Shangri-Las-65! Explained

Shangri-Las-65!
Type:studio
Artist:the Shangri-Las
Released:September 1965
Label:Red Bird
Producer:George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, Robert Bateman, Ronald Moseley
Prev Title:Leader of the Pack
Prev Year:1965

Shangri-Las-65! is the second album by the Shangri-Las. Released in September 1965, it serves as the follow-up album to Leader of the Pack, which was released earlier in the year.

Content and reception

Releases and singles

The original pressing of the album contains the singles "Out in the Streets", "Give Us Your Blessings" and "Right Now and Not Later". The second pressing includes the hit single "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", and excludes the album track "The Dum Dum Ditty". The second pressing was later repackaged and re-released as I Can Never Go Home Anymore.[1] [2]

Other songs

"The Dum Dum Ditty" and "Sophisticated Boom Boom" had been released first as a single by another American female band, the Goodies, also in 1965, but failed to chart.[3] [4] In retrospective reviews, AllMusic called the Shangri-Las version of "Sophisticated Boom Boom" a classic and highlighted its wry humor and "the funky James Brown groove" that permeates the track.[5]

Another of the album's songs, "What's a Girl Supposed to Do?", had also been released previously by another artist, Lesley Gore, in 1965. Dave Thompson compared the two versions in AllMusic: "whereas Gore recites the song with becoming innocence, the Shangri-Las sound, characteristically, somewhat raunchier – 'kiss him, hold him, hug him, love him'... and then a silence so suggestive that any further detail seems unnecessary."[6]

Mary Ann Ganser sang the lead vocal on "I'm Blue",[7] which is a cover of the Ikettes' 1961 hit song. "Heaven Only Knows" was the only Shangri-Las song that lead singer Mary Weiss recorded again, 42 years later, for her only solo album, Dangerous Game.[8]

British musician Miki Berenyi named Shangri-Las-65! as one of her top 10 favorite albums: "I loved the album's mix of headstrong emotion ('Never Again'), melodrama ('The Train from Kansas City'), and cool banter ('Sophisticated Boom Boom')."[9] She added that "it was a great record for acting out," singing and dancing with a female schoolmate.

Track listing

Side oneSide two (first pressing)Side two (second pressing and I Can Never Go Home Anymore)

Personnel

Shangri-Las

Technical

Charts

Albums

!Year!Title!Chart!Position
1965Shangri-Las-65US Billboard 200
US Cashbox Top 100 Albums103
US Record World 100 Top Lp's108
I Can Never Go Home AnymoreUS Billboard 200
US Cashbox Top 100 Albums
US Record World 100 Top Lp's
Singles
YearTitleChartPosition
1965"Out in the Streets"US Billboard Hot 10053[10]
US Cashbox Top 10073
Canada R.P.M Top 40 & 57
"Give Us Your Blessings"US Billboard Hot 10029
US Cashbox Top 10033
Canada R.P.M Top 40 & 521
"Right Now and Not Later"US Billboard Hot 10099[11]
US Cashbox Top 100150
Canada R.P.M Top 40 & 5
"I Can Never Go Home Anymore"US Billboard Hot 1006
US Cashbox Top 1007
Canada R.P.M Top 40 & 52

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Viglione . Joe . I Can Never Go Home Anymore – The Shangri-Las – Review . AllMusic.
  2. Book: Santelli, Robert . Sixties Rock: A Listener's Guide . 61 . 1985 . . Chicago . 0809254395.
  3. Web site: Thompson . Dave . The Dum Dum Ditty – The Shangri-Las – Review . AllMusic . Dave Thompson (author).
  4. Web site: Out In The Streets: The Story of the Shangri-Las . Grecco . John C. . 2002 . Red Bird Entertainment . https://archive.today/20130201035728/http://www.redbirdent.com/slas3.htm . February 1, 2013 . dead.
  5. Web site: Mason . Stewart . Sophisticated Boom Boom – The Shangri-Las – Review . AllMusic.
  6. Web site: Thompson . Dave . What's a Girl Supposed to Do? – The Shangri-Las – Review . AllMusic.
  7. Web site: Mary Weiss Interview . Miller . Billy . Linna . Miriam . March 28, 2006 . Norton Records . September 6, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927115404/http://www.nortonrecords.com/maryweiss/04.html . September 27, 2011 . 5 . dead . Billy Miller (musician) . Miriam Linna.
  8. News: March 25, 2007 . Shangri-Las' Weiss, leader of a comeback . DeLuca . Dan . https://web.archive.org/web/20240412164837/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20070325_Shangri-Las_Weiss__leader_of_a_comeback.html . April 12, 2024 . The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  9. Web site: My Favorite Album: Miki Berenyi of Piroshka on The Shangri-Las' "Shangri-Las-65!" . Berenyi . Miki . . March 20, 2020.
  10. Patrick . Mick . The Shangri-Las . Myrmidons of Melodrama . February 2002 . . album liner notes.
  11. Web site: Thompson . Dave . Right Now and Not Later – The Shangri-Las – Review . AllMusic.