Rick Shorter (May 1, 1934 – September 1, 2017) was an American songwriter, music producer, and author. During the 1960s when he was most active, he produced and arranged for a multitude of artists. They include Ciska Peters, Big Dee Irwin, and Galt MacDermot. His compositions have been covered by Ola & the Janglers, The Five Tornados, Johnny And The Hurricanes, The Liverbirds, The Esquires, Gene Pitney and Burl Ives. He also composed, arranged, and produced "If I Call You By Some Name" which was a hit for The Paupers. In the 1970s, Shorter returned to his faith and, along with his wife Gwen became very active in the Seventh-day Adventist church from which he had drifted away over prior years.
Background The son of a clergyman who used to be a jazz guitarist, Shorter came from a Seventh-day Adventist background. By the time he was ten years old, he was singing professionally at gospel camps. He also had his own local radio show while still at junior high.Southern California Connection - Rick & Gwen Shorter, Authors45Cat - Rick Shorter, City Women, Catalogue: 4-43571, (Liner notes) Introducing Rick Shorter His cousin is jazz saxophonist, Wayne Shorter, founding member of the group Weather Report.Old Times, Winter / Spring 2012 - Page 12 UCC principal's son makes beautiful music - By Nick Krewen
Family Shorter met his wife Gwen née Simmons in a New York night club on 42nd Street. She was an R&B, soul singer, actress and model.Southern California Connection - Rick & Gwen Shorter, AuthorsDynamic - Rick & Gwen Shorter He became her manager. By July 1972 they were engaged.The Courier-News, Saturday, July 15, 1972 - Page 18The News-Palladium, Saturday, January 6, 1973 - Page 4 'Beautiful Way' Owners To Speak From 'Archie' To 'Switchblade'
Early years Rick & Lance In the early 1960s, he was a member of a duo called Rick & Lance which consisted of himself and Lance Lehmberg.Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series Volume 17, Part 5, Number 1 - January - June 1963 - Page 323Music.yandex.ru - Twirl Records Story Volume 5 They played mainly at Greenwich Village.Audio Culture, 18 Feb 2016 - The Avengers story - part 1 - Grant Gillanders Their first single "Where The Four Winds Blow" bw "Good Buddy" was released in the U.S. on the Bigtop label in 1962. It was also released on the Atlantic label in Japan that year. The following year they released Laura Lee" bw "They Hanged A Certain Man", and later another single, "Evaleena Roll 'Em" bw "Roses And Orchids".45Cat - Rick And Lance - Discography, All Countries "They Hanged A Certain Man" appeared on the Doo-Bop-Jivers, Volume 7 CD album compilation which also featured The Mint Juleps, The Hi-Liters and The Five Keys.MusicBrainz - Doo-Bop-Jivers, Volume 7, Track List Their other recordings have also been included on re-releases of Twirl Records recordings.Kurrent Music - Rick by Rick & LanceDeezer - Roses and Orchids Their single "Where The Four Winds Blow" was a hit in Japan.
Rick & Lance discography + Singles Title Release info Year Notes "Where The Four Winds Blow" / "Good Buddy" Bigtop 45-3105 1962 "Laura Lee" / "They Hanged A Certain Man" Bigtop 45-3133 1963 "Evaleena Roll 'Em" / "Roses And Orchids" Bigtop 45-3157 1963
Rick Shorter career 1960s to 1990s In the October 2, 1965, edition of Billboard, it was reported that Shorter who at the time was contracted to Columbia Records, had signed an exclusive writing contract with the Edward B. Marks Music Corp.Billboard, October 2, 1965 - Page 6 Mark Inks Shorter On April 16, 1966, Shorter was to appear at the New York Community College with Godfrey Cambridge to perform three of his own compositions which were published by E.B. Marks. He was also on the road a week later promoting his new single "Last Thoughts Of A Young Man".Billboard, April 16, 1966 - Page 36 International News Reports, From The Music Capitals of the World, NEW YORKBillboard, April 23, 1966 - Page 40 International News Reports, From The Music Capitals of the World, NEW YORK In October 1966, the Gene Pitney single "Backstage" was climbing up the UK charts with Shorter's blues rocker "Blue Color" as the B side.Billboard, October 22, 1966 - Page 18 Spotlight Singles, Top 60 Also in the same month, Cashbox had announced that he had renewed his contract with E.B. Marks. He had also written and produced "Love Hides A Multitude of Sins" for The Esquires. His two songs "Funky Butt Hall" and "The Hard Road Back" were due for release.Cashbox, October 8, 1966 - Page 45 Rick Shorter Re-Inks With E. B. Marks They were released on Columbia single in December 1966.45Cat - Rick Shorter - Discography
By 1973, he was back with the Seventh-day Adventist church and had left his career in popular music.The Lake Union Herald, May 15, 1973 - Volume LXV, Number 19 - Page 10 TRUTH—BATTLE OR DREAM? - Joyce JonesEndtime Issues No. 36 - A Closer Look At Rock Music by Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D. Professor of Theology, Andrews University - Page 17 of 23
2000s In 2002 some songs were released. One was "9/11 Memorial Song (Should'a Been Home By Now)" which featured his daughter Hope; Christian Shorter played guitar.iTunes - [' 9/11 Memorial Song (Should'a Been Home By Now) (feat. Hope)]bandcamp - 9/11 MEMORIAL SONG (Should'a Been Home By Now) In 2009, "They Called Me G I Joe" was released through Appropriate Records.iTunes - They Called Me G I Joe
Rick Shorter discography + Singles Title Release info Year Notes "Don't Cry" / "Can You Tell Me What Town I'm In?" Columbia 4-43406 1965 "City Women" / "Last Thoughts Of A Young Man" Columbia 4-43571 1966 "The Hard Road Back" / "Funky Butt Hall" Columba 4-43881 196645Cat - Rick Shorter - Discography "Since Half Past Five" / "Blessed Are The Meek" MGM K13875 1967The MGM Labels: 1961-1982, By Michel Ruppli - Page 324 Rick Shorter
Compositions, production and management The Paupers Shorter composed a mellow folk-influenced tune called "If I Call You By Some Name".The Canadian Music Hall Of Fame - YORKVILLE STORMS THE CHARTS for The Paupers. He also produced and arranged another song for the group, Copper Penny by group members Adam Mitchell and Skip Prokop. The single was released on Verve Folkways KF 5033 in December, 1966.45Cat - The Paupers If I Call You By Some Name, Catalogue: KF 5033 Also in the same month, Billboard announced that the single was predicted to reach the Hot 100 Chart.Billboard, Decedmber 31, 1966 - Page 16 SPOTLIGHT SINGLES, CHART Spotlights--Predicted to reach the HOT 100 Chart In January, 1967, the single had already broken out as a hit in Canada.Billboard, January 21, 1967 - Page 12 VERVE/FOLKWAYS: Marriage of Folk and Pop It reached No. 31 on Canada's RPM chart.Cashbox Canada, Thu, 10/15/2015 - Proudly Canadian: The Paupers In January, 1967, the song peaked at #6 on Toronto's influential radio station CHUM (AM).Canuckistan Music - The Paupers, Magic People - Michael PanontinChart Hits Of All Decades - RADIO STATION CHUM (TORONTO) WEEKLY CHARTS FOR 1967 Around March 1967, Shorter produced the debut album Magic People for The Paupers, which they had recorded in New York.Canadian Bands - The Paupers Cashbox Canada, Thu, 15-10-2015 - Proudly Canadian: The Paupers The quality of Shorter's production work for the album was recognized by Hi-Fi Review magazine.Hi Fi / Stereo Review, Volume 19 - Page 148 THE PAUPERS Magic People The album spent 2 weeks in the charts peaking at no 178.Canadian Bands - The Paupers Cashbox Canada, Thu, 15-10-2015 - Proudly Canadian: The Paupers Billboard.com - The Paupers, Chart History
Galt MacDermot In 1964 Galt MacDermot had relocated to New York from Canada. He first met Shorter through some connections he had. Shorter needed a ska tune for Woody Herman. At the time one of Shorter's roles was gathering studio musicians to record tunes for music publishers. Having heard MacDermot's piano playing and liking it, he used him to cut demos. The Manhattan musicians introduced to MacDermot by Shorter would become his studio co-musicians over the next few years. Also through Shorter, MacDermot met and got to play with Bernard Purdie.World of Beats - INTERVIEW: GALT MACDERMOT In 1968, his album Hair Pieces was released. Shorter produced and directed the music on the album and also contributed to some of the sound effects.Discogs - Galt MacDermot – Hair PiecesBillboard, May 18, 1968 - Page 5 MacDermot Cuts Record on Verve
Jackie Follett Shorter produced and arranged two singles for Jackie Follett. One was "That's A Good Enough Reason" b/w (backed with) "There's A Moment". The A side was composed by Shorter, and the B side was by Follett. It was released on Verve Folkways KF5034 in 1966. It was also released on the M.G.M. Special Products label, cat no. KF 5034. The second single "Am What I Am" b/w "Don't Care To" was a double Shorter composition and released on Verve Forecast KF5065 in 1967.45Ct - Jackie Follett - Discography
Street and TCB Street was a rock group which was fronted by singer Anya Cohen. In addition to managing the group, Shorter also wrote some of their material.Record World, February 2, 1969 - Page 16 The Underground Surfaces at MGM - By PHIL MORRIS MGM RECORDS Cohen was operating a coffee shop in Rochester, New York called the Wee Spot Coffee Shop when she was discovered by Shorter. He set her up with musicians that consisted of guitarists John Williamson and Will Betz. bassist Michael Lynne, percussionist Alan Camarda and drummer Thomas Chamon.New Groove '69,, January 10, 1969 - VERVE/FORECAST'S "STREET" PAVED WITH TALENT, From Coffee Shop to Album Cover Their single "There's One Kind Favor" by "Boeing 707" was due for release in May 1968. The single credited to Anya's Street was released on Verve Forecast KF5084. The B side "Boeing 707" was composed by Shorter.Billboard, May 11, 1969 - Page 12 Talent, SigningsDiscogs - Anya's Street – There's One Kind Favor Their self-titled album was released that year on Verve Forecast FTS-3057. It included 5 Shorter compositions.Discogs - Street* – Street They released one more single in 1969 on the Traffic Records label, "Apollo... Amen" bw "Why Concern Yourself". Shorter composed both songs as well as producing and arranging the recordings.45Cat - Street - Apollo ... Amen Catalogue: TR-1001 Traffic Records was owned by Shorter and Barry Lane. They had entered into a deal in 1969 with RCA to distribute their recordings in Canada. This included songs by Street and another group named TCB.Billboard, August 16, 1969 - Page 88 RCA Canada to Handle TrafficDiscogs - Traffic Records (5) Shorter also managed TCB. The band was previously called Magic and their name was changed due to other groups having similar names.Schenectady Gazette, May 10, 1969 - Page 20 In the Groove by Mike Hyland He produced their album Open For Business which was released in 1970 on the Traffic label.Discogs - TCB (4) – Open For Business Colleen Peterson was with the group and died in 1996.Billboard, October 26, 1996 - Page 78 Update, LIFELINES, DEATHS Shorter had done some production work in 1967 for another band Peterson later joined called 3's A Crowd; that band was Canadian and Shorter produced three songs which they recorded at Bell Studios.The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia - Artist: 3's A Crowd, Biography
Other work In 1968, Shorter was the musical director for the Broadway musical, Hair.Broadway World - Shorter Broadway and Theatre CreditsPlaybill - Rick Shorter
In the December 23, 1969 issue of Billboard, it was announced that Shorter and Ashram Associates were producing a one nighter gospel show that was to feature Rev. James Cleveland, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Shirley Caesar, Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Jessy Dixon and the Chicago Community Singers, and others.Billboard, Dec 1969 - Page 6 General News, Gospel Show Set In N.Y. for Dec. 23