George "Shadow" Morton

One of the most enigmatic and inventive producers of the 1960s, George "Shadow" Morton is most famed for his hits with the Shangri-Las, although he also did notable discs with Janis Ian, the Vanilla Fudge, and the New York Dolls. Morton was nicknamed "Shadow" in part because of his elusive character, and as he has a knack for spinning fanciful tales, much of what he claims for himself and his records has to be taken with a grain of salt. Whatever his exact role in these records, though, no one questions that he did bring unpredictable imagination to the sessions that resulted in classics like "Leader of the Pack," "Remember (Walking in the Sand)," and "Society's Child." Morton grew up in Brooklyn and Hicksville, New York, and was a member of a rock vocal group in the 1950s, the Marquees. In the Marquees days he met Ellie Greenwich, then just another teenage kid singing and playing music. Years later, in 1964, Morton found out that Greenwich was now a hugely successful songwriter, as part of the team (Barry-Greenwich, with her husband Jeff Barry) that wrote or co-wrote great hits like the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," the Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love," and the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron." Morton called Greenwich, who invited her to her Brill Building office. At the ensuing meeting Jeff Barry asked what Morton did; Shadow replied that he wrote songs, although he didn't, really. Calling his bluff, Barry asked Morton to bring him some hit songs. Calling his bluff, Morton, if his account is to be believed, hustled up a session with the Shangri-Las, a local teen girl group that had done some flop singles. On the way to the studio, claims Morton, he realized he had everything together but a song, and pulled the car over to write "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" in about 20 minutes....