841 The Shangri-Las “Out in the Streets” 1965

“George Morton was born in 1940 in Richmond, Virginia but grew up in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 14, his family moved to Hicksville, on Long Island, a decision taken by his parents, according to Morton, to keep him out of the trouble. Needless to say, he found a gang to run with on Long Island and at school formed a doo-wop group, the Marquees. By his early twenties, Morton was loafing around and his entry into the music industry came about by accident, through an acquaintance with Ellie Greenwich, who was married to Jeff Barry...A skeptical Barry then challenged him to bring him some of his work. In fact, Morton at that stage did not have a single song.” But he wrote a demo performed by session players, Billy Joel and the Shangri-Las, and became “a key architect of the ‘girl group’ sound.” When he left the music business, he “found a second unlikely career designing golf clubs” (The Times (London), 18 February 2013). 

The Shangri-Las “Out in the Streets”