Dressed in Black

Sisters Mary and Betty Weiss, together with twins Mary Ann and Marguerite Ganser, were schoolgirls when they formed the Shangri- Las in 1963, and had a meteoric rise to fame with songs like ''Leader of the Pack'' and ''Remember (Walking in the Sand).'' Their career was cut short for reasons largely beyond their control, derailed by the machinations of Mafia-linked record executives, and heartbreak and tragedy followed. Historian Lisa MacKinney marshals an impressive array of new evidence to tell the Shangri-Las'' story, dispelling many myths and long-standing mysteries along the way. Equally importantly, Dressed in Black radically rewrites the accepted narrative of the Shangri-Las'' place in rock history. As young women, they were permitted little agency within a male-dominated industry that viewed teenagers as fodder to be manipulated and exploited by producers, songwriters, and label owners. This has long served as an excuse for critics to deny the musical input of the group members, to trivialize the Shangri-Las as a ''girl group,'' and to assign their work a lesser rank in the canon of ''authentic'' rock and roll. MacKinney''s achievement here is to foreground the Shangri-Las'' considerable abilities, and establish the centrality of their performance of their songs to the group''s underappreciated artistic achievement. This is not to deny the critical role in the group''s success of the legendary writer/producer George ''Shadow'' Morton, but MacKinney''s clear-sighted account reveals Morton as part of a complex ecosystem of musical relationships. He crafted highly emotional material specifically for the Shangri-Las because he knew they had the skills to make his mini-operas both believable and enthralling. The group members channeled personal anguish into their extraordinary performances, which are central to the songs'' impact-no less so than for such classic singers as Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Presley, who also relied on producers and songwriters for their material. The Shangri-Las'' impassioned delivery elicited a massive response from their audience of fellow teenagers at the time and has continued to connect profoundly with audiences ever since. MacKinney backs up these arguments with in-depth analysis of key recordings, and makes a powerful case that their achievements warrant a far more prominent place for the Shangri-Las in the history of popular music.