morton  -  Vanilla Fudge
20. In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida  - Doug Ingle  -  Iron Butterfly  - Shadow Morton
21. Midnight Lady [Mono Single Version]  - Ian Hunter  - Shadow Morton  -  Mott the Hoople  - Mick Ralphs
22. Puss 'N' Boots  - David Johansen  - Shadow Morton  -  New York Dolls  - Sylvain Sylvain
23. Stranded in the Jungle  - Al Curry  - James Johnson  - Shadow Morton  -  New York Dolls  - Ernestine Smith
24. Dressed in Black  - Vinny Gormann  - Tony Michaels  - George "Shadow" Morton  - Shadow Morton

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Beattle-ettes   Primary Artist
The Nu-Luvs   Primary Artist
The Shaggy Boys   Primary Artist
The Blues Project   Primary Artist
The Mar-Keys   Primary Artist
The Goodies   Primary Artist
Ellie Greenwich   Primary Artist
The Lonely Ones   Primary Artist
Janis Ian   Primary Artist
Vanilla Fudge   Primary Artist
The Shangri-Las   Primary Artist
The Vagrants   Primary Artist
Mott the Hoople   Primary Artist
Iron Butterfly   Primary Artist
New York Dolls   Primary Artist
Shadow Morton   Primary Artist,Director
George "Shadow" Morton   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Eddie Heller   Producer
Mitch Cohen   References
Joe Monaco   Composer
Eric Charge   Memorabilia
Donovan Leitch   Composer
Niall McCormack   Package Design
Erin Amar   References
Paul Nelson   Liner Notes,Source Material
Sylvain Sylvain   Composer
Bob Goodman   Source Material
The Goodies   Photography
Mick Patrick   Liner Notes,Memorabilia,Photography,Source Material
Billy Joel   Liner Notes,Source Material
Ian Hunter   Composer
Charlotte Greig   Source Material
Lamont Dozier   Composer
Ellie Greenwich   Composer,Liner Notes,Photography,Source Material
Genya Ravan   Source Material
Eddie Holland   Composer
David Johansen   Composer,Liner Notes,Source Material
Doug Ingle   Composer
Lenny Kaye   Source Material
Janis Ian   Arranger,Composer,Liner Notes
Joel O'Brien   Composer
Leonard Bernstein   Source Material
Rob Finnis   Memorabilia
Shadow Morton   Arranger,Producer
Gloria Palmisano   Composer
Jack McDuffy   Composer
Dan Corley   References
OWB   References
Sandy Hurwitz   Composer
Stacey J. Morton   Photography
Tom Hibbert   Source Material
Rich Arfin   Source Material
David Kamp   References
The Guys   Arranger
David Simons   Source Material
Ralph M. Newman   Source Material
James Johnson   Composer
Teri Landi   Photography
Jerry Schoenbaum   Production Supervisor
Peter Gibbon   Memorabilia
Jerry Leiber   Composer,Liner Notes,Source Material
Nick Robbins   Mastering
Mick Ralphs   Composer
Brian Holland   Composer
Mary Weiss   Liner Notes,Source Material
Artie Kaplan   Arranger
Timothy White   Source Material
Vince Martell   Liner Notes,Source Material
George "Shadow" Morton   Composer,Producer,Photography
Ernestine Smith   Composer
Jeff Barry   Composer,Producer,Liner Notes,Source Material
Jud Cost   Source Material
John Clemente   Photography
Artie Butler   Arranger,Composer,Liner Notes,Source Material
Artie Ripp   Producer
Alan Betrock   Source Material
Bert Sommer   Composer
Sandy Robertson   Source Material
Vinny Gormann   Composer,Producer
George Schowerer   Cover Photo,Photography
Morgan Neville   Source Material
Tony Michaels   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Bob Gruen   Photography
Al Curry   Composer