Record Store Shopping: Karen Dalton and The Shangri-la's

I went shopping at my favorite record store today, UHF, located in downtown Royal oak, MI-a suburb of Detroit. I was not really sure what I was looking for or what I wanted. There have not been that many new releases lately that have inspired me, so I was hoping to to find something old that's new to me. Often I will also pick up records that I've heard about for a long time but have actually neglected to listen to or buy. Well, I sure found two gems today. Karen Dalton and The Shangri-la's.

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Karen Dalton

Karen only has two albums, one released in 1969 and the other in 1971. I was wandering through UHF Records and the cover of her album In My Own Time struck me. It shows her on a country road in a long angle black and white shot. Very country but very mysterious. What really convinced me to buy it was my friend Tommy, the owner of UHF. The fact that I had already looked at it and that then 30 minutes later, he is talking me into buying it can only be musical fate. Let me tell you, she is amazing! The only other people that I can remember that effected me in the same way when I heard their voices for the first time are Antony Hegarty and Nina Simone. Karen has a very similar vocal style and sound. If you like either of these, she is an absolute must for your record collection. I plan on going back to the record store tomorrow to buy her other album. Both of her albums have been reissued by Light in the Attic records. Yep, that's how good she is, see a sample below

The Shangri-la's

The Shangri-la's are a girl group that gets referenced so much by critics and music writers that it really was long overdue for me to pick up an album. The Shangri-la's was lead by a blonde 16 year old from Queens, NY named Mary Weiss. She was backed by her own sister Betty Weiss, as well as a set of twin sisters, Marge and Mary Ann Ganser. I found a reissue of their first album, even though the record store did have a good copy of the original(the reissue was $18, the original was $80)Everyone knows the big hit from the middle 60's Leader of the Pack, but it is really the rest of the album that is so amazing. If you like current acts like Best Coast, then look to The Shangri-la's for the girls that started it. These girls are just plain cool!